Ryan Braun Tests Positive for Steroids, Calls Result 'BS'

**STEROID** · 12-11-2011, 06:45 PM

Ryan Braun Tests Positive for Steroids, Calls Result 'BS' (But Don't Believe a Word He Says)
By David Magee
December 11, 2011

Milwaukee Brewers superstar Ryan Braun has tested positive for steroids. The 2011 National League Most Valuable Player tested positive for a performance-enhancing and now faces a possible 50-game suspension beginning the 2012 season.

Braun, for his part, seems to think it is all a mistake. The 28-year-old plans to vigorously defend the positive test result, and told USA Today in an interview he thinks it is all "BS."

The news was initially broken by ESPN, which said that Braun had tested positive for a performance enhancing drug (PED) during the 2011 playoffs and that he was told of the result in late October. ESPN quoted a source as saying the positive result came from elevated levels of testosterone in Braun's system. A subsequent test, according to the report, showed that the testosterone was synthetic -- a violation.

Braun was prepared for the report to break on ESPN, quickly releasing a statement through his representative claiming it's all a mistake.

"There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program," the statement said. "While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident that he will ultimately be exonerated."

Baseball has heard that line before from more than a few players, like Barry Bonds. The game was tarnished by rampant steroid or PED use in the past decade and some seem to think that with more stringent testing and suspension policies everything is okay now. But that's not right. It's just that baseball has become more like cycling -- ala Lance Armstrong (who's was accused but never caught).

Many players are still using PED's, but they have become more sophisticated in what they use, and how they use it, thus, they are often able to escape getting caught. The big leagues play an aggressive schedule, which demand when preseason and playoffs games are added in nearly 200 performances in a 365-day year. To be a leader in today's hyper-competitive world like that, players need strength, and most importantly, endurance.

Perhaps that's why Braun has averaged 36 home runs, 118 RBI and a .563 slugging percentages in his first five major league seasons. Perhaps that's why Braun was been good enough to sign to a five-year, $105 million contract extension during this past season that could keep him in Milwaukee through the 2020 season.

Perhaps that why Braun says it's all "BS." He's at the pinnacle of his performance, arguably, and the height of his earnings season. To date, he'd pulled off getting caught using steroids, or PEDs. But typically, our actions catch up with us, and Braun is likely no different. Of course he says it is a mistake -- he's got a multi-million reputation on the line. If he's banished by the league for 50 games in 2012, his career and earnings-reputation will never be the same.

He's been a popular player, somebody observers say is good for the game is baseball. He's been the kind of player many see as helping baseball overcome its Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire past. But now we see, if the result is upheld, that Braun is just another player in Major League Baseball's traditional game -- one in which loaded has nothing to do with how many men are on base.

Braun says its "BS." But one should remember that to date no player suspended under MLB's drug policy with a positive result has been successful in getting it overturned. Most who get caught are just like Braun -- they claim "unusual circumstances."

It's a mistake, they say. But in the end, we find that one is just like the other. They juiced because it made them better players. And everything was fine, until they got a positive result.