Lyin' Ryan Braun Suspended Without Pay

Ryan Braun is suspended without pay for the remainder of the season. The story on the MLB website does not say why Braun was suspended. It only says Braun came clean about about violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Ryan Braun

The posting quote Braun:
"As I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect," Braun said in a statement released by MLB. "I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions.

AND

"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.

Braun not only broken the rules, his indignant denials have earned him a special place the hypocrites hall of fame. Following the 2011 season and during the playoffs, Braun was notified that he had tested positive for an elevated level of synthetic testosterone. Braun won the MVP award that year.

Braun accepts MVP

Braun was given 50-game suspension, but had that punishment overturned on appeal. Braun never argued that elevated levels of synthetic testosterone weren't in his urine. Instead, he argued that the chain of custody of his sample violated testing procedures. In a statement, Braun called his victory the "first step in restoring my good name and reputation." His second lie. Despite Braun's likelihood of guilt, given his positive test, baseball writers still tried to award him a second straight MVP. Braun finished second in the voting to the San Francisco Giants Buster Posey. Can you imagine Barry Bonds testing positive for elevated levels of synthetic testosterone, and like Braun, coming out and hitting .319 the very next year and then finishing second in the MVP voting? Barry would have been buried. Bonds has been out of the game for 5 years, and in his first year of eligibility of the Hall of Fame did not make the cut. And yet, Braun almost won another MVP after testing positive? Braun's treatment in the media is more of a continuing pattern. Despite clear observational and documented evidence of cheating, Braun, Roger Clemons, Lance Armstrong, and Mark MacQwire all required rock solid evidence before being convicted in the media. We had  Clemons DNA on a steroids soaked needle, 11 of Armstrong's

Mark McQwire

teammates testified against him, Braun had a positive drug test, but since he won his appeal, the media backed off, and MacQwire refused to deny he'd taken steroids under oath in front of congress.
Braun was also linked to the Biogenesis Lab of Miami. Earlier this year, a story in the New Miami Times first linked several other players to banned drugs produced by the lab. Those players, including Alex Rodriguez, and last year's All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera were handed down a guilty verdict in the media. Later, when Braun's name was linked to the same list, the media did not show the same blood lust Braun as it had for A-Rod and Cabrera. MLB was expected to suspend a number of players linked to the Biogenesis Lab. Why Braun is the only name on the suspension list so far is a bit of a mystery. Media reports quoting anonymous sources say Braun declined to answer questions put to him earlier this month by MLB investigators. That may be why Braun and only Braun was suspended, although the New York Daily News said 10 other players also did not cooperate.