Scandal Over: Baseball’s National League MVP Ryan Braun Wins Appeal on Positive Drug Testing & Is Off the Hook for 50-Game Suspension (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 23, 2012
MVP Ryan Braun has won his appeal on the performance-enhancing drug test results
Back in December, when it was publicized that popular Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun tested postive for a banned performance-enhancing drug, he consistently proclaimed his innocence.
Which is what professional athletes all do when they’re caught cheating by taking steroids or other banned substances.
However, in Braun’s appeals case, something rare and wonderful happened. Because of what is believed to be the improper handling of his test specimen, two members of a three-person panel have agreed with Braun that the initial test results were erroneous. Following that first test, Braun had taken a second test done by an independent laboratory that showed he had normal levels of testosterone, which further corroborated the potential invalidity of the first damning drug test.
According to baseball officials, this decision for Braun marks the very first time a major league baseball drug suspension has been overturned in a grievance.
Scandal over. Braun had faced a 50-game suspension, plus the sullying of his outstanding record and ethics. A man’s good name and reputation, once smeared, are never the same.
Congratulations, Ryan, your admirable, squeaky-clean image remains intact — looks like justice has prevailed.
From New York Times, Braun Wins Appeal on Positive Drug Test and Avoids Suspension:
Ryan Braun, the reigning most valuable player in the National League, has successfully appealed his positive drug test and will not be suspended for the first 50 games of the 2012 season.
A three-man panel that heard Braun’s appeal upheld his argument by a vote of 2-1. Until now, no player is known to have successfully appealed a positive test result.
The test that has now been overturned was taken during the 2011 postseason, in which Braun played left field and batted cleanup for the Milwaukee Brewers, who beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round and then lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.
The first test result revealed that Braun had elevated levels of testosterone in his body. The test showed a prohibited substance in Braun’s body, but not a steroid, according to a person familiar with the results.
Braun learned of the result in late October and insisted that the test was flawed. He took a second test done by an independent laboratory that showed he had normal levels of testosterone, the person said. Braun’s lawyers argued that the first sample was improperly handled and the results were therefore flawed.
Under Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, the testing service, Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., “absent unusual circumstance” is supposed to send specimens to the testing laboratory in Montreal on the same day they are collected.
Braun’s lawyers argued that his sample was not sent for roughly 48 hours.
[...]
In his five years in the major leagues, the 28-year-old Braun has become one of the most popular players in baseball. A first-round draft pick in 2005, he was rookie of the year in 2007, has made the All-Star team four times and has helped guide the Brewers to the playoffs twice.
He also signed a five-year contract extension worth $105 million last year, solidifying his status as the face of the Brewers, particularly with the loss of Prince Fielder, who recently signed a lavish free-agent deal with the Detroit Tigers.
Over the last decade, baseball has introduced testing for performance enhancers and then repeatedly toughened those measures and those actions have apparently had the desired effect of cutting down on drug use in the sport. But the disclosure in December that Braun had teated positive was seen as a significant setback for Commissioner Bud Selig, who has argued that the steroid era, which tarnished the achievements of countless players, was clearly a thing of the past.
Braun is relieved by the decision, obviously, as reported by ESPN:
“I am very pleased and relieved by today’s decision,” Braun said in a statement. “It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation. We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side.
“We provided complete cooperation throughout, despite the highly unusual circumstances. I have been an open book, willing to share details from every aspect of my life as part of this investigation, because I have nothing to hide. I have passed over 25 drug tests in my career, including at least three in the past year.”
ESPN’s Outside the Line’s report from December 2011:
RYAN BRAUN TESTS POSITIVE
From ABC News, Ryan Braun’s 50-Game Suspension Overturned:
National League MVP Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension was overturned Thursday by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, the first time a baseball player successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance.
The decision was announced Thursday by the Major League Baseball Players Association, one day before the 28-year-old outfielder was due to report to spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Braun tested positive in October for elevated testosterone, and ESPN revealed the positive test in December.
[...]
No reasoning was given for Thursday’s decision.
“Today the arbitration panel announced its decision, by a 2-1 vote, to sustain Ryan Braun’s grievance challenging his 50-game suspension by the commissioner’s office,” a statement from the players’ association said.
National League MVP and Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs - however, he was cleared today because of improper handling of his test specimen
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