I guess this won't make anyone happy, but here's my take on things.
Baseball tests for a lot of stuff. There's a decent list on wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_L...ll_drug_policy
Some of what they test for is not performance enhancing. Some certainly is, some ....Some I have no idea what the heck it is. I can't see some of the stimulants enhancing erformance - Meth? Maybe a time or two, but not long term.
I do know that a poppy seed bagel can lead to a positive test for opiates, which are banned. Ephedrine in cold medecine is also banned.
The comment that they can't say what was detected because of both the CBA and HIPAA is correct. So unless Braun gets into details we'll never know.
I'd like to think that if it was something stupid like cold medecine or poppy seeds they'd give him a break. (There's precedent, the snowboard kid who tested positive for pot at the olympics claimed secondary contact and got a pass because the levels made sense.)
Him not releasing details makes it look worse.
Some of the results CAN be altered if the sample is mishandled. Without knowing the substance, we can't know if the earlier positive was one that could be affected, or if it was purely a proceedural problem.
Lance DID have a positive test publicly overturned, a 1999 positive for corticosteroid that he blamed on saddle sore ointment.
And like Braun, he passed a number of tests. A few failures were hidden through bribery be Nike. (Surprised nobody has been banned or arrested for that)
A lot of commonly used medications or products are on the WADA list. There are a number of cases outlined on their site when discussing suspensions and fairness.
http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/Wo..._Article10.pdf
One is a tennis player banned for a year for a hair restoration product he'd used for years. He just never checked the list when it got added.
Some substances are ok with a medical waiver. Concerta is becoming more common in the NFL.
I'm fairly sure that most of us, especially those if us who are older would not pass a drug test used for international competition. Especially anyone using vitamin supplements.
Maybe the ban is fair, maybe not. I think that with testing being somewhat new in MLB there's a learning curve about what ordinary stuff will cause a positive test. And that using clinics like biogenesis is very risky.
Steve B
Steve B