Ryan Braun retires

[1963Topps Set]

Good bye to another cheater

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

Good bye to another cheater

Hes worse than a cheater. He knew he was guilty but tried to destroy a mans life by implying he messed with the sample because he was anti-semitic.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Hes worse than a cheater. He knew he was guilty but tried to destroy a mans life by implying he messed with the sample because he was anti-semitic.

+1. Absolutely despicable.

[packs]

So long, bum.

[packs]

Double post

[ALR-bishop]

Brewers will likely give him a nice send off but agree with those here that he disgraced himself with those false accusations.

I remember feeling sorry for Braun after he lost the batting title to Reyes in 2011 when he played and went 0-4 while Reyes bunted and sat his way to the top

[packs]

He made the announcement from his house. if the Brewers were interested wouldn't they have signed him to a one day contract and had him announce at a press conference?

[ALR-bishop]

Hopefully

[Chuck9788]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Hes worse than a cheater. He knew he was guilty but tried to destroy a mans life by implying he messed with the sample because he was anti-semitic.

On August 22, 2013, Braun released a statement in which he apologized for using PEDs] He claimed to have used PEDs during the later part of the 2011 season to help him recover from a nagging injury. Braun said that using PEDs was "'a huge mistake'", adding that he had "'compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately'". Braun also apologized to Laurenzi, stating that he "'deeply regretted'" the comments he had made about him.

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by Chuck9788

On August 22, 2013, Braun released a statement in which he apologized for using PEDs] He claimed to have used PEDs during the later part of the 2011 season to help him recover from a nagging injury. Braun said that using PEDs was "'a huge mistake'", adding that he had "'compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately'". Braun also apologized to Laurenzi, stating that he "'deeply regretted'" the comments he had made about him.

Good for him but apologies don't erase what he did.

[packs]

As long as someone deeply regrets attacking your character and leaving a stain on your name I guess that makes everything okay.

[ALR-bishop]

Apologizing after you are caught lying, cheating and slandering someone when your goal is to continue playing baseball for big money simply makes him a hypocrite as well.

As Adam likes to observe

[clydepepper]

He also stole Matt Kemp's MVP Award.


.

[Shoeless Moe]

It'd be nice if the Brewers won the WS a year after he was done playing and a month or so after he retired.

Like to not see him get a ring and be so close just like Bryce Harper.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

He also stole Matt Kemp's MVP Award.

Really?

Second half of 2011

Braun 67 G, 257 AB, .346 AVG, 17 HR, 49 RBI, .392 OBP/.642 SLG/1.034 OPS

Kemp 69 G, 273 AB, .337 AVG, 20 HR, 63 RBI, .400 OBP/.590 SLG/.990 OPS

Both players had great seasons. Braun outperformed Kemp in the second half, while in the middle of a pennant race. The Dodgers were out of it by mid season.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Hes worse than a cheater. He knew he was guilty but tried to destroy a mans life by implying he messed with the sample because he was anti-semitic.

He tried to destroy a man's life? Really? You don't think that's a bit over the top with the hyperbole?

Let's look at what Ryan Braun actually said, shall we?

Here's the portion of his press conference transcript dealing with the collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr, and the collection process. Show me where he "tried to destroy a man's life."

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel archive

"So at that point, we start looking into the process. It states in the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program that all samples shall be taken immediately to FedEx on the day they’re collected absent unusual circumstances. The reason that this is important, typically the only two people in the world who know whose sample it is are us, the donor, and the collector, who receives our urine samples. In my case there was an additional third person, the son of the collector, who just so happened to be the my chaperone on the day that I was tested. The day of the test we had a 1 o’clock game. I provided my sample at about 4:30. There were two other players who provided their samples that day within 10 minutes of mine. The collector left the field at about 5 o’clock. There were at least five FedEx locations within five miles of the stadium that were open until 9 p.m. and an additional FedEx location that was open for 24 hours. There were upwards of 18 or 19 FedEx locations that were open between the ballpark and his house that he could have dropped the samples off at.

"When FedEx received the samples, it then creates a chain of custody at the FedEx location where he eventually brought my sample to. It would have been stored in a temperature-controlled environment, and FedEx is used to handling clinical packaging. But most importantly, you then would become a number and no longer a name. So when we provide our samples, there is a number and no longer a name associated with the sample. That way there can’t be any bias – whether it’s with FedEx, while it’s traveling, at the lab in Montreal, in any way – based on somebody’s race, religion, ethnicity, what team they play for, whatever the case may be. As players, the confidentiality of this process is extremely important. It’s always been extremely important, because the only way for the process to succeed is for the confidentiality and the chain of custody to work.

"Why he didn’t bring it in, I don’t know. On the day that he did finally bring it in, FedEx opened at 7:30. Why didn’t he bring it in until 1:30? I can’t answer that question. Why was there zero documentation? What could have possibly happened to it during that 44-hour period? There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way that the entire thing worked that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened.

"I want everybody to ask themselves this question: if you guys went to go get a physical, something you’ve done 20-25 other times in your life, and three weeks later and told you that you were terminally ill with a disease, and it made no sense to you. ‘I feel perfectly fine, nothing’s any different than it’s ever been, this doesn’t make any sense,’ and you look back at the process and you find out that your doctor decided to take your urine sample home for a 44-, 48-hour period, there’s no documentation as to what happened. You don’t know if he left it in the trunk of his car, you don’t know where it could have been or what could have potentially happened to it during that period of time. I can assure you that you would never go back to that doctor, and you would demand a re-test.

"When our samples get to the lab in Montreal, they literally handle them like it’s a nuclear weapon. Everything is documented, everything is recorded. Anybody who enters the room where the samples are stored, their names are recorded, they sign for it, they write the time that they’re there. The model of the refrigerator they’re stored in is recorded, the temperature it’s stored at is recorded. Every time they move it, it’s all documented. Contemporaneously documented, and that’s important, again, with what’s at stake – our livelihoods, our integrity, everything we’ve ever worked for in our lives, it’s extremely important that there isn’t room for human error or systematic error.

"We spoke to biochemists and scientists and we asked them, ‘How difficult would it be to tamper with somebody’s sample?’ And their response was that, ‘If they were motivated, it would be extremely easy.’ Again, that’s why it’s so important to get it out of the hands of the only person in the world who knows whose sample it is. As soon as it gets to FedEx, they don’t know whose sample it is. As soon as it gets to the lab, they don’t know whose sample it is. That’s why it’s extremely important.

That's the extent of his commentary about the collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr.

Please show me, specifically, in that commentary before the press, where he attempted to "destroy" Laurenzi Jr.'s life.

I will remind you that, firstly, the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, agreed to by both Major League Baseball, and the Player's Union, requires the entire process to be confidential.

We should have never found out about any issue with Braun's urine test. Somebody leaked the test results to the media (ESPN's Outside the Lines, to be specific), and this whole circus ensued.

Show me one thing in that portion of Braun's statement that was manifestly inaccurate. Please.

I will remind you, further, that Baseball's Independent Arbitrator, Shyam Das, who had handled several appeals for MLB, sided with Braun, and threw out the suspension. That was the first time that a player had ever appealed, and won. That should speak volumes as to both the infallibility of the process under normal circumstances, and how many abnormalities there were in Braun's case.

Major League Baseball then proceeded to fire Shyam Das. But, no sour grapes there, right? Das had been Baseball's permanent arbitrator for 13 years. The first time it was ruled that the appealing player proved their case, MLB fired the arbitrator.

Doesn't that sound just a little suspect to you? The whole appeals process sounds like a sham if the independent arbitrator is summarily dismissed when they don't agree with the league. For thirteen years, MLB loved his work. The first time he took the side of the player, and the Player's Union, instead of Major League Baseball, they showed him the door.

Sounds completely objective to me!

Baseball tried again. Braun's name appeared a few times on BALCO documentation during the Biogenesis investigation-no specifics about drugs purchased, unlike every other athlete mentioned on the paperwork. Just Braun's name, along with one of his attorney's names, and a dollar amount.

That's what he was ultimately suspended over.

Couldn't it be possible, Jim, that everything Braun said was true? If Das sided with him, clearly there were procedural issues that rendered the sample's result as unreliable.

If you were in Braun's position, and the collector took your sample home for nearly two days, with no documentation, and then your test results were leaked to the press, wouldn't you be just a little suspicious? Would you be in the wrong to allude to questionable procedural adherence in a public statement?

Show me where Braun insinuated that Laurenzi Jr screwed with his sample because Braun is Jewish?

Because in reading this multiple times to refresh my memory, the only time that religion, or religious preference, is mentioned, occurred here:

But most importantly, you then would become a number and no longer a name. So when we provide our samples, there is a number and no longer a name associated with the sample. That way there can’t be any bias – whether it’s with FedEx, while it’s traveling, at the lab in Montreal, in any way – based on somebody’s race, religion, ethnicity, what team they play for, whatever the case may be.

The only time that Dino Laurenzi Jr's character, or professionalism, is ever called into question is here:

Why he didn’t bring it in, I don’t know. On the day that he did finally bring it in, FedEx opened at 7:30. Why didn’t he bring it in until 1:30? I can’t answer that question. Why was there zero documentation? What could have possibly happened to it during that 44-hour period? There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way that the entire thing worked that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened.

Is that seeking to "destroy a man's life"? Really?

I see a statement, clearly written in conjunction with Braun's legal team, and his PR firm, addressing the issues that were brought before Shyam Das. The specifics of what they found with the collector are not addressed, but they don't really need to be. He clearly did not properly execute the function of his position. If he had, there wouldn't have been grounds for appeal.

Braun won his appeal. Das found that there were fatal flaws with the collection process, and chain of custody. The Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program requires that, absent some extraordinary circumstance, the collector drop the biological sample off at a Fed Ex facility, of which there were several locations, including one that was available to receive these kinds of samples 24 hours. Dino Laurenzi Jr did not do what was required of him. He took the sample home, popped it into a cooler (not a refrigerator) for approximately 48 hours on the shelf of his basement office.


Did Ryan Braun break Major League Baseball's rules, violating the Joint Program? Absolutely. Did he lie about it? Yup, and I was pissed at Braun, as a Brewers fan, for a number of years. But after that mixture of anger and profound disappointment passed, I decidedly to go back, and objectively look at everything I could find, parsing the myriad articles for fact, and for conjecture.

The truth of the matter is that Braun didn't use a performance enhancing drug. That's another patently inaccurate falsehood that's been floated around by the media, media who has, apparently, no requirement to adhere to any kind of journalistic integrity in their reporting. All they care about is revenue.

First, how about a working definition of what a performance enhancing drug is. From The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine:

What is it?

“Doping” refers to the use of banned substances in competitive sports. Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) is another term used to for drugs used by athletes to improve their athletic performance.

As Braun alluded to in his press conference statement, he didn't realize any kind of performance enhancement.

At that point, I was able to prove to them through contemporaneously documented recordings that I literally didn’t gain a single pound. When we’re in Milwaukee we weigh in at least once or twice a week. I was able to prove that I literally didn’t gain a single pound. Our times are recorded every time we run down the line, first to third, first to home. I literally didn’t get one-tenth of a second faster. My workouts have been virtually the exact same for six years. I didn’t get one percent stronger. I didn’t work out any more often. I didn’t have any additional power or any additional arm strength. All of those things are documented contemporaneously, and if anything had changed, I wouldn’t be able to go back and pretend like it didn’t change.

The banned substance he took was used to heal an injury.

Here's the portion of Ryan Braun's statement, released by Major League Baseball on their own website, after accepting his 100 game suspension:

Here is what happened. During the latter part of the 2011 season, I was dealing with a nagging injury and I turned to products for a short period of time that I shouldn't have used. The products were a cream and a lozenge which I was told could help expedite my rehabilitation. It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately.

Any long time Brewers fan is aware of the calf injury Braun sustained during the 2011 season that continued to plague him throughout the rest of the season. Twice, Braun was nearly placed on the DL, but taking a few games off helped him to avoid a prolonged absence. The injury flared before Milwaukee's post season series with the Diamondbacks, and he took substances to try and expedite his recovery time.

So much of what actually happened has been sensationalized, and "facts" have been fabricated out of thin air. Braun made a dumb mistake, but the amount of piling on has been absurd.

Here's a fact. Dino Laurenzi Jr was fired by his employer because he failed to follow procedure. His dismissal had not a thing to do with anything Braun said, but a review of the facts germane to his appeal, and the determination that Dino Laurenzi Jr failed to discharge the duties of his job properly.

If what Ryan Braun said about Laurenzi Jr was so egregious in damaging his reputation, surely some proactive attorney in the Milwaukee or Chicago area would have contacted him, just itching to file a defamation of character lawsuit. But, curiously, that never happened.

I wonder why that is? I wonder why Laurenzi Jr got fired, and why Major League Baseball fired the guy that overturned Braun's suspension?

We all know that Major League Baseball upholds the highest ethical standard, right? Like, they would never knowingly look away while Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were juiced to the hilt, chasing Roger Maris' single season home run record. Attendance was down league wide after the 1994 strike. The home run race put butts in the seats, and television viewership skyrocketed. Before Maris, one man, Babe Ruth, had ever reached 60 home runs. I'm certain that Major League Baseball found it completely legitimate when Sammy Sosa hit 66 home runs, and Mark McGwire hit 70. So, I find it just a little hypocritical how aggressively they pursued Ryan Braun for using a little cream on his calf muscle, and then, when they lost the appeal, they went after him again for something else. I guess in the span of fourteen years, Major League Baseball found religion.

I in no way excuse Ryan Braun for breaking the rules, and then lying about it. If he, or anyone else breaks the rules, they deserve to get suspended. I also feel that the league should be held to the same standard, and clearly, they are not.

But I'm not going to sit idly bye and watch his name continue to be dragged through the mud, when so many of these statements are based on gross misrepresentations of the truth. We don't place nearly enough importance on factual veracity in the year 2021. Things posted online get accepted as fact, and many times, they are from factually accurate.

I suspect that Braun didn't want to have to go through the whole appeals process again after his name appeared three times on BALCO paperwork (once, along with his attorney's name, and an amount paid. Braun and his attorney stated that Anthony Bosch had been hired as a consultant during his 2011 appeal. Bosch confirmed to ESPN that Braun's legal team merely consulted with him during Braun's appeal, and confirmed that he never spoke to Braun himself.

Bosch backs Braun on Biogenesis explanation. Former head of anti-aging clinic affirms slugger's claim of attorney consultation

Why should Braun go through that costly, and exhausting process again? To provide the media with more opportunity to smear him? The system had been so fair to him the first time. It was clear to me, and several other friends of mine who were not fans of the Brewers, that Major League Baseball was not going to stop going after Ryan Braun until they had their public flogging. Braun knew he couldn't possibly fight MLB indefinitely. The resources they have, the ability to summarily dismiss independent arbitrators who don't rule in a manner that pleases them.

I ask you, Jim: would you have done anything differently than Braun did?

Braun in his press conference attacked not Dino Laurenzi Jr, but the totality of the process that had failed to uphold his rights as guaranteed by the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Did the words he read aloud amount to egg on his face a year or two later when he accepted a suspension in 2013? Yes. Is that entirely Braun's fault? Absolutely not. He had a high paid legal team, and public relations firm, that crafted what he read. That's evident to anybody with even a cursory legal background. As intelligent as Braun is, the language adopted in his statement was clearly heavily influenced by outside personnel. In retrospect, the wise thing to do would have been to release a statement after winning the appeal. Appearing in front of the press amounted to a victory lap, one that looked foolish (to say the least) after his suspension two years later.

Braun was the National League MVP runner up in 2012. He set a career high in leading the league with 41 home runs, this while being tested with a much greater frequency. Braun had never tested positive before 2011 (his own words, he'd been tested approximately 25 times prior), and never tested positive again.

As for the rancor exhibited by numerous people in this discussion, you should be thankful that the mistakes you make are not in the presence of reporters, and cameras. You are afforded the anonymity Braun was not. When you do something wrong, you are not subjected to scrutiny by newspapers, ESPN, etc. But if you were so scrutinized, I would hope you'd be extended more grace than any of you are giving Braun now.

He made a stupid mistake. He's not the first professional athlete to use something that Big Daddy didn't approve of, and he's not going to be the last. Common sense would suggest that he only used those substances because the things allowed by Major League Baseball were ineffective in addressing his injury. Blame him for breaking the rules. Absolutely. I did, and do. But instead of casting him into the seventh circle of hell for defending himself publicly, perhaps put yourself in his position.

The league, and the owners, collect their money regardless. The athletes, who play 162 games in the regular season alone, another 40 in spring training, and up to another 30 in the playoffs, have to deal with injuries day in, day out. They are expected to perform, regardless.

He certainly didn't cheat to make more money, as many have suggested. He signed an extension before the 2011 season that promised to pay him in excess of $100 million, with a large portion guaranteed.

I think Braun knew the Brewers had a rare chance to get to, and possibly win the World Series, and that without him healthy, there was no chance for them to win it. He made a bad decision. He broke the rules. But if that's true, hell, if it's even plausibly true, can you blame him for wanting to be his normal self?

Braun has done everything possible to make amends. He got together with Dino Laurenzi Jr and his family, and apologized in person. Laurenzi accepted his apology. He's been nothing but a model teammate since, and has done everything he could to help the city of Milwaukee.

Instead of continuing to trash him, how about some of you guys exhibit a little charity? We all make mistakes. I would think we'd hope for forgiveness in light of the fact that none of us are perfect.

[Jim65]

Dino Laurenzi was anonymous until his name was leaked by Brauns lawyers, they implied he was anti-Semitic and that he tampered with the sample because he was a Cubs fan.

Laurenzi made a mistake, but Braun was intentionally blaming another person when he knew he was guilty. Real nice guy

[packs]

Suspended Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun told players around MLB prior to 2012 spring training that the man who collected his urine sample that tested positive for synthetic testosterone was anti-Semitic in an attempt to discredit him, according to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan. Braun also accused the man, Dino Laurenzi Jr., of being a fan of the Chicago Cubs.

Source: Jeff Passan (as per the article)

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/8/...r-anti-semitic

[BobC]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

He tried to destroy a man's life? Really? You don't think that's a bit over the top with the hyperbole?

Let's look at what Ryan Braun actually said, shall we?

Here's the portion of his press conference transcript dealing with the collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr, and the collection process. Show me where he "tried to destroy a man's life."

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel archive



That's the extent of his commentary about the collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr.

Please show me, specifically, in that commentary before the press, where he attempted to "destroy" Laurenzi Jr.'s life.

I will remind you that, firstly, the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, agreed to by both Major League Baseball, and the Player's Union, requires the entire process to be confidential.

We should have never found out about any issue with Braun's urine test. Somebody leaked the test results to the media (ESPN's Outside the Lines, to be specific), and this whole circus ensued.

Show me one thing in that portion of Braun's statement that was manifestly inaccurate. Please.

I will remind you, further, that Baseball's Independent Arbitrator, Shyam Das, who had handled several appeals for MLB, sided with Braun, and threw out the suspension. That was the first time that a player had ever appealed, and won. That should speak volumes as to both the infallibility of the process under normal circumstances, and how many abnormalities there were in Braun's case.

Major League Baseball then proceeded to fire Shyam Das. But, no sour grapes there, right? Das had been Baseball's permanent arbitrator for 13 years. The first time it was ruled that the appealing player proved their case, MLB fired the arbitrator.

Doesn't that sound just a little suspect to you? The whole appeals process sounds like a sham if the independent arbitrator is summarily dismissed when they don't agree with the league. For thirteen years, MLB loved his work. The first time he took the side of the player, and the Player's Union, instead of Major League Baseball, they showed him the door.

Sounds completely objective to me!

Baseball tried again. Braun's name appeared a few times on BALCO documentation during the Biogenesis investigation-no specifics about drugs purchased, unlike every other athlete mentioned on the paperwork. Just Braun's name, along with one of his attorney's names, and a dollar amount.

That's what he was ultimately suspended over.

Couldn't it be possible, Jim, that everything Braun said was true? If Das sided with him, clearly there were procedural issues that rendered the sample's result as unreliable.

If you were in Braun's position, and the collector took your sample home for nearly two days, with no documentation, and then your test results were leaked to the press, wouldn't you be just a little suspicious? Would you be in the wrong to allude to questionable procedural adherence in a public statement?

Show me where Braun insinuated that Laurenzi Jr screwed with his sample because Braun is Jewish?

Because in reading this multiple times to refresh my memory, the only time that religion, or religious preference, is mentioned, occurred here:



The only time that Dino Laurenzi Jr's character, or professionalism, is ever called into question is here:



Is that seeking to "destroy a man's life"? Really?

I see a statement, clearly written in conjunction with Braun's legal team, and his PR firm, addressing the issues that were brought before Shyam Das. The specifics of what they found with the collector are not addressed, but they don't really need to be. He clearly did not properly execute the function of his position. If he had, there wouldn't have been grounds for appeal.

Braun won his appeal. Das found that there were fatal flaws with the collection process, and chain of custody. The Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program requires that, absent some extraordinary circumstance, the collector drop the biological sample off at a Fed Ex facility, of which there were several locations, including one that was available to receive these kinds of samples 24 hours. Dino Laurenzi Jr did not do what was required of him. He took the sample home, popped it into a cooler (not a refrigerator) for approximately 48 hours on the shelf of his basement office.


Did Ryan Braun break Major League Baseball's rules, violating the Joint Program? Absolutely. Did he lie about it? Yup, and I was pissed at Braun, as a Brewers fan, for a number of years. But after that mixture of anger and profound disappointment passed, I decidedly to go back, and objectively look at everything I could find, parsing the myriad articles for fact, and for conjecture.

The truth of the matter is that Braun didn't use a performance enhancing drug. That's another patently inaccurate falsehood that's been floated around by the media, media who has, apparently, no requirement to adhere to any kind of journalistic integrity in their reporting. All they care about is revenue.

First, how about a working definition of what a performance enhancing drug is. From The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine:



As Braun alluded to in his press conference statement, he didn't realize any kind of performance enhancement.



The banned substance he took was used to heal an injury.

Here's the portion of Ryan Braun's statement, released by Major League Baseball on their own website, after accepting his 100 game suspension:



Any long time Brewers fan is aware of the calf injury Braun sustained during the 2011 season that continued to plague him throughout the rest of the season. Twice, Braun was nearly placed on the DL, but taking a few games off helped him to avoid a prolonged absence. The injury flared before Milwaukee's post season series with the Diamondbacks, and he took substances to try and expedite his recovery time.

So much of what actually happened has been sensationalized, and "facts" have been fabricated out of thin air. Braun made a dumb mistake, but the amount of piling on has been absurd.

Here's a fact. Dino Laurenzi Jr was fired by his employer because he failed to follow procedure. His dismissal had not a thing to do with anything Braun said, but a review of the facts germane to his appeal, and the determination that Dino Laurenzi Jr failed to discharge the duties of his job properly.

If what Ryan Braun said about Laurenzi Jr was so egregious in damaging his reputation, surely some proactive attorney in the Milwaukee or Chicago area would have contacted him, just itching to file a defamation of character lawsuit. But, curiously, that never happened.

I wonder why that is? I wonder why Laurenzi Jr got fired, and why Major League Baseball fired the guy that overturned Braun's suspension?

We all know that Major League Baseball upholds the highest ethical standard, right? Like, they would never knowingly look away while Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were juiced to the hilt, chasing Roger Maris' single season home run record. Attendance was down league wide after the 1994 strike. The home run race put butts in the seats, and television viewership skyrocketed. Before Maris, one man, Babe Ruth, had ever reached 60 home runs. I'm certain that Major League Baseball found it completely legitimate when Sammy Sosa hit 66 home runs, and Mark McGwire hit 70. So, I find it just a little hypocritical how aggressively they pursued Ryan Braun for using a little cream on his calf muscle, and then, when they lost the appeal, they went after him again for something else. I guess in the span of fourteen years, Major League Baseball found religion.

I in no way excuse Ryan Braun for breaking the rules, and then lying about it. If he, or anyone else breaks the rules, they deserve to get suspended. I also feel that the league should be held to the same standard, and clearly, they are not.

But I'm not going to sit idly bye and watch his name continue to be dragged through the mud, when so many of these statements are based on gross misrepresentations of the truth. We don't place nearly enough importance on factual veracity in the year 2021. Things posted online get accepted as fact, and many times, they are from factually accurate.

I suspect that Braun didn't want to have to go through the whole appeals process again after his name appeared three times on BALCO paperwork (once, along with his attorney's name, and an amount paid. Braun and his attorney stated that Anthony Bosch had been hired as a consultant during his 2011 appeal. Bosch confirmed to ESPN that Braun's legal team merely consulted with him during Braun's appeal, and confirmed that he never spoke to Braun himself.

Bosch backs Braun on Biogenesis explanation. Former head of anti-aging clinic affirms slugger's claim of attorney consultation

Why should Braun go through that costly, and exhausting process again? To provide the media with more opportunity to smear him? The system had been so fair to him the first time. It was clear to me, and several other friends of mine who were not fans of the Brewers, that Major League Baseball was not going to stop going after Ryan Braun until they had their public flogging. Braun knew he couldn't possibly fight MLB indefinitely. The resources they have, the ability to summarily dismiss independent arbitrators who don't rule in a manner that pleases them.

I ask you, Jim: would you have done anything differently than Braun did?

Braun in his press conference attacked not Dino Laurenzi Jr, but the totality of the process that had failed to uphold his rights as guaranteed by the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Did the words he read aloud amount to egg on his face a year or two later when he accepted a suspension in 2013? Yes. Is that entirely Braun's fault? Absolutely not. He had a high paid legal team, and public relations firm, that crafted what he read. That's evident to anybody with even a cursory legal background. As intelligent as Braun is, the language adopted in his statement was clearly heavily influenced by outside personnel. In retrospect, the wise thing to do would have been to release a statement after winning the appeal. Appearing in front of the press amounted to a victory lap, one that looked foolish (to say the least) after his suspension two years later.

Braun was the National League MVP runner up in 2012. He set a career high in leading the league with 41 home runs, this while being tested with a much greater frequency. Braun had never tested positive before 2011 (his own words, he'd been tested approximately 25 times prior), and never tested positive again.

As for the rancor exhibited by numerous people in this discussion, you should be thankful that the mistakes you make are not in the presence of reporters, and cameras. You are afforded the anonymity Braun was not. When you do something wrong, you are not subjected to scrutiny by newspapers, ESPN, etc. But if you were so scrutinized, I would hope you'd be extended more grace than any of you are giving Braun now.

He made a stupid mistake. He's not the first professional athlete to use something that Big Daddy didn't approve of, and he's not going to be the last. Common sense would suggest that he only used those substances because the things allowed by Major League Baseball were ineffective in addressing his injury. Blame him for breaking the rules. Absolutely. I did, and do. But instead of casting him into the seventh circle of hell for defending himself publicly, perhaps put yourself in his position.

The league, and the owners, collect their money regardless. The athletes, who play 162 games in the regular season alone, another 40 in spring training, and up to another 30 in the playoffs, have to deal with injuries day in, day out. They are expected to perform, regardless.

He certainly didn't cheat to make more money, as many have suggested. He signed an extension before the 2011 season that promised to pay him in excess of $100 million, with a large portion guaranteed.

I think Braun knew the Brewers had a rare chance to get to, and possibly win the World Series, and that without him healthy, there was no chance for them to win it. He made a bad decision. He broke the rules. But if that's true, hell, if it's even plausibly true, can you blame him for wanting to be his normal self?

Braun has done everything possible to make amends. He got together with Dino Laurenzi Jr and his family, and apologized in person. Laurenzi accepted his apology. He's been nothing but a model teammate since, and has done everything he could to help the city of Milwaukee.

Instead of continuing to trash him, how about some of you guys exhibit a little charity? We all make mistakes. I would think we'd hope for forgiveness in light of the fact that none of us are perfect.

So you're saying Pete Rose should have never been suspended and should have been inducted into Cooperstown already?