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Unlike other suspected users, unbelievable luck gets Braun off from PEDs charge

1 year ago :: Feb 23, 2012 - 9:53PM #1
laurenfrances Posts: 14,876	Ryan Braun Wins Appeal, Will Not Be Suspended By Mike Axisa* [February 23, 2012 at 4:09pm CST]* Ryan Braun has won his appeal of his failed banned substance test and will not be suspended for the first 50 games of the season, reports Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel (Twitter links). The union officially announced the win, saying both parties agreed to the announcement despite what is usually a confidential process. MLB has issued a statement saying it "vehemently disagrees" with the decision. The reigning NL MVP is the first player to have a suspension overtuned through the appeals process. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy says (on Twitter) that Braun won by a 2-1 margin. Arbitrator Shyam Das broke the tiebreaker. MLB is vivid, MLB vice president for labor relations Rob Manfred released a statement after the ruling was announced, expressing the league's displeasure with the decision. Apparently test results which was conclusively positive. The results was was thrown out as Braun argued test protocol had not been followed. Collector took sample home & kept it refrigerated rather than get it to FedEx asap as FedEx was closed. There's going to be lots of booing as Braun goes on the road knowing he got off on a technicality. Having a well liked persona didn't hurt him either..as Arbitrtor voted in his favor. As reported.... Steve Berthiaume ‏ @SBerthiaumeESPN .....Braun test sample collector thought FedEx/Kinkos was closed because it was late on a Saturday. MLB is livid and considering options. karl ravech ‏ @karlravechespn ......Appears Brauns team won because a courier didn't take positive test to fed ex building thought it was closed Saturday night..protocol? KenDavidoff It means not guilty. A murderer can be freed because a cop didn't read rights. Doesn't mean he didn't kill the guy. JackCurryYES Braun won his appeal, but the stigma doesn't fully disappear. If the "win" came from specimen being held too long, that's dubious win Always proud to be a Yankee fan.
1 year ago :: Feb 23, 2012 - 10:11PM #2
yankeedoodle Posts: 2,779	Drug test the collector!!! Drug test the Fed Ex.. Test them all damit... This criminal should not play baseball...
1 year ago :: Feb 23, 2012 - 10:20PM #3
laurenfrances Posts: 14,876	.......The second mistake was by the sources who leaked the positive test result to ESPN in December. The information was solid, the news value substantial. The reporters did their job in breaking an important story, and bashing them is misguided. But players do have reason to feel violated. A positive test result is not supposed to be made public until a player’s punishment is official. Since Braun, technically, was never punished, he has a right to feel persecuted by whoever leaked the story. Thursday’s ruling, Braun said in a statement, “is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation.” How is his "good" name restored when he got off from technicalities as results was indeed positive. If leaking positive results to media was used in his defense, it opens the books for other users to reopen cases. Always proud to be a Yankee fan.
1 year ago :: Feb 23, 2012 - 10:52PM #4
ninja108 Posts: 3,644	As upset as I am by the fact he won't be suspended, the cold hard truth is MLB botched this one. From the fact it was leaked in the first place to the broken chain of custody,MLB should be ashamed of how this one was conducted. IMO,Braun did cheat but at the same time,it's like the criminal justice system. There have been cases where a person has been let go because a cop failed to read someone their rights or a person in a lab broke the chain of custody. When someone doesn't follow the process that's put into place, the only proper thing to do is what happened here.
1 year ago :: Feb 23, 2012 - 11:10PM #5
James52 Posts: 1,095	I don't know about all that stuff. I used to have respect for Braun. But now, nope. I don't know if he really used steroids or something.. But he is already marked.
1 year ago :: Feb 23, 2012 - 11:10PM #6
dixieyank Posts: 2,455	I will give Braun the benefit of the doubt here. He has never failed a test before. The fact that MLB botched the process allows for at least some doubt. In that case, I will always side with the player in question. If he's a dirty player, he will get caught in future tests. If he was dirty this one time, he just got a major lucky break. I can live with that. Seems this should force MLB to reconsider their process, at least. You can't give a window that large where someone could taint a sample. They should be able to immediately test the goods on the same day, given the money they have. Surely they can afford the lab fees. There should never be a test on days they know they can't get results the same day. Given the amount of money over these issues (player salary, team ticket draws, season race for post season) the process should be held in high security. This is a big deal imho, and they should have a locked down system where the transportation of material and testing process is air tight. It's a crying shame this sample was held for at least 48 hours in someone's home refrigerator.
1 year ago :: Feb 24, 2012 - 12:19AM #7
laurenfrances Posts: 14,876	Feb 23, 2012 -- 11:10PM, dixieyank wrote: I will give Braun the benefit of the doubt here. He has never failed a test before. The fact that MLB botched the process allows for at least some doubt. In that case, I will always side with the player in question. If he's a dirty player, he will get caught in future tests. If he was dirty this one time, he just got a major lucky break. I can live with that. Seems this should force MLB to reconsider their process, at least. You can't give a window that large where someone could taint a sample. They should be able to immediately test the goods on the same day, given the money they have. Surely they can afford the lab fees. There should never be a test on days they know they can't get results the same day. Given the amount of money over these issues (player salary, team ticket draws, season race for post season) the process should be held in high security. This is a big deal imho, and they should have a locked down system where the transportation of material and testing process is air tight. It's a crying shame this sample was held for at least 48 hours in someone's home refrigerator. Perhaps you give him the benefit of the doubt because of his "good guy" reputation as he's quite likable. Samples are not easily tainted as they are sealed. Unprocessed urine/blood samples are stored at 4-20 degrees without any degradation is standard practice. Therefore storing it sealed at "home" refrigerated temperature is the same temperature in laboratory storage. Broken seal is easily identifiable. Only someone with scientific knowledge can taint a sample without drawing suspicion. It's not like you can "dump" PEDs into urine samples to get positive results. PEDs passing through bodily functions are broken down to components. It is what it is, technicality got him off. Always proud to be a Yankee fan.
1 year ago :: Feb 24, 2012 - 1:42AM #8
ninja108 Posts: 3,644	I'm with Lauren in that he got off on a technicality. But you know what? If you want this system to be fair,then what happened today was the only acceptable outcome. There was a case here where charges were dropped because the police officer ignored the person's request for a lawyer and kept on interviewing him until he confessed. There was proof he had done it after that but too bad. A fair system can't reward cops who blow it like this one did. MLB dropped the ball,period. If you don't want users like Braun getting away with cheating, then don't make stupid mistakes like you did in this case. To the other part of what Lauren said, let's face it,people are more apt to give you the benefit of a doubt when you're seen as a nice guy vs ar arrogant #@!. Look at the contrast between A-Rod,David Ortiz and Andy Pettitte. A-rod got crucified while nice Christian family man Andy was forgiven the same day he admitted to what he did. Ortiz's milkshake story would have been booed or laughed at if it was told by A-rod or Manny,yet since it was told by Ortiz,whom has been regarded as many as a giant teddy bear,his scandal was more or less over the same day as well.
1 year ago :: Feb 24, 2012 - 5:41AM #9
yankeestump Posts: 801	Good article in the NYT about it: www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/sports/baseba... Probably guilty, got off on a technicality. What can you do? He will likely still get grief in visiting ballparks.
1 year ago :: Feb 24, 2012 - 7:55AM #10
laurenfrances Posts: 14,876	Feb 24, 2012 -- 1:42AM, ninja108 wrote: I'm with Lauren in that he got off on a technicality. But you know what? If you want this system to be fair,then what happened today was the only acceptable outcome. There was a case here where charges were dropped because the police officer ignored the person's request for a lawyer and kept on interviewing him until he confessed. There was proof he had done it after that but too bad. A fair system can't reward cops who blow it like this one did. MLB dropped the ball,period. If you don't want users like Braun getting away with cheating, then don't make stupid mistakes like you did in this case. To the other part of what Lauren said, let's face it,people are more apt to give you the benefit of a doubt when you're seen as a nice guy vs ar arrogant #@!. Look at the contrast between A-Rod,David Ortiz and Andy Pettitte. A-rod got crucified while nice Christian family man Andy was forgiven the same day he admitted to what he did. Ortiz's milkshake story would have been booed or laughed at if it was told by A-rod or Manny,yet since it was told by Ortiz,whom has been regarded as many as a giant teddy bear,his scandal was more or less over the same day as well. As reported none of the samples was tampered, it remained sealed upon delivery. Interestingly the only guy to get off from PED charges is a guy from a team previously own by Commissioner Selig. This verdict probrably saved Brewer's season. Without Fielder and Braun being absent for 50 days, it would kill their team moving forward. Any which way to find him innocent saved their team from sinking. Always proud to be a Yankee fan.