Anyone who has been a fan of baseball for the past decade or so has seen it too many times. One of your favorite players standing at a podium trying to explain himself after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and the list goes on. After having our faith betrayed so many times, we have been trained to assume the worst and leave hope out of it.
The Ryan Braun fiasco though is something completely different. Until watching his speech this morning, I was with the majority in thinking that he got off on a technicality. As I was listening though, I realized that this was something much bigger and more important than that. This was a great player who will be forever questioned because the media loves a good story more than the facts. The facts of the positive test and his subsequent appeal provide a much murkier picture than the media has been showing to the public.
1. Braun's testosterone levels were 3 times higher than any results the lab had ever recorded
2. Although the MLB's drug testing policy requires tests to be brought in to FedEx on the same day the test is administered, the handler took almost 2 full days to bring the test in to FedEx.
3. Braun provided recorded data on his speed from base to base and weight, which are always recorded by teams, and there was no change from past seasons.
If these facts don't make you wonder, then I don't know what would. Braun has passed 24 drug tests in the past, including multiple tests last season, and did not have a spike in power performance. His HR total of 33 last year was 4 lower than his previous high. Even more surprising have been MLB's strong declarations that their test was right. When you don't follow protocol for something as delicate and easily corruptible as a urine test, the results mean nothing at all. The MLB needs to admit this and move on.
In the end though, the thing that I find most worrisome is the media's coverage of it all. When Braun tested positive, it was all over the news as another star player who had cheated the game. Analysts were ripping him and everyone took their turn dragging Braun's name through the mud. Now that Braun has been exonerated, do we hear apologies for what were clearly premature reactions? Or at least people saying that he clearly proved that the test was flawed? No. In the the warped environment that is our media today, an innocent man is not as interesting as a guilty one. A shining star not as attention grabbing as a fallen one. Braun's story of innocence is now an aside with a not so slight tinge of doubt. All too often in cases like this public perception is all that matters, and when much of the public cannot separate the opinion of their news source from their own, this becomes quite an issue. Large outlets like ESPN have a responsibility to fairly portray story lines to the public and not become a glorified gossip engine.
Unfortunately though, it is already too late for Ryan Braun. The story of his positive test leaked before he could finish his appeal, and the public and media have made their decision. Ryan Braun will forever be the player who might not have cheated the game.
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