Quote:
Originally Posted by PM770
If I had taken the PED - which we now know Braun did - what would I have to be suspicious of?
He tested positive for a drug he was taking. I don't understand how there could be any true "suspicion" for foul play.
I understand trying to get out of the 50 game suspension and using the legal means he did, but this was dishonesty at least.
And saying "....things that we learned about the collector" is impugning his character, not matter how subtly.
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Except, Braun has never said he took a PED. There is an important distinction between using a PED, a performance enhancing drug used to improve performance, and a banned substance used to expedite healing of an injury. I completely realize that's splitting hairs in the eyes of most baseball fans, but it's an important distinction to Brewer fans. Braun did not take something to cheat the game. Braun's performance on the field, his numbers, the awards he's won, were achieved through his natural ability, and his hard work. He's been tested repeatedly since he was drafted by the Brewers in 2005, all the way through the minor leagues, and in the Majors. Remember the initial story about Braun was that he was going to be suspended for PED use, then the story changed, and Braun was being suspended for a banned substance. That substance still has never been named. Braun only referred to them as a lozenge and cream used to help expedite his rehabilitation. Braun wasn't looking to become a better player, but he was looking to become as close as possible to the player he'd always been.
What did he learn about the collector? That he had been doing that same job since the JDA went into effect in 2005, and was familiar with every Fed Ex location close to Miller Park. They learned that Laurenzi Jr did not do his job as outlined by the JDA, a job he'd been doing for six years at that point. Procedures were very clear-barring any unusual circumstances, he was required to take the biological sample pack to Fed Ex the same day it was collected. He did not.
Is it impugning somebody's character if you say something that is factual? I would say that the collector threw himself under the bus. Again, we know that Braun won his appeal on procedural grounds. That doesn't mean they couldn't have won on scientific grounds, the defense team choose the easiest road to a reversal of the suspension, and they accomplished their intended goal.
Now, again, did Braun cheat? The black and white answer is yes, he did. Absolutely. When Major League Baseball says you can't do x, and you do x, you are breaking the rules. I can spin it any way I want, but I'm not going to do that. Braun broke the rules, and believe me, while I am a Brewer fan, and while I have long been a Ryan Braun fan, I was plenty pissed off at him. I was mad at him when the story first broke that he used a PED (per ESPN). I was more irked at ESPN for printing the story, because if they hadn't violated his rights as established by MLB, we would have never known about this (I still don't know if that's a good or a bad thing). But he broke the rules. Then, he compounded matters by lying about it. I do think he was coached on some of the things he said by his defense team, but ultimately, the buck stops with him. No matter how he was coached, he is a grown man, and responsible for the words that come out of his mouth. If he'd admitted to using the banned substance right away, this whole thing would have washed over by now. It hasn't because he poured more fuel on the fire, and that made me, and a lot of Brewer fans even more angry at him. Remember, as much as you guys dislike Braun now, there are a lot of Brewer fans who have had to listen to all the put downs, not only of Braun, but the Brewers franchise and ownership, too. And there have been a lot of negative things said about Brewer fans, and people in Wisconsin in general. So, trust me when I say that nobody is more sick of this than I am. But as somebody who has had to live with this for over three years, as somebody who has done an awful lot of reading, and research, and separating fact from fiction, the reason I am posting what I am is because much of what has been printed about Braun has been a complete fabrication.
Braun cheated, but lied about it, but people need to understand why he did. The Brewers are a small market team, and we haven't been to the World Series since 1982. Long before this whole mess started, Braun made a commitment to the Brewers, and the people of Wisconsin, that he wanted to bring them a World Series. He has done a lot of good for the people in southeast Wisconsin, and he's invested a lot of his own time, and money, to help improve the city, and help the people that live there. When it became obvious that Prince Fielder was leaving, after the 2011 season, Braun knew they had one shot to get to the World Series. The Brewer front office went all in, and added two front line pitchers. The Brewers were great, and won 96 games. But Braun, who had been battling a severe calf injury all year, was hurting badly by the end of the season. He was not getting better, and he was going to be nowhere near 100% when the post season came around. What he took did help him tremendously. All you have to do is look at the numbers he put up against the Diamondbacks to see that the rehabilitation regiment, combined with the substances he took, did help him heal up. That is why he did what he did, and that is what he said when he admitted fault.
Now, I want to make it very clear that I do not condone what he did. I don't think any Brewer fan worth their own weight would. I love the game of baseball more than anything. I love the game itself even more than I love the Brewers, and I have loved the Brewers for 37 years. Maybe Braun's intentions were good. None of you guys have watched this man play, or watched how he's carried himself throughout his time in Milwaukee like I have. He's been a model citizen, and he's gone above and beyond what the average baseball star would do in the city he plays in. Before the 2011 season, he signed a second extension, which committed him to the Brewers until the 2020 season. He made a lot of money in doing so, but he also took far less to stay in Milwaukee than he would have gotten if he'd signed with the Yankees, or the Dodgers. But, as they say, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Braun might have made a calculated risk by taking a banned substance in order to heal, and give his team a chance to win the World Series. But he still broke the rules, and no intentions, no matter how good they might be, excuse breaking the rules. If anything, Braun was guilty of making a bad decision. Again, I do not think he tried to cheat the game. Braun has never needed PEDs. All you have to do is watch him play, and see his swing, and the way the ball jumps off his bat, to see that he's a naturally gifted hitter. The guy's got one of the most beautiful swings I've ever seen, and no PED made him into a 5 time Silver Slugger winner, and a three time top 3 MVP finisher.
I was mad at him for a good long time, because he let a lot of people down, myself included. The thrill I got watching him play was something I hadn't felt since Yount was a Brewer. And when he lied, it felt like a slap in the face. But eventually, Braun did the right thing. As he said, MLB never presented the evidence they had. Braun could have fought whatever punitive steps Major League Baseball might have tried to take against him. Their "star witness", Anthony Bosch, certainly was not credible at all. I think ultimately, Ryan just wanted to get out of the viscous cycle he'd created, and come clean. Now, some of you guys will quip "well, he only came clean because he got caught". Well, did he "come clean" the first time? No. If anything, one would think Braun less likely to admit his faults after winning one appeal already. Braun could have fought the Balco investigation, and maybe avoided suspension altogether. But in the end, I think Braun decided to own up to the mistakes he made. Then he went out of his way to make amends with the team ownership, his teammates, and Brewer fans. Now that he's done that, I've decided to give him a second chance. He's not a terrible person. He did some really stupid things, and again, I think the underlying motivation was good, if misguided. Ultimately, the inertia of the situation he created swept him up, and he couldn't get out.
Some people are never going to believe a word he says. That's fine. Every single person has to decide for themselves how they will look at another person. But I think there are a lot of sanctimonious people speaking out against him. People that have probably lied in the past, or done something they wish they could now go back, and handle differently. The difference between them and Ryan Braun is Braun is in the spotlight as a professional athlete, and the people talking crap about Braun on the internet do so under the cover of anonymity the internet creates. I count myself as an ethical person, and honest to a fault. In fact, I've been called a boy scout on more than one occasion. Yet even I have some things I'd like to do over. I am far from perfect, so I'm not going to sit here in judgement over another human being that has admitted the error of their ways. Braun has suffered enough. And as a Brewer fan, I think I have, too.