Today Milwaukee Brewers fans and MLB fans alike learned quite a bit about outfielder Ryan Braun.
First he’s a cheater and second he’s a liar.
Braun was the first big name to have the hammer dropped on him as Major League Baseball announced that the Brewers outfielder would be suspended for the remainder of the season and postseason for admitting his use of PED’s and his assumed connection to the Biogenesis clinic in Florida.
Here’s an excerpt on the Braun suspension from the Journal-Sentinel:
Major League Baseball has suspended Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun for the remainder of the 2013 season and he has accepted the penalty, meaning he was caught red-handed either buying and/or using performance-enhancing drugs.
The suspension takes place immediately, so Braun will be suspended for the final 65 games of the season, beginning with the Brewers’ game Monday night at Miller Park against San Diego. The sanction came as a result of MLB’s investigatiion into the infamous Biogenesis clinic, which was exposed as having sold PEDs to players after documents were released to various news agencies earlier this year.
The suspension also exposed Braun as a liar because he has stated many times that he never used PEDs and never wavered from that stance.
Commenting on his suspension Braun said, “I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions.” Ironically enough here were his statements back in February of 2012 where he commented on his failed October 2011 drug test which he eventually got away with… at the time (via the New York Post).
“We won because the truth is on my side,” Braun said during a press conference at Brewers’ camp in Maryvale, Ariz., a day after his 50-game suspension was overturned by an arbitrator. “The truth prevailed.”
“If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I’d be the first one to step up and say I did it,” Braun said. “I truly believe in my heart and I would bet my life, that this substance never entered my body at any point.”
Watch out for lightning bolts everyone if you’re standing next to Ryan Braun on the street!
Anyways it may also be a safe assumption that Alex Rodriguez’s fate will be similar. Last week the MLBPA said they would not defend players that had overwhelming PED evidence against them. Braun and A-Rod certainly fit that bill.