Brewers’ Ryan Braun, National League MVP, Busted for Banned Performance-Enhancing Drugs (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on December 11, 2011
National League MVP and Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs - he faces a 50-game suspension
Say it ain’t so, Ryan.
Last month, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun won the National League’s acclaimed Most Valuable Player Award.
This month, Braun reportedly tested positive for using a performance-enhancing drug.
What a difference a month makes… fans are stunned, but Braun is proclaiming his innocence, calling the drug-testing results “B.S.,” and is appealing the test.
Because of his respected reputation and his well-known philosophy of treating his body like a temple, I’m reserving judgment for now about him possibly using steroids until after the arbitration process.
Reported by Green Bay Press Gazette, Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun says he is ‘completely innocent’ in positive drug test allegation:
Did Ryan Braun cheat to become the 2011 National League most valuable player or is he the innocent victim of a premature report?
That was the question being asked across the baseball world Saturday with the stunning news that the Milwaukee Brewers’ star leftfielder tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and faced a 50-game suspension, according to a report by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
No one associated with Braun, Major League Baseball or the Brewers would comment publicly on the report because the positive test is being appealed through an arbitration process that is ongoing. It was unknown how long that process could take.
In the video below, MLB writer Jon Paul Morosi comments on the report.
Morosi: Dark day for baseball
From Time News, Ryan Braun, National League MVP, Busted For Banned Substance
Is the National League Most Valuable Player also baseball’s biggest dunce? Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, who hit .332 last season with 33 home runs and 111 RBI, has tested positive for a banned substance, and is facing a 50-game suspension. ESPN reported that Braun tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, and that a later test, conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory in Montreal, indicated that the elevated testosterone was synthetic, not naturally produced by Braun’s body.
Braun is pushing back hard. He is trumpeting his innocence, a familiar refrain for players caught cheating. “There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the [drug testing] program,” a Braun spokesman said in an email. “While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident that he will ultimately be exonerated.” USA Today said that Braun called the result “B.S.”
From Boston Herald, Ryan Braun appealing positive drug test; NL MVP faces 50-game suspension:
A CAA spokesman said that neither Braun nor his agent, Nez Balelo, would have a comment during the appeal process. But a source familiar with the situation from Braun’s end told the Journal Sentinel that a second test requested by Braun was negative and was being used in the appeal process to overturn the first result. That source also indicated the banned substance was not a performance-enhancing drug.
“The truth will prevail; I really feel good about that,” said the source. “It just stinks that this got out before the appeal process is finished. Initial positive tests have been overturned before, proving the player is innocent, and nobody ever knows.”
Former NBA star Reggie Miller, now a basketball analyst for TNT, lives next to Braun in Malibu, Calif., and posted this tweet after the report surfaced: “Just spoke with my neighbor, Ryan Braun. He says test is bogus, can only believe a man for his word. Truth will always come out.”
The news was shocking in large part because of Braun’s squeaky-clean image. Renowned for his comprehensive and disciplined workouts, Braun often has attributed his success to his devotion to being physically prepared. He is known to be diligent about any supplements he puts in his body and therefore seemingly would not take a substance even remotely suspected of being tainted.
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