Ryan Braun Breaks His Silence

Since news broke of Ryan Braun‘s positive test for elevated testosterone last month, fans and analysts have been questioning the type of beast mode that the Brewers superstar has been engaging in over the first five years of his Major League Baseball career. Braun literally burst onto the scene after he made his debut back in May of 2007, finishing the year with a .324 average, 34 home runs, and 97 RBI in only 451 at-bats, culminating with winning the National League Rookie of the Year award. His production has stayed consistent, with an average season landing in the vicinity of those numbers. He has become one of the spokesmen for the game of baseball, especially since he’s been elected to four All-Star games and has won four Silver Slugger awards.

On a night that should have been one of the greatest and most humbling experiences of his life, Braun pretty much had to defend himself. He was in Manhattan on Saturday night at the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America dinner to accept his 2011 National League Most Valuable Player award. There was a lot of anticipation regarding his appearance since Braun has been silent since the positive test got leaked by an unnamed source. Reports have shown that he has begun the appeal process to the pending 50-game suspension that he faces. On Saturday night, he graciously accepted his award and mostly spoke in generalities, but everyone knew exactly what he was talking about.

From what I’ve seen, he spoke very well about his current situation. What struck me most was how he is approaching this challenge. To him every challenge that he faces is an opportunity, and the true character of a person is revealed when the odds are stacked against them. Obviously, this can be seen as a cliche, but he used it in a perfect way.

Yes, no one has ever successfully won an appeal for a positive test before and there are “unusual circumstances” that surround Braun’s positive test, but there is always an opportunity to come out victorious. I feel bad for the Brewers superstar because as a Major League player, he is guaranteed his due process, giving him time to go through the appeal process before the suspension is upheld and then announced to the public.

If Braun defies the odds and wins his appeal, none of this should have ever become public knowledge. Even if he is a completely clean player, the court of public opinion has already made their judgment on him, which is unfair since the results were leaked. I know that it seems unlikely that Braun will be able to win his appeal against this positive test, but I certainly hope he does because I think he is a stand-up player and person. It seems as if this decision could be overturned because Ryan has been consistent in his production throughout his entire career and has no doubt been tested before his last test in October. He even requested to be tested again and the results came back negative.

We’ll see what happens as this situation unfolds, but like millions of fans and the MLB commissioner’s office (mostly Bud Selig), I’m holding my breath for the results.

Thanks for reading! If you want to stay up to date on all of the posts on Call to the Pen and my MLB blog, On The Way Home, follow me on Twitter: @mmusico8