Ryan Braun: Worst PED test ever taken.

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Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun’s original test for performance-enhancing drugs as the playoffs were winding down in October was “insanely high, the highest ever for anyone who has ever taken a test, twice the level of the highest test ever taken,” said a source familiar with the developing case in which the outfielder was reported to have tested positive for an elevated level of testosterone caused by a synthetic substance, triggering a possible 50-game suspension if the test results are upheld.

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Braun’s lawyer, David Cornwell, also said that the positive test was not the result of taking a performance-enhancing drug.

“He did not take performance-enhancing drugs,” Cornwell told the Daily News on Sunday, “and anyone who writes that is wrong.”

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Braun, who hit .332 with 33 home runs and 111 RBI this year, will challenge the results in a hearing in January. “I can’t wait to get that opportunity,” Braun told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel late Saturday night. “This is all BS. I am completely innocent.”

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I really hope this is all a big misunderstanding.

The thing that strikes me about this is that if there was one player that MLB would cover for, it's Braun. How many times have Selig and co. been running around holding up Braun as the "new wave" of player that grew up with drug testing and everyone in that generation of player was clean. Plus, it's the Selig family franchise. This will be devastating for Milwaukee. That's why I'm inclined to believe this is true. Then you have the very, very public campaign from Braun's camp, which makes me wonder whether the gentleman protests too much.

Also, apparently MLB is taking it to arbitration where it is 13-0 in drug testing cases. I know, I know, innocent until proven guilty and all that but it sure looks bad....

Precisely! All of the above!

Braun was the poster boy for "Post-Steroid Era Baseball", so to hear this is pretty amazing.

What also gets me about this, is when A-Rod got busted for Steroids, Braun was the first to come out and say "If you get busted, just accept it and be honest. The worst thing you can do is deny it."

And now his camp is in FULL denial mode, to the point where Clemens looks alot less suspicious. haha

Well what is Braun supposed to do....but deny (there are 5 stages arent there?). From what I have read the tests are pretty stringent in its protocol (Olympics uses the same lab & mo)...and a reason why there have been no overturns to date. The testitself and methodology is specifically constructed to overcome the usual defense of supplement additives and "the maid sprinkled testostorone dust on my pancakes". As Slaw indicated it looks pretty bad.

well , at l;east he's not manny "ya, i took sterioids and still can't run or field the ball worth shit" ramirez

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PHOENIX -- The verdict is in for National League MVP Ryan Braun: Not guilty.

The Brewers outfielder on Thursday became the first Major Leaguer to successfully appeal a suspected violation of MLB's Drug Treatment and Prevention Program. The 2-1 ruling from a three-member special panel spared Braun a suspension that might have covered as many as 50 games and positions him to man left field when the Brewers begin their defense of the NL Central crown.

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http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

Braun not guilty.. First to ever successfully appeal a suspected violation.

Just like to point out it obviously doesn't mean he didn't not to steroids.. There was a 2-1 ruling, so it wasn't unanimous, and he could have just got the two votes on reputation alone, but that's just speculation.. They should obviously do a few "random" tests on him throughout the season.

Yes, but also remember that Braun's lawyers challenged the chain of custody of the sample, meaning that it could have been mishandled during/before the testing process. That does not mean Braun is guilty and just simply got away with it, it's possible the test was a bogus positive from the start (not unlikely given he was found to have more than twice the amount of testosterone in his than any previous test in the history of testing).

But anyways, my friend on facebook said it best:

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Braun was in a VERY tough situation. If he truly didn't use performance enchaining drugs, the track record of athletes who fought the faulty science of the test is ZERO. So he then had to decide if he wanted to go and try to attempt what has been tried and failed in all past instances or find a novel way to crack a hole in the test to clear his name.

The fact that he got off on a technicality says almost nothing about what actually happened, but instead the strategy he and his legal team saw most effective in clearing his name.

MLB now has a much bigger problem in having to be hyper vigilant with all tests going forward as there is now a precedent to over turn conviction.

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Prime wrote:

Yes, but also remember that Braun's lawyers challenged the chain of custody of the sample, meaning that it could have been mishandled during/before the testing process. That does not mean Braun is guilty and just simply got away with it, it's possible the test was a bogus positive from the start (not unlikely given he was found to have more than twice the amount of testosterone in his than any previous test in the history of testing).

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Good point, but correct me if I'm wrong.. Don't you have to give two samples just for that reason, in case the first was tampered with? Then if it's positive, you have to let the lawyers of the representative know, and they're allowed being present when they test the second sample. I haven't heard anything about that in this specific case, but I'm pretty sure those are the rules, I did a little research on it for a paper a while back. So yeah, it makes it less likely that they both were tampered with.

Either way, I believe you're right, the odds were stacked against him and he must have had some pretty good lawyers, and I doubt we'll ever know if he actually was on steroids or not.

Here's an article that sheds more light on the case:
http://www.chadmoriyama.com/2012/02/...-is-important/

Very interesting, great find.. It's odd how the MLB wouldn't check if the urine was actually his, there's probably more to the whole story but it does offer some good insight on why he did win his case other than the whole technicality theory.

Thanks for posting that Article Prime!

Great read. I'm sold.

As I said in the OP, I hoped this was all a big misunderstanding; and to completely oversimplify, it was indeed just a BIG misunderstanding. MLB really needs to look at how it conducts its business if this is all true.

They should be treating that Pee like its PLUTONIUM. ;) haha