Braun’s numbers are now tainted
Ryan Braun gets an asterisk.
Not in the official Major League Baseball record book, but in my head. He was “exonerated” of using performance enhancing drugs by arbitrator Shyam Das. Because the tester took Braun’s samples home and put them in his refrigerator instead of getting them to the lab within one day, the case was thrown out.
I don’t blame Das.
It appears that he did his job. He was asked to rule on whether the tests were valid and, based on his reading of the proper protocol, he couldn’t find Braun guilty.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Braun is innocent, as he was proclaiming when the ruling came down on Thursday. It means he couldn’t be found guilty.
Your friends at Major League Baseball headquarters were not pleased. Rob Manfred, MLB’s Executive Vice-President of Labor Relations and Urine Samples said, “Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with arbitrator Shyam Das.”
Unless you’re a major conspiracy theorist and believe that this is phony outrage and this has all been orchestrated to make sure that the 2011 National League MVP doesn’t miss the first 50 games in 2012, you have to believe that MLB had the most motivation to hide the truth.
A win by MLB would have been a major embarrassment and dredged up memories of the Steroid Era.
This could have been spun as good news by MLB with lots of praise for the drug testing procedure, but it chose to maintain the belief that one of its biggest stars cheated.
The Brewers owner, Mark Attanasio, said, “Since joining our organization in 2005, Ryan Braun has been a model citizen and a person of character and integrity.”
So was Mark McGwire.
Lots of really nice guys with lots of character and integrity have been unable to tell the truth about what they put in their bodies.
I don’t know if Braun juiced and neither do you. If he did, he could still otherwise qualify as a model citizen and a person of character and integrity.
It’s up to you whether you want to put that asterisk in your head when you see his name.
In the long run, MLB may have won because it has provided strong evidence that it is serious about catching the juicers.
– It appears that the Steelers are going to be able to keep both Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown on their 2012 roster after some payroll creativity to keep the team cap compliant. Wallace was the best deep threat wide receiver in the NFL last season and seemed to be on his way to superstardom, but something happened along the way. He started seeing lots of double teams and opponents obviously decided that they weren’t going to let him beat them. Wallace only averaged over 14 yards a catch in one of his last nine games after averaging over 20 in the early part of the season. Brown, ended up averaging only ½ a yard less per catch. For a while, with Brown becoming a restricted free agent next year, it looked as though the Steelers might have to make a choice between the two. If that had been the case, Brown would have been the better choice. He’s the Steelers most dangerous weapon and Art Rooney II better be setting aside a large chunk of money to pay him if he has another season like 2011.
– The Steelers are already making noises about taking Brown off the kick and punt return teams. Why? I’m sure it has something to do with a fear of injury, but when was the last time a Steelers punt or kick returner was hurt during a return? What’s more dangerous, returning a kick or a punt or catching a pass over the middle? Good field position makes life easier for everybody on the offense. Brown is the first really dangerous return man the Steelers have had since Antwaan Randle El. Keep him out there.
– It’s frightening to think about how large Casey Hampton’s belly is right now while he’s laid up recovering from knee surgery.
– Darren Sproles returned 29 punts and 40 kickoffs last season for the Saints. He also ran the ball 87 times and caught 86 passes. He played in every game for the fourth consecutive season and he’s never played fewer than 15 games.
He’s 5’6″, 185 pounds.
– All of those excruciatingly boring NFL touchbacks in 2011 will be coming to college football next season. The NCAA has decided to move kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35. It’s only a matter of time before the kickoff disappears from football. It’s kind of like baseball eliminating the triple. If kickoffs have become too dangerous, it’s not about the kickoffs. I’m sure that both the NFL and NCAA will be offering a reduction in ticket prices since they have now guaranteed the fans that the games will be less exciting. How about a dollar refund for every touchback?