Braun wins appeal

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Glen

Gotta say that I didn’t see that coming. 

More later. 

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10 Responses to Braun wins appeal

  1. MeanOnSunday says:
    February 23, 2012 at 7:55 pm

    So basically he was doping, doesn’t even deny it, and gets away with it based on an argument about how late Fedex is open on a Saturday? Welcome to the farcical world of Bud Selig. Couldn’t be anything to do with that statue outside Miller Park?

    A couple of years ago some poor hispanic guy on the Phillies tested positive from an MLB approved supplement given to him by the team and yet he got 50 games for “negligence”. Black and Hispanic players are accused in the media without ever having tested positive. Test results for samples that were given under a strict guarantee of anonymity by MLB are somehow leaked to the media. And yet the first prominent white player to face suspension is going to get away with it despite being guilty without a shred of doubt.

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  2. Glen says:
    February 23, 2012 at 8:22 pm

    I’m calling B.S. on your comment here.

    I have to give you credit for playing the race card so quickly though. First I heard that today, kudos for that.

    Back to the matter at hand, you are saying, without a doubt, that he was doping even though he was cleared by the appeals process, and you have no evidence to prove your statement either way. Where is your absolute proof of guilt that you seem to have?

    Picture this as a trial going to jury, instead of as an indictment of a Major League Baseball player.

    If a police officer had evidence of a crime, took the evidence to his house for 2 days, and then brought it back… do you think there would be some ‘probable cause’ as to if the evidence was never tampered with?

    Of course he didn’t say that didn’t do anything. Every appeal to this point has said that regardless of what you say about any sample, that doesn’t matter to them, the only thing that mattered this time was the chain of custody of the sample.

    You can’t say that the sample wasn’t tampered with, but you can’t say that it was left alone either. How the person handled the sample created the doubt and that’s what won the appeal for him.

    I honestly don’t know if he is guilty or not. What I do find funny is that people seem to still believe that this is the first time where someone won an appeal. Seeing as how it should have all been done without the public attention being paid to it, we can’t say for certain that someone hasn’t won an appeal before… because that person, sure as hell, would have liked to have kept the whole thing quiet… as Braun will now deal with the suspicion that he is a cheater for the rest of his career.

    Do I think that the fame and status of the player played a role? Yes, I actually do think that who he was probably did make a difference when it came to the appeal. Do I think he actually did something? I honestly don’t know. I’d like to believe that he’s clean, but as a fan of the game… I will always have doubts about him.

    As I said before, if I was found guilty of something and the circumstances around the collection of the evidence was as bad as it was here, I would sure as hell go after that as a defense before saying anything else. Sadly, to be cleared of the crime is more important than to be righteous and found guilty of a crime you didn’t commit.

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  3. CardinalsFan says:
    February 23, 2012 at 9:04 pm

    Manny needs to appeal ASAP, this proves he has a chance at getting away with it too.

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  4. Glen says:
    February 23, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    Manny failed on a weekday, couldn’t appeal on the same grounds…

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  5. Dan says:
    February 23, 2012 at 10:12 pm

    We really don’t know all the details in any of these cases, save for the leaks. I do believe that every player had appealed in someway and the appeals were denied. I know Raffy appealed because he said Tejada gave him juice.

    I also believe Manny did not appeal either time because he admitted it. I do think if it were me and I found out my test sample was in some guy’s fridge, I think I’d fight to the death either way.

    For an independent non-partisan arbitrator to agree is pretty amazing to me, because usually the entity picks the arbitrator. (see: Credit Card arbitration)..

    Then again, seeing all the feedback on the MLB page, I never really thought this was a race decision, but it sure does seem like I’m in the minority here.

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  6. MeanOnSunday says:
    February 24, 2012 at 2:41 pm

    Let me give some background on testing for testosterone. The first test measures the amount of testosterone compared to the amount of one of it’s metabolites. If you dope you have a high ratio for a while because your body can’t process the testosterone fast enough. This is used for screening because it’s an easier test, but it’s quite variable. Braun had a ratio of 20:1; he doesn’t dispute this and presented no argument about why this test would be false. For reference 99% of healthy men have a value less than 4:1 and Floyd Landis was at 12:1 when he doped in the TdF. Still, there is maybe a very slight chance that someone could naturally have a 20:1 ratio.

    The second test is much more precise and looks at the carbon molecules within the testosterone. Carbon has two stable isotopes, C-12 and C-13. The testosterone formed by your own body will have a particular ratio of the two isotopes. Synthetic testosterone has a completely different ratio. If you dope you change the ratio of carbon isotopes in your testosterone. This cannot happen naturally. This cannot happen because the urine sample was mishandled. This cannot happen whether Fedex closes at 6pm on Saturdays or not.

    Ryan Braun consumed synthetic testosterone, there is no doubt, no other possibility that is permitted within the laws of physics. If he wants to come forward with some explanation of how the testosterone accidentally got into his body then he should do so. I might even believe him because he has always seemed like a decent guy. But his defense at this point is based on a technicality that has no relevance to science or logic.

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  7. MeanOnSunday says:
    February 24, 2012 at 3:12 pm

    I know Dan follows soccer, so I thought I should point to another recent example that shows how minorities are treated differently by sports authorities. In England soccer player Luis Suarez recently became the first top level player to be suspended for making racist comments to another player. Suarez is of mixed race (1/4 black), left school at 12 and speaks no English. The only evidence against him was the word of his accuser.

    My point is not whether Suarez is, or isn’t, guilty. The point is that hundreds, probably thousands, of racial insults have been made on English soccer fields over the years. The (white) former captain of the English national team can be viewed on Youtube calling an opposing player a black ***. The white players hire expensive lawyers and walk away on a technicality. And who gets punished; the uneducated minority player who can’t even understand the words his accusers are using.

    It’s amazing that even when the crime is racism justice is not color blind.

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  9. Glen says:
    February 24, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    I counter your article….

    http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/33714192/34977466

    You presume guilt based on an event that we never should have heard about. He does deny taking anything, yet you will never believe that.

    At this point it seems clear that you could never see another point that would sway your opinion. I pity any person where you would be a juror for them.

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  10. CardinalsFan says:
    February 24, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    Mean On Sunday, thanks for educating us all on the facts of testosterone testing. Didn’t know any of that.

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