Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.

Ryan Braun (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For only the fifth time in the Milwaukee Brewers 44-year franchise history the club saw two of its players listed in the Top 10 of a league MVP Award balloting.

Last year’s winner Ryan Braun was this year’s runner-up and third baseman Aramis Ramirez finished ninth in the voting for the 2012 National League Most Valuable Player.

Here are the years when the team had two or more of its players in the Top 10 of the MVP voting.

1981: Rollie Fingers (American League MVP), Cecil Cooper (8th place)

1982: Robin Yount (American League MVP), Cecil Cooper (5th place), Gorman Thomas (8th place)

2008: Ryan Braun (3rd place in N.L. balloting), C.C. Sabathia (6th place)

2011: Ryan Braun (National League MVP), Prince Fielder (3rd place)

2012: Ryan Braun (2nd place in N.L. balloting), Aramis Ramirez (9th place)

This was Braun’s third year that he finished in the Top 10 of MVP Award voting. That, however, is not the most times for a Brewers player to finish in the Top 10. In fact, most fans would think that either of the team’s Hall of Famers, Robin Yount or Paul Molitor, would top this category. First baseman Cecil Cooper finished in the Top 10 of MVP Award balloting in four seasons with the Brewers. He never finished higher than fifth in the balloting, but he does lead the team with four appearances in the Top 10.

Here are the 13 Brewers players who have made 24 appearances in the Top 10 of a league MVP Award voting.

4: Cecil Cooper

3: Paul Molitor, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun

2: Gorman Thomas, Robin Yount

1: Tommy Harper, Davey May, George Scott, Larry Hisle, Rollie Fingers, C.C. Sabathia, Aramis Ramirez

Did you notice the interesting thing about Yount’s appearances on the MVP lists? He won two MVP Awards (the American League MVP in 1982 and 1989) yet he never finished in the Top 10 in MVP balloting in any other year of his 20-year career in Milwaukee.

Here’s a few more stats about Brewers players appearing in the Top 10 of the league MVP award voting:

* Tommy Harper was the first Brewers player to finish in the Top 10 of the voting. He finished in sixth of the American League MVP Award in 1970.

* The longest drought for the Brewers having a player in the Top 10 of the voting was 14 years, from 1993 to 2006. No Brewers player cracked the Top 10 in the MVP balloting in any of those years.

* The longest streak of having a Brewers player on the MVP Top 10 was six seasons, from 1978 to 1983. This year was only the second in Brewers history that the team had two players appear in the Top 10 in consecutive seasons (the other time was 1981, 1982).

* Cecil Cooper finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting in four consecutive years with the Brewers (1980-83).

Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp