game, a pace no player had set to start a career since McGwire hit 30 in 84 games during 1986 and 1987. Braun finished with an NL-leading .634 slugging percentage, a mark that set new all-time rookie and Brewers records. He was fifth in the league in at bats per home run (13.3) and OPS (1.004), tied for fifth in home runs (34), and eighth in batting average (.324) among hitters with at least 490 plate appearances. He led the Brewers in batting average and slugging percentage, and was second behind Fielder in home runs, runs (91), and RBIs (97), tied for second in triples (6), and third in OBP (.370) and steals (15), despite not having played in the first 48 games of the season. Braun obliterated the club rookie records of 28 home runs and 81 RBIs, set by Fielder in 2006. Braun had considerable success against left-handed pitchers. He had the best batting average (.450), OBP (.516), and slugging percentage (.964) of any major league hitter with at least 125 plate appearances against lefties, and was tied for second in the majors in home runs (15). Braun credits his father with his success against lefties. "My dad is left-handed, so growing up, the majority of time, I took batting practice off of him." Braun collected several awards at season's end. He won the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year Award in a vote by 32 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He beat out Troy Tulowitzki by 2 points in the closest NL vote since the system was revised in 1980. Of all prior NL Rookies of the Year, only Pujols and Willie McCovey hit for higher batting averages in their rookie year. Braun was voted the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year by 488 major league players and 30 managers. Braun also received the 2007 Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie in a vote by his fellow major league players. "When your peers recognize you with an award, that's great", he said. "Those are the guys out there on the field with you, competing against you. Their opinion counts the most, for a player." In voting for the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, Braun received two 10th-place votes and finished 24th overall. 2008: All-Star and Silver Slugger In March 2008, the Brewers renewed Braun's contract for $455,000, a $75,000 increase. Braun