Ryan Braun, Most Valuable Prevaricator

washingtonpost.com

Allow me to join all those that rejoiced this last week when Major League Baseball's MVP from last season, Ryan Braun, won his case and had his 50 game suspension overturned.   Major League Baseball's arbitrator ruled for the first time in a player's favor in the appeal process of a positive drug test.  Braun's drug test showed an elevated level of testosterone in his system.  Not only was it elevated significantly but it was of a synthetic nature meaning that Braun's body did not produce it.  Now that the MVP won his appeals process, Braun spoke out this week and earned the Most Valuable Prevaricator award too.

Braun and his attorneys chose to fight their appeal on the basis that there was a breach in the chain of control of the specimen.  They did not dispute the specimen itself.  It appears that they won their appeal on this technicality.  His appeal victory was not enough.  Braun spoke publicly to deny that he ever used any performance-enhancing drug and then without skipping a beat, Braun chose to lay the blame on Dino Laurenzi Jr., the collector of his sample. 

Our MVP's statement, "There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way the entire thing works, that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened, " 

The mendacity of Ryan Braun is of MVP proportions.  One has to pause for a moment to consider the credibility of a Major League Baseball player versus a Director of Rehabilitation Services with an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin with Master Degrees earned at the University of North Carolina and Loyola University of Chicago.  Who should we believe?  We've had some past experience with the credibility of Major League Baseball players such as Roger Clemons, Bobby Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez to name just a few. 

Once again, one has to ask the obvious question of what benefit did a collector of specimens have to gain by tampering with the specimens?  Nothing.  What did Ryan Braun have to gain?  Everything.  Even the vast majority of those playing in the game question the overturn of the decision.  Some players are actually worried about the integrity of the game.  That's a novel thought, isn't it.  Where has that attitude been the last 15 years?

I suspect that we have not heard the end of the Ryan Braun matter.  Not just the smattering of disenchanted fans he will face all season but maybe even in the courtroom if Dino Laurenzi Jr. decides that his reputation is every bit as important as Braun's.  By all accounts, the specimens arrived in pristine condition with the tamper-free seals and identification numbers intact.  We all know or have had experiences ourselves of the drug testing that takes place today.  Even many of the lowest paying jobs in America require drug testing.  My guess is that Major League Baseball standards for collections reach far beyond the strip-mall collection agencies that exist in every city in America. 

I can't believe Ryan Braun's story.  I gave up on Major League Baseball years ago and for me, Braun joins the ranks of his fellow performance-enhancing drug users who have selfishly placed themselves above the integrity of the game.  Braun took it one step further by placing the blame on someone who was just doing their job and doing it the way he was asked to.