Ryan Braun exonerated, no suspension… Latest: MLB drops Eliezer Alfonzo suspension; case similar to Braun's (part 1)

[pitchleague]

boy it is sure tempting to take tomorrow off and head down to Maryvale to cheer on Braunie's arrival at camp!

 

I literally had tears welling up when reading this news at school today. Really made my day.

 

The whole story sure is interesting, though. I'm excited to see how it all plays out from here. I wonder when or if we will EVER find out the E! True Hollywood Story of this event.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Well that would be a fun twist...kind of makes Rodgers' tweet talking about people slamming Braun getting off on a technicality eat crow look pretty good.

 

so chain of custody issues AND possibly a sample identification error...and MLB still tried to suspend Braun with this sample AND leak the info to ESPN??

 

MLB's ticked off because their testing process makes them look like amateurs right now.

[brewers19]

New info from TOM, according to Brauns side there is more to it than a chain of effidense, there is a chance that it is not even Brauns unine sample.

If you're referring to this, then I think you're reading too much into the comment. It's just stating that outside the chain of custody, something as extreme as that is possible, not that it actually happened in this case.

[berniebrewer4life]

New info from TOM, according to Brauns side there is more to it than a chain of effidense, there is a chance that it is not even Brauns unine sample.

 

I imagine it not being Braun's actual pee could pose a problem. No idea how that could happen though

 

The dude had more than 1 jar of pee in his fridge?

[Fear The Chorizo]

New info from TOM, according to Brauns side there is more to it than a chain of effidense, there is a chance that it is not even Brauns unine sample.

 

I imagine it not being Braun's actual pee could pose a problem. No idea how that could happen though

 

depends on how the samples are identified - I'm sure the procedure is to label the samples in a way that doesn't allow the lab to know who's it is. If the sample ID for Braun's sample was incorrectly identified by the sample key, it would be very easy to have a mislabeled sample. There are also occasions where quality control samples are included with batches of samples (duplicates, trip blanks, matrix spikes, etc) to check the accuracy/integrity of the lab. If there was a spike sample included in a batch of samples that was potentially mislabeled, it isn't inconceivable that a previously prepared sample containing synthetic T was misidentified as Braun's urine sample. Braun's camp could have argued looking at the lab report to see if a spike sample that was supposed to have a high result ended up testing clean, and Braun's ended up testing ridiculously high.

 

sounds like a huge reach, but everything else that's happened in this situation has been, too...

[Funketown]

"Someone familiar with the decision by arbitrator Shyam Das said there were "several problems" with the chain of custody after the urine sample was collected. Instead of being dropped off at FedEx on the Saturday it was taken, the collector kept it at home until Monday, according to a source."

 

- From TH's blog.

 

I'm somebody who is generally skeptical of the ability of drug tests to catch users, especially when parties have this much money on the table. It still would not surprise me if Braun were guilty, but it also wouldn't surprise me if there were a hundred other guys out there who have been doing the exact same thing and will never be caught.

 

I'll continue to give Braun, just as I would with pretty much any other player, the benefit of the doubt. He's a really special player, and he seems like a pretty decent guy as well (outside of those horrible t-shirts). Here's to hoping he goes berserk on the NL next season.

 

Oh, and Olney is a complete clown.

[fondybrewfan]

Why does MLB even go through the hassle of using a courier to drop the samples off at FedEx? Couldn't they very easily arrange for FedEx to pick the samples up from the collection site? This just seems odd to me.

[pebadger]

There have been cases before the international Court of Arbitration for Sport where it was admitted by the analysts that they KNEW whose sample they tested because of labeling problems, in spite of the rule that such knowledge is prohibited, and the court upheld the test result because, in effect, that rule was no big deal. There is just an unacceptable amount of sloppiness in this system that holds people's livelilhoods and reputations in its hands. The fact that they can get away with this sloppiness, and a general "crusaders for good against the dirty cheats" attitude is what led MLB to press this case so hard in the first place.

[berniebrewer4life]

MLB Network is absolutely no better than ESPN...I can't watch either of these garbage stations. I am so tired of these talking heads throwing out anything they want to say.

 

I'm surprised that Milwaukee radio is bad enough that people actually listen to Chicago sports radio by choice. If I was on the road after a Bears loss, I used to enjoy tuning in- but even that got annoying after awhile.

.

 

It's freakin horrible(I won't listen unless it's a brewers post game show anymore). Homer is considered one of the best and he's a JOKE. The guy has a horrible sounding voice and just is impossible for me to listen to(doesn't seem to ask tough questions, just overall doesn't seem very knowledgeable on things. I just don't like him). I'd probably listen to 1250(but not Bill Michaels), but i don't get it very well in Delavan at less than an hour drive outside downtown MKE(yet both Chicago stations are CRYSTAL clear, ugh). They just seem to lack personality. All the guys from B&B to Lawrence Holmes to Jason Goff to Herb Lawrence are all guys i can relate to. They have my type of humor, and aren't afraid to call callers morons when they are being morons.

[owbc]

Been digesting this for the last few hours. It seems like some critical piece of information is missing. I find it hard to believe that Braun was cleared just because the test spent an extra day in a fridge. That's just a single problem and they are saying "multiple problems".

 

We still have no idea what caused the positive test. Braun says he revealed details from "every aspect of his life". Why would he do that if they were just contesting the chain of command?

 

And of course everyone rushed to judgment. That's the way society is--every piece of news is usually framed to fit preconceived opinions. We all knew MLB would defend the testing process. We knew ESPN wasn't suddenly doing to declare Braun clean. And honestly, the story from Stark is right, an objective observer is still left with way too many open questions.

 

There has to be more to this--and Braun is going to get a long list of questions tomorrow that he needs to answer directly. Otherwise the speculation is going to continue.

[Brewtacular]

Why does MLB even go through the hassle of using a courier to drop the samples off at FedEx? Couldn't they very easily arrange for FedEx to pick the samples up from the collection site? This just seems odd to me.

 

I'll have you know that Hank has a really nice 79 Transam and he was just trying to do MLB a favor and save them some money in tough economic times by dropping the sample off at FedEx over on Cliff Road, sheesh.

[pebadger]

Soak in this quote, from a guy who ha no direct connection to the case. It tells you all you need to know about the attitude of the people who are in positions of power in the drug-testing community.

 

Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, called the decision "a real gut-kick to clean athletes."

During the hearing, Braun's side challenged the chain of custody from the time the urine sample was collected by Comprehensive Drug Testing Inc. to when it was sent, nearly 48 hours later, to a World Anti-Doping Agency-certified laboratory in Montreal, two people familiar with the case said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because what took place in the hearing is supposed to be confidential.

 

The sample was collected on Oct. 1, a Saturday and the day the Brewers opened the NL playoffs. The collector did not send the sample to the laboratory until Monday, thinking it would be more secure at home than at a Federal Express office during the weekend.

 

Baseball's drug agreement states that "absent unusual circumstances, the specimens should be sent by FedEx to the laboratory on the same day they are collected."

 

"To have this sort of technicality of all technicalities let a player off ... it's just a sad day for all the clean players and those that abide by the rules within professional baseball," Tygart said.

 

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/02/23/braun.suspension.ap/index.html#ixzz1nGJLZfSZ

[burnzy24]

Been digesting this for the last few hours. It seems like some critical piece of information is missing. I find it hard to believe that Braun was cleared just because the test spent an extra day in a fridge. That's just a single problem and they are saying "multiple problems".

 

 

You are missing the point. Bad chain of custody means the evidence from it is compromised. Therefore, the only piece of evidence that MLB had in its favor,the positive test, is useless so there was basically nothing legitimate to show that Braun violated the drug policy. Your are mistaken and oversimplifying when you say the test only spent an extra day in the fridge. That "extra day in the fridge" is a blatant violation of the MLB's drug testing policy. I don't think some people are truly grasping how important a flawless chain of custody is regarding evidence. If there are any missteps, that evidence simply cannot be used.

[AZBrewCrew]

boy it is sure tempting to take tomorrow off and head down to Maryvale to cheer on Braunie's arrival at camp!

 

I literally had tears welling up when reading this news at school today. Really made my day.

 

The whole story sure is interesting, though. I'm excited to see how it all plays out from here. I wonder when or if we will EVER find out the E! True Hollywood Story of this event.

 

pitchleague, I hear ya, im off tomorrow and am tempted to head down there myself but im not sure how much access one would get if there is going to be a huge media showing tomorrow

[ilovebeer]

For the out of towners i just looked at all 4 tv station websites and they had many vidoe's from there newscast on line .

[fondybrewfan]

And I thought people were rushing to judgment when ESPN leaked the first story; this is a little ridiculous. Maybe people should at least wait until Braun explains (hopefully) his side of the story.

 

I am also skeptical that the dude holding onto it an extra day was the sole reason he won the appeal; there has got to be something more than that

[owbc]

I don't think some people are truly grasping how important a flawless chain of custody is regarding evidence. If there are any missteps, that evidence simply cannot be used.

 

So from your perspective, the results should have been thrown out immediately after the procedure was not followed? And that is the standard procedure in testing?

 

If it is so important, then it is amazing that there would even be such an opportunity for a mistake like that to be made--and that MLB is "vehemently" defending their side despite an obvious violation of the policy. Instead, MLB should be admitting error and drafting a new policy to ensure that the mistake does not happen again.

 

No matter what the perspective, the testing policy is now severely compromised in the eyes of the public.

[gregmag]

To the folks who are spinning this "technicality" thing as if we still have good reason to believe Ryan Braun used a PED: We don't. We. Don't.

 

There is exactly as much direct, documentary evidence that Ryan Braun used a PED as there is that Rickie Weeks used a PED, or Aaron Rodgers used a PED, or Mother Teresa used a PED: none. Zero.

 

What there was, was a test result. A test result is information filtered through a process. As xis and pebadger have explained very carefully and well, testing for substances in the body is a particularly tricky process. The reason you take great care with such a test isn't that we're trying to let guilty players off the hook. The reason you take great care is because, if you don't do the test right, it becomes very easy to reach a wrong result.

 

Here are the two important things I think we know:

 

(1) Braun's test results were extremely unusual.

 

(2) The procedures around the test were extremely sloppy.

 

I say "extremely sloppy" because of the one thing we absolutely do know: The neutral arbitrator ruled in Braun's favor. Apparently that doesn't happen much. It may never have happened before. Do you really think the arbitrator is going to deviate that far from a standard judgment over a small error? Or when there's not a very strong basis for believing that the error caused the suspicious result? Do you actually believe that?

 

I'm livid at MLB right now. If I were Braun's lawyer, I would be begging him to let me bring a lawsuit over the leak, but I suspect he'd tell me that he has bigger fish to fry in this life -- and he would be right. That doesn't make the leak any more excusable. The fact that MLB has not announced an internal investigation over the leak is outrageous. The fact that they haven't issued a public apology to Braun about the leak is appalling. The fact that, instead of doing those things, they're out there trying to drag his name back through the mud, and cover their own miserable, incompetent butts, is loathsome.

 

The idea that MLB has ever had better ethics than your average petty criminal has never been one I could take very seriously. In the old, old days, MLB was a national leader in organized racism. During that time, the game went through a period where it was basically a riverboat casino. In the merely old days, MLB chained players to draconian contracts while the owners got rich. Now MLB runs a sham competition designed to squeeze advertising revenue out of the biggest population centers, basically professional wrestling with less fun costumes.

 

MLB made boatloads of money off PEDs in the 90s and 00s; now they pontificate like Louie at Rick's Cafe. I think MLB's response to this fiasco is bad faith under the CBA. I want the MLBPA to issue a statement tomorrow that it will fight tooth and nail in the next CBA negotiation to remove all requirements for drug testing. Would that facilitate juicing? Of course it would. But who cares? MLB's commitment to maintaining fair competitive conditions was always laughable, and now it's been revealed as nothing more than amateur kabuki theater.

 

I find myself thinking, over and over: I love this beautiful game. Because that's my only good answer to the question I keep asking, over and over: Why do I even bother with this stupid, corrupt sport?

[burnzy24]

So from your perspective, the results should have been thrown out immediately after the procedure was not followed? And that is the standard procedure in testing?

 

 

Yes, that is my opinion, but I am skewed from my law school evidence course. If this were a legal proceeding and there was a provable chain of custody issue like they are claiming took place here, a jury would never even have heard about the evidence. The fact that something like this took place, and MLB still went through with the prosecution of the case, raises serious questions about the legitimacy of the MLB's testing procedure. They seem to have gone from generally overlooking steriod abuse to trying to punish anything that looks remotely close to steroid use in a little over of 10 years.

[AZBrewCrew]

What about the potential HIPAA implications? Would there even be any? As a paramedic I understand HIPAA as it pertains to patient privacy and sharing of information but thats on a vague level for what we do. Perhaps someone with a little more insurance/healthcare background can chime in?

[saget]

Tag line for 2012 Brewers: There Will be Blood. Braun's new slash line will be .400/.550/.700

[PKBadger]

With regard to the HIPAA stuff, I did some Google research on the subject back when the Braun story first broke (because I assumed it was a violation as well)....basically what I found is that in cases like this, or with a drug test you might take when you are starting a new job, it's technically not covered by HIPAA because you are voluntarily offering the sample. It's treated differently than if you were seeking healthcare for your own purposes. Can't remember the specifics, but what I took away was that it's not something Braun could sue over.

[dlk9s]

Tag line for 2012 Brewers: There Will be Blood Properly Shipped and Stored Next Time. Braun's new slash line will be .400/.550/.700

 

Fixed.

[Madtown343]

If you don't follow will carrol on twitter. Check out his recent posts. He seems to have more info than the masses.

[jjfanec]

If you don't follow will carrol on twitter. Check out his recent posts. He seems to have more info than the masses.

 

Any highlights? I dont follow anyone on twitter