Ryan Braun’s PED Suspension

So it turns out Ryan Braun is the latest in a long line of liars following his suspension for the rest of the season for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal. Count me among the suckers who believed him.

In a statement accepting the league’s punishment, Braun kind-of sort-of apologized without saying what he was apologizing for:

As I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect. I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family, and it … has been a distraction to my teammates and the Brewers organization.

I am very grateful for the support I have received from players, ownership and the fans in Milwaukee and around the country. Finally, I wish to apologize to anyone I may have disappointed — all of the baseball fans especially those in Milwaukee, the great Brewers organization, and my teammates. I am glad to have this matter behind me once and for all, and I cannot wait to get back to the game I love.

This is a far cry from last year when he successfully appealed his positive test, throwing a perfectly innocent drug tester under the bus for having the nerve to take Braun’s urine sample home instead of having it sit in a Fed Ex office for a weekend. Ryan Braun proclaimed his innocence, saying there was no way that those terrible PEDs entered his pristine body.

Based on the test’s record high testosterone level of 20-1 (4-1 triggers a positive test), I believed Braun; not that the tester tampered with it, but that something went wrong during the testing process.

I also believed Braun when he said his name was on Biogenesis’ records because his lawyers consulted with the company during the appeal. It made perfect sense.

But now we find out that Ryan Braun is just a steroid cheat, and a liar on the level of Lance Armstrong to boot. I’m not sure why I believed Braun. Maybe it’s because he was such a good player that I wanted to believe he was for real. Perhaps I was biased because Braun is Jewish; let’s face it, the list of Jewish superstars in baseball begins and ends with Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg. Maybe I wanted to add another one to the short list.

Obviously no one will ever believe anything that comes out of Ryan Braun’s mouth ever again. It looked like he was going to be the next great baseball hero. Now he is just another cheater and liar.