Braun Suspended for Remainder of 2013 Season: Busted by A-Rod/his people?

[Brewer Fever]

Be careful of setting yourself up for further future letdown, those of you who think Braun started using in 2011 to get over lingering injuries. Please either take a moment to research or accept on its face the connections in this case that date back to Braun's days at the University of Miami. Braun has been a PED user his entire career as a Milwaukee Brewer. I state that as fact. You can choose to take it as a likelihood.

 

Today's developments surely won't be enough to convince some of you how far back Braun's PED usage dates. And they shouldn't necessarily be enough for that matter, since this easily could be an attempt by a disgruntled associate to further damage Braun's reputation. Again, while I am quite comfortable stating and accepting it as fact, I don't expect anyone else to. I'm simply one of many people whispering the realities of the Braun situation so that it won't be a huge surprise as details continue to emerge going forward.

 

Put it this way, this lawsuit is more smoke. And when there's smoke...

 

To state something as fact you must be able to back it up with tangible evidence. Where's yours? Do you have any primary resources that demonstratively prove that Braun has juiced throughout his career? If you don't, what you are stating is your opinion. Your opinion may turn out to be correct, but at this point and time without anything other than your belief, it is most certainly not fact.

 

My sources stem from an inordinate level of curiosity on this ordeal that began when Braun was first outed after the 2011 postseason test. And in truth it dates all the way back to when I read Game of Shadows. It includes tons of research, reading, and seeking out sources that work or have previously worked in MLB. Repeatedly I have stated that I accept his usage going all the way back to U of M as fact, while at the same time realizing that my word won't be enough for many of you. And that's fine. It's fine because I'm simply not going to go back and find articles that I read a year and a half ago, 1 year ago, 6 months, or even weeks ago. Because I'm not willing to do that I'll just have to live with people not accepting what I'm stating as fact.

 

I will give you this. When I wanted confirmation on what I was hearing I sought out a relative who worked in MLB as a scout and later as an assistant scouting director. He not only confirmed that once Braun sprung a positive test it quickly became apparent that he was caught up in the "Miami thing". In other words the connection was immediate and subsequently proven true. He also added that the percentage of players using PEDs is far more than Bud Selig would like fans to believe and far more than the media can prove. The users are just too far ahead of the testers. That is of course unless the user gets sloppy as in Braun's case. He put it at around 50% of players that are using. His sources are people he has regular contact with who are still employed in MLB front offices.

 

That's the best I can give you.

[RockCoCougars]

Regarding ARod, there is no honor among cheats. He is a snake, so I don't know why anyone would be surprised by anything he does at this point to save his own skin. I'm convinced that the only reason he's fighting this out is greed. He's going to play as much of that contract out as he can. It's a shame that he can't be blackballed from the game like Bonds was.

 

As for Braun, when he does come forward with his 'statement', I really hope that he treads carefully. The early reports regarding this have been focused on his usage during 2011. If he's not 100% forthright, he's going to be dodging questions for the rest of his career.

[Brewer Fever]

 

As for Braun, when he does come forward with his 'statement', I really hope that he treads carefully. The early reports regarding this have been focused on his usage during 2011. If he's not 100% forthright, he's going to be dodging questions for the rest of his career.

 

I'm so glad you mentioned this. Like you said, the early word is he's going to cop to use in 2011. Reading between the lines, it sounds like he's going to blame his use on an attempt to overcome injuries that year. And an admission limited to that is in a word: unfortunate.

 

You really only get one chance to truly come clean and make a sincere, genuine apology. If he takes blame only for using PEDs in an isolated incident to get healthy during a playoff run, he's setting himself up to look like an ass as word of consistent use become more widespread.

[Greg Vaughn]

Take this story for what it's worth......I'm from a small town in Montana (Glasgow) and a local boy (I'm close to his brother) was drafted in the 15th Round as a Pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007 (Michael Southern) http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=southe001mic .

 

Anyway.....Southern ended up injuring his shoulder and was rehabing in Tampa during the 2008 season and happened to be rehabbing with one of Braun's College teammates. Braun's former teammate (University of Miami) told Southern that Braun was a notorious juicer in college.

 

Keep in mind this story was told to me in 2008 before any of these allegations came to light. Needless to say, chances are Ryan was, is and probably always will be a juicer. I wasn't surprised one bit when the news broke.

 

Well....it looks like my story has some credence behind it now http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9574808/lawsuit-ryan-braun-alleges-college-doping-fraud

 

Ralph Sasson, 29, makes a number of personal accusations against Braun, saying in the lawsuit that Braun doped through his years at the University of Miami, committed academic fraud and accepted money while a student.

[RockCoCougars]

Sunday rant here... I normally don't let ESPN get to me, but I'm so sick of hearing about Matt Kemp and Kirk Gibson whining about Braun. Good god, I hope that Braun gives Kemp the MVP just to shut the Dodger fans up. Maybe MLB can do some revisionist NCAA style tricks and give the series to the D'Backs to placate Gibson and his wife. Maybe they should look at the 2001 trophy at the same time, as Gonzo was the most obvious juicer baseball has seen this side of Brady Anderson.

[nate82]

Sunday rant here... I normally don't let ESPN get to me, but I'm so sick of hearing about Matt Kemp and Kirk Gibson whining about Braun. Good god, I hope that Braun gives Kemp the MVP just to shut the Dodger fans up. Maybe MLB can do some revisionist NCAA style tricks and give the series to the D'Backs to placate Gibson and his wife. Maybe they should look at the 2001 trophy at the same time, as Gonzo was the most obvious juicer baseball has seen this side of Brady Anderson.

 

The Dbacks win that series if Gibson doesn't decide to pitch to Prince with 1st base open in game 1.

[dlk9s]

Found myself checking out Fox Sports 1 this morning and Gabe Kapler was a guest in studio. They asked him, as a former teammate of Braun's, if he could forgive him. He said yes, as long as he comes forth with a genuine apology and explanation that shows he is human. He said the big difference between Braun and A-Rod is that Braun's teammates like him and thus many will likely be willing to forgive.

[craigharmann]

Not attempting to defend Braun by any means, but did Gibby ever take a cortisone shot or medical injection to be able to play? Technically, wouldn't that be a "performance enhancer"?

[FidoMcCokefiend]

He said the big difference between Braun and A-Rod is that Braun's teammates like him and thus many will likely be willing to forgive.

 

But, Buster Olney told us repeatedly that everyone hates Braun. Who to believe?

[Hitman_Hart]

During Sunday night baseball, the bottom line claimed multiple sources told Olney that Braun was trying to recruit other players to mount an anti-Semite defense against the sample collector.

 

Whether this is true or not, to me, is irrelevant. ESPN it's clearly trying to rake as much muck as they can. Even their Rodriguez coverage is getting over the top.

[dlk9s]

During Sunday night baseball, the bottom line claimed multiple sources told Olney that Braun was trying to recruit other players to mount an anti-Semite defense against the sample collector.

http://i.imgur.com/w4pzy.gif

[DocLuna7]

During Sunday night baseball, the bottom line claimed multiple sources told Olney that Braun was trying to recruit other players to mount an anti-Semite defense against the sample collector.

 

Whether this is true or not, to me, is irrelevant. ESPN it's clearly trying to rake as much muck as they can. Even their Rodriguez coverage is getting over the top.

 

Now reported by Yahoo and the JS as well. What a fiasco, any way you look at it.

[hawing]

I'm now taking just about everything said/written about this saga with a giant grain of salt. Sheesh.

[SRB]

Buster Olney has zero credibility. Actually, negative credibility, given his blatant biases.

 

Braun should take him to court for defamation, except Olney's dumb stories never go far enough to really be actionable.

 

Seriously, why would Braun claim a antisemitism and to who? I want to know who these "sources" are.

[jerichoholicninja]

Braun's press conference should just be him walking to a podium, dropping his pants, injecting some HGH, and then walking off. That way everyone knows he did it and what he took. No more questions need to be asked. Move on, end of story.

[MNBrew]

Warning: Multiple-pronged rant forthcoming...

 

I agree with whoever said it earlier in this thread: As unfortunate as much of this PED/Biogenesis/etc. stuff is, so much of the furor is media-driven as outlets like ESPN are obviously reporting everything in the spirit of sensationalism. Some or even most of it may well be true. However, this whole saga surely has shown that it's actually less about what happened and more about making news out of anything possible for the sake of feeding the fire.

 

It's such a sad commentary that the media reports things with the clear intention of trying to shape people's thinking and to get them to react. And the masses largely drink it in and believe it. They've even convinced the population at large that we should care about something simply because it gets reported. What ever happened to critical thinking???? Not to mention, whatever happened to responsible journalism? . . . "The whole story has to be out there because people deserve to know!!!" NO, we don't have a right to know everything there is to know about Ryan Braun's or A-Rod's every action. Sure, there's curiosity -- an awful lot of it at this point. But the degree of the public's curiosity should NEVER be confused with or construed as anyone's RIGHT to know -- a right which is mostly a self-serving, media-generated fallacy.

 

Now, whether or not Braun did what's being reported tonight . . .

1) WHO cares? Really, does this matter? Seriously, what's to be gained by putting this information out there even if it is true? If Braun said these things, does it fundamentally change people's perception that he's a liar and a cheat? What does this add? NOTHING!

2) Is it truly the media's aim to drag "targets" like Braun & A-Rod down as low as possible? It sure seems like it based on how all this stuff's been reported about these two guys over the past months. Where is INTEGRITY in any of this?

3) I'm sure sick of the media doing all the judging for me and for everyone else.

 

The James Bond movie "Tomorrow Never Dies" in a way proves increasingly prophetic as newscasting stories like the Biogenesis/PED thing continues to become less about true journalism and more about the bottom line: That Bond movie's about a media mogul who engineers and manipulates world events in order to promote itself for & by reporting on them. Think about it! When the steroid hoopla first came about -- Congressional hearings and all that -- there was some hubbub, but the majority of folks didn't care too much -- except that the media kept covering like everyone did care, and finally succeeded at instilling a mindset that we should care about it.

 

The self-righteousness pontificating re: Braun's or anyone else's HOF-worthiness is just too much. Yes, the verbiage says character is a consideration. But the HOF is so full of cheaters, liars, criminals, womanizers, druggies, etc., that invoking the "character clause" now is so short-sighted and ridiculous. Today I heard a former MLB player on ESPN radio and found his commentary refreshing because it broke from the media's "party line": He said he thought A-Rod & Pete Rose should be in the HOF as much as anyone because ultimately there is no "pure" HOF and HOF-worthiness should be based on accomplishments alone, leaving the character clause out of it. . . . That's not to say they weren't jerks or whatever. But Barry Bonds was one of the best players ever. Pete Rose is one of the most prolific hitters ever. McGwire & Sosa & A-Rod are among the absolute best HR hitters ever. I believe HOF induction should be based on accomplishments. Let time, history, and population at large's own thinking be the judge of players' character and choices.

 

What Braun did was unfortunate, sad, and wrong. And it does seem that the longer he's silent, the less he's helping himself. . . . But as with so many stories these days, the longer this sensationalistic "coverage" (read: nonsense) continues, the more it really seems to be about stirring people up and insinuating if not downright dictating what they should think. It's certainly worked re: HOF candidacy. It's certainly worked on widespread perspectives re: steroids & PEDs.

[owbc]

I don't have cable so I'm not sure what the ESPN talking heads are saying, but the news today suggests that Braun is a much bigger scumbag than we previously knew. As much as we would like to move on, this stuff needs to be reported. He disgusts me right now and my passion for the Brewers has been seriously damaged as a result. Yes, I know there are plenty of cheating/lying athletes out there, but Braun clearly is one of the worst of them all. I'm not sure if he can repair that. It seems like popular opinion here is generally indifferent to his actions but I certainly do not feel that way. If he doesn't make an acceptable apology, I'm not sure what will happen.

[torts]

Buster Olney has zero credibility. Actually, negative credibility, given his blatant biases.

 

Braun should take him to court for defamation, except Olney's dumb stories never go far enough to really be actionable.

 

Seriously, why would Braun claim a antisemitism and to who? I want to know who these "sources" are.

 

he'd probably use the anti-semite stuff with other jewish players when trying to gather their support. not that I believe it, but thats the only way that makes sense. Its seriously like every time something comes out to shift the focus more on to A-Rod SOMETHING ELSE comes out about Braun to reshift it back to him.

[Invader3K]

Braun is supposedly going to be making a statement today. Not sure what time or if it will be broadcast live, etc.

[torts]

I think its disgusting the amount of attention braun is getting for claiming this guy is antisemetic. how do we know he's not? ask him? who on this earth would EVER admit to be antisemetic?

[Patrick425]

I don't have cable so I'm not sure what the ESPN talking heads are saying, but the news today suggests that Braun is a much bigger scumbag than we previously knew. As much as we would like to move on, this stuff needs to be reported. He disgusts me right now and my passion for the Brewers has been seriously damaged as a result. Yes, I know there are plenty of cheating/lying athletes out there, but Braun clearly is one of the worst of them all. I'm not sure if he can repair that. It seems like popular opinion here is generally indifferent to his actions but I certainly do not feel that way. If he doesn't make an acceptable apology, I'm not sure what will happen.

 

I completely agree owbc. I don't really understand the indifference by some or the inference that anyone that cares about this stuff needs to get a life. This is a guy who makes a very good living off of playing baseball. The money he receives comes from us the fans. My son is now 15 and since age 10 Braun had always been his favorite player. He had a big poster of him in his room and a couple of Braun t-shirts. Oh, and by the way, just because I stated this doesn't mean I am teaching my son to "idolize" sports figures. Just about every kid who grew up in America (and elsewhere for that matter) watching professional sports has pretended they were that player in their back yard or has collected baseball cards or has poster's/ bobble heads in their bedrooms. As big of a Braun fan as he was, at least my 15 year old son has the sense to see that there is no way he can really cheer for this man any more. If he continued to defend him and disbelieve all the bad stuff that is being reported about him, then I would think my son is "idolizing" him.

 

Also, it's really not that hard to believe that the stories of Bruan reaching out to others to help him defame the collector. A) Several sources are now reporting this, including Yahoo who goes as far as to mention the names of players that Braun tried to contact (Votto, Kemp, and Tulowitzki) and B) Bruan's statement in his press conference to the effect of "we found out things about the collector" would seem to be in line with these actions.

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't get the uproar over what Braun was privately telling his teammates to cover his lie. He had to come up with something. That was a given. He wasn't saying this publicly. In fact I thought the indignation over Braun "outing" the collector was grossly overstated. Braun didn't mention his name. The media dug it out. Some of us brought up the collector being a Cub fan motivation on this site. Heck I brought up their being a gambling interest connection. We didn't know and were entitled to speculate anything as we naturally wanted Braun to be innocent, and so I presume did his teammates. We all know that a lie of this magnitude leads to other lies. Braun has plenty of work to do to restore any faith in him by anyone. Today's apology is just a start. Would Gibson prefer he stayed silent longer?

[homer]

I think it's very possible for Olney to be incredibly biased and have an agenda and for Braun to be a scum bag. It's not one or the other.

[JohnBriggs12]

I think it's very possible for Olney to be incredibly biased and have an agenda and for Braun to be a scum bag. It's not one or the other.

 

Absolutely and it's also possible for Braun at 29 to have learned a painful lesson and become a better human being going forth. Whether he can or not only time will tell. I don't know what purpose Olney and guys like Gibson's continual bashing of him serves.

[homer]

I think it's very possible for Olney to be incredibly biased and have an agenda and for Braun to be a scum bag. It's not one or the other.

 

Absolutely and it's also possible for Braun at 29 to have learned a painful lesson and become a better human being going forth. Whether he can or not only time will tell. I don't know what purpose Olney and guys like Gibson's continual bashing of him serves.

 

Agreed on Olney and Gibson. Braun could have given an hour long apology the day of the suspension complete with tears, a return of the MVP trophy, and an offer to volunteer at a home for wayward boys and Gibson would still be bitter.