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

[topper09er]

Does anyone actually know if this is the first successful appeal? In theory no one should ever know that any other appeal even happened? So unless mlb comes out and confirms there has never been a previous successful appeal I wont believe it. Seems like ESPN is just saying it to make themselves look better since there is no way anyone would ever know either way.

 

Also, was the guy sending in a positive test or just a test sample? Why would the chain of custody matter if it was already found to be positive? It seems like the 2 days would only matter if the test result was still unknown? And why does it matter if it stayed in this guys fridge overnight? Are they saying the guy who took the sample does not know how to properly store it for 2 days? And if you think you have a positive test of RYAN BRAUN wouldnt you drive to the fedex to make they arent closed that night, or AT LEAST CALL THEM to see if they are still open? ESPN is making it sound like some bumbling idiot with the precious positive test was too lazy to take it to fedex because he "thought" they might be closed and then went home and put it in the microwave.

[ilovebeer]

i just put on my braun mvp shirt on to celebrate.

[MoreTrife]

I REALLY hope Braun addressed this satisfactorily. He CANNOT simply say "The process worked, I won't address this further, looking forward to a new season." I'm encouraged by Aaron Rodgers tweet that "everyone talking about technicalities get ready to eat crow". We need some scientific people, independent perhaps, to maybe address what would happen if a sample sat around for 2 days.

 

Ugh, don't have a good feeling right now. Happy he won appeal but want it to be for a good reason.

[Fear The Chorizo]

my guess is the sample sat in the collector's apartment prior to it being analyzed at all, or before the high levels of testosterone in it were known.

[azcheesehead]

I flip on ESPN just now and here is what I see in pictures, not the crusty sidebar that says, "Breaking: Braun clears suspension"....Jeremy Lin, Tiger Woods, Dick Vitale. No story to create with Braun, I see.

[logan82]

The fact is that Braun's sample had a high level of testosterone. What did ESPN do wrong? http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug

 

In my opinion the only fault lies with MLB or whomever they contract out to do the testing.

[ilovebeer]

He didn't do anything wrong, like what he said in his statement that he has had over 35 test and never failed one.

[adambr2]

I don't think it's fair to completely write this off on "getting off on a technicality."

 

Braun had passed so many random tests before. Then he gets one that sits in some joe's refrigerator all weekend, and then when it gets to the lab it registered higher testosterone levels than ever before.

 

I don't know the scientific explanation, but does that really sound like a coincidence?

[azcheesehead]

The fact is that Braun's sample had a high level of testosterone. What did ESPN do wrong? http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug

 

In my opinion the only fault lies with MLB or whomever they contract out to do the testing.

 

Their omission speaks volumes. This is the first person in known MLB history to win a drug appeal. If this was a Yankee or Red Sox player they would dedicate an entire 30 minute section to them, just as they would if Braun lost his appeal.

[reillymcshane]

Interesting question: what if Braun sues MLB? Should he?

 

The guy was a squeaky clean prior to this. He'd just won the MVP award. That's got to be worth a lot in endorsements, personal appearances, etc., on a national level. But no one was going to touch him after what happened (at least not beyond the Wisconsin market). And going forward, who wants to employ him as a spokesperson or whatever? He's not the MVP - he's the MVP who almost got suspended by MLB. You think Wheaties or Friday's or whomever wants that around the neck of the person they pay six or seven figures to endorse their products.

 

I feel bad because it really screws his chances to make himself a national brand.

 

Oh well, he's cleared to play. That's the important thing.

[jeffy]

Does anyone actually know if this is the first successful appeal?

 

I don't know, but I was never that impressed by the statements that no one had ever been successful, because there had only ever been like 12 appeals. It's like thinking that a guy who goes 0-12, is never going to hit again.

[topper09er]

The fact is that Braun's sample had a high level of testosterone. What did ESPN do wrong? http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug

 

In my opinion the only fault lies with MLB or whomever they contract out to do the testing.

 

Well wasn't it just a "banned substance" instead of a "PED" that caused the positive test?

 

Big distinction there, and ESPN got it wrong if infact it turns out to be true.

[PeaveyFury]

What did ESPN do wrong?

 

They almost certainly broke HIPAA, which is illegal last I checked.

[xisxisxis]

IIRC all of these tests are run on a mass spectrometer. You can easily have metabolic/degradation of other molecules in the sample that would overlap with the position where Testosterone is supposed to be located. In this example they were using an unusual T:E ratio indicating an issue. T and E degrade at different rates. A sample could easily show a dramatic altering of the T:E ratio depending on how it was handled in a short period of time. I work with DNA all the time and it is pretty stable under varied conditions, but proteins and other small molecules can degrade within minutes under the wrong circumstances. Chain of command is definitely an issue.

 

How they even tested the sample is beyond me. Clearly they need to change the policy that any sample that is not sent within X hours of collection will not be tested because it has been compromised by handling.

 

I don't expect ESPN or their idiotic commentators to understand the subtlety of mishandling a sample can lead to an erroneous result so let's not expect them to admit their failure...

 

The only thing that matters is NO SUSPENSION.

[pebadger]

This is all very predictable spin from the MLB and people who want Braun to be guilty. It happens almost every time somebody "beats" a case of this type, no matter what the forum.

 

Let's go way back to the start of the thread. Assume Braun really is innocent, in that he did nothing wrong.

 

Now MLB says they have a positive test result.

 

There are two ways for Braun to win. First, he can show that there is something wrong with the testing procedure. That means EVERYTHING that happens from the time they takes his sample to the time they come back and accuse him of guilt. Second, he can go out and win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the time between the accusation and the hearing. For people wanting a "full explanation", there simply isn't one that is likely to be had. And the fact of the matter is, it's not required, unless you are going to say that everything MLB does in making the accusation doesn't matter and that Braun is the one who must explain everything that happened after the sample left his control.

[Patrick425]

I don't think it's fair to completely write this off on "getting off on a technicality."

 

Braun had passed so many random tests before. Then he gets one that sits in some joe's refrigerator all weekend, and then when it gets to the lab it registered higher testosterone levels than ever before.

 

I don't know the scientific explanation, but does that really sound like a coincidence?

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. Call it a "technicality", but the procedures are in place for a reason. If the procedures are not followed it opens the door to tampering and false positives.

[logan82]

The fact is that Braun's sample had a high level of testosterone. What did ESPN do wrong? http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug

 

In my opinion the only fault lies with MLB or whomever they contract out to do the testing.

 

Their omission speaks volumes. This is the first person in known MLB history to win a drug appeal. If this was a Yankee or Red Sox player they would dedicate an entire 30 minute section to them, just as they would if Braun lost his appeal.

That is because like any other story, ESPN is catering to their audience and they don't' care about Wisconsin or the Brewers anywhere near as much as they do the coasts. That is where their viewership is. You seem to be asking them to apologize for pandering to the majority of their viewership.

 

It seems like Braun got off on a technicality and we will never know for sure if he really cheated. I heard on Homer on the way home that one of ESPN's people said he should be treated like he never failed a test because if he had won his appeal we would never have even heard about it. This I agree with, however it will always be in the back of my mind that Braun failed a test.

[pebadger]

IIRC all of these tests are run on a mass spectrometer. You can easily have metabolic/degradation of other molecules in the sample that would overlap with the position where Testosterone is supposed to be located. In this example they were using an unusual T:E ratio indicating an issue. T and E degrade at different rates. A sample could easily show a dramatic altering of the T:E ratio depending on how it was handled in a short period of time. I work with DNA all the time and it is pretty stable under varied conditions, but proteins and other small molecules can degrade within minutes under the wrong circumstances. Chain of command is definitely an issue.

 

How they even tested the sample is beyond me. Clearly they need to change the policy that any sample that is not sent within X hours of collection will not be tested because it has been compromised by handling.

 

I don't expect ESPN or their idiotic commentators to understand the subtlety of mishandling a sample can lead to an erroneous result so let's not expect them to admit their failure...

 

The only thing that matters is NO SUSPENSION.

 

Co-elution for the win!

[PeaveyFury]

Thanks xis, that's really helpful insight.

 

I'm beyond thrilled, but Braun still has a long way to go. There will be enough writers/fans/MLB people that think he's tainted now that it will likely effect voting on any awards and possibly the HOF down the line. Braun may have won the battle, but he hasn't won the war yet. He seemingly acknowledges this in his statement about 'beginning to restore his name'.

[Patrick425]

This is the first person in known MLB history to win a drug appeal.

 

I have heard this several times since the desicion was announced. No one knows the truth of this for sure other than MLB (and any players that possible won their appeals). Jimmy Rollins has tweeted that there have been other players that have won their appeals.

[Bombers]

A "technicality" of a broken chain of custody for 2 days is a big flippin' technicality. I work for an environmental consulting firm that deals with alot of litigation cases, and if any sample being used to support a case doesn't have airtight chain of custody records, it's thrown out. temperature changes alone can cause all kinds of false detections or non-detects of compounds, depending on analytical methods and what you're testing for. Also, chains of custody are scrutinized more closely on samples that appear to be outliers in data sets. Legally, a broken chain of custody invalidates the sample results because the result can't be proven or disproved - it's like the sample never existed. The solution is to resample.

 

2 days of a broken chain of custody is a huge timeframe for this sort of thing, too. I'd be interested to know what the acceptable holding time is for a sample like this that isn't frozen/chilled. Biological samples tend to alter themselves more quickly if they aren't properly stored.

 

This was perfectly said Fear. I have spoken to someone who sat high up in WE Energies union and if chain of custody is broken they are required to toss the sample and get a new one. It becomes invalid right then and there.

[azcheesehead]

This is the first person in known MLB history to win a drug appeal.

 

I have heard this several times since the desicion was announced. No one knows the truth of this for sure other than MLB (and any players that possible won their appeals). Jimmy Rollins has tweeted that there have been other players that have won their appeals.

 

I think we could all agree that this is the first 100% without a doubt KNOWN overturn of an appeal; thus why I said known.

[ilovebeer]

JS online poll who do you blame, that 4 letter network is getting most of the votes.

[Bombers]

What did ESPN do wrong?

 

They almost certainly broke HIPAA, which is illegal last I checked.

 

I wouldn't say ESPN is in violation of HIPAA. I think that would be MLB and the testing agency. They could be held liable when it comes to disclosure of private health information.

[ilovebeer]

Do we know if the driver who took home the sample was a scrubs or cards fan?