Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Day 114: Ryan Braun Can't Weasel His Way Out of This Suspension

Biogenesis might sound like the fictional, evil scientific lab center of a Robin Cook novel to some, but for the doping major league baseball player, Biogenesis is a little bit like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. The Miami-based rejuvenation clinic's true colors were revealed by a disgruntled employee who disclosed the real business—selling performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to an extensive list of MLB players.

In 2012, Milwaukee Brewers' left fielder Ryan Braun successfully challenged a positive drug test and an impending 50-game suspension based on the chain of command of his urine sample in late 2011. Because the sample sat in someone's fridge for 48 hours before being sent off to the lab for testing, Braun claimed that the positive result was due to tampering. He won the appeal and the suspension was overturned. Flimsy accusations, but it worked.

Following the events of the sample misconduct, Braun gained the support of many peers and team brass. He insisted that he did not violate baseball's drug agreement and people believed him. The Brewers rewarded him with a hefty contract extension worth $145 million, keeping him in Milwaukee through the 2020 season. He thought he was invincible.

So you cheat, you lie and you get rewarded with millions? Awesome.

Finally... Braun's luck ran out this week as he became the first player to succumb to this recent scandal. He was suspended without pay for 65 games—basically the remainder of the season and post-season, if the Brewers get that far. Braun will lose out on nearly $4 million of his $9.61 million contract for the 2013 season. Ouch. Serves you right, cheater. Can we revoke his MVP award?

Good for MLB for cracking down on these cheating douchebags. I'm so sick of these lazy, doping athletes who try to take the easy way out. I'm sick of the lies and I'm sick of second guessing every successful baseball player, wondering in the back of my mind if this is all him or if he's using an HGH aid. It shouldn't have to be this way. Fans shouldn't have to be suspicious of every home run and every strike out.

I'm not stupid. I know even member of the Red Sox have been involved in PEDs at some point or another. You can't tell me Jacoby Ellsbury wasn't juicing in 2011—just look at his career home run totals and tell me that was all him. We know Manny was doing it. Maybe David Ortiz experimented too, although we may never know for sure. It all makes me sick.

More will fall in the coming days and weeks—most likely Alex Rodriguez, Bartolo Colon and Melky Cabrera to name a few. Seeing A-Rod go down might even be worth it.

No comments:

Post a Comment