Bench Coach

I think that is the point here. He had so much to lose. Yes he was the type that wanted to be the best and never doubted his ability, but why risk this. It doesn't add up. He could have been king of this city. Right there with Yount, maybe even greater by the time it was all said and done. Doing something like this and risk getting caught just doesn't make sense. He is smart enough to know the ramifications if he were to get caught. No chance at the hall of fame, no All-Star games, those are things that I am sure are goals of his. No reason to risk it. Is he really that stupid?

And if I ever knew for sure that happened that would be enough for me to turn my back on the game and I hae loved baseball for as long as I can remember, But if they were to uphold a suspension for that reason and tarnish a man's reputation and legacy just to save themselves, that is deplorable. Of course we will never know for sure....this whole thing is rediculous.

IS there aby one on this board with knowledge of how a result could be so high. I would assume even if he was using that his test would not be that high. What ralistic explanations are there? Taking horse steroids.....Hey - El Caballo never tested postive http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

IS there aby one on this board with knowledge of how a result could be so high. I would assume even if he was using that his test would not be that high. What ralistic explanations are there?

Not sure how much the re-test means anything, as the timing of it could have an impact. However the other pieces definitely raise some questions. I did think that I saw somewhere that the league was having the sample tested again. Though ca't remember in all I've read today where I saw it.

This whole thing is making me ill. While I still believe he will likely be suspended no matter what and we will never know the truth, it bugs me that this was leaked before it could all be handled behind the scenes. So many thing about this raise red flags, but we also don't know about the issues or questions that were raised in any of the other cases. It also seems that there is conflicting info if any of these have been overturned. The everknowing Jeff Passan says his sources say no, while Jimmy Rollins tweets indicate that not to be true, and he was backed up by another source. Unfortunately the likely outcome here is he is suspended and branded a cheater and we may never know what really happened. Everyone will have to form their own opinions of him from that point on.

This is what has infuriated me about this whole discussion. All the facts aren't even close to being out yet, but everyone is stating as fact that Braun took steroids. Watching ESPN's coverage of this last night was even more infurating. One anchor was saying he tested positive for a PED while another kept saying he tested positive for steroids, and they were both on the set together. No one has this story straight. No one knows a damn thing about what Braun took. What infuriates me most is that this story leaked before the appeals process has even been completed. I tweeted this to Buster Olney this morning: "Again, can you please explain to me how this gets leaked out before the appeal is heard and before all the facts are known?" He actually replied to my tweet with this: "I don't know who the sources are for Mark and T.J., whose past work on steroids has been impeccable." I responded by saying that someone's impeccable record is going to be tarnished at some point, and I hope it isn't Braun's. Again, no one can say with 100% certainty that Braun took steroids. It's frustrating to read some of the comments on this forum that are speaking about this in the very same way. There are a lot of assumptions being made, and you know what they say about assuming. You are preaching to the choir. At least some of us are level headed and waiting to make final judgement until the appeal process is complete.

Again we don't know everything. Again why I am mad at the media. They report without knowing all the details and potentially harming a man's reputation for no reason.

A spokesman for Braun confirmed the positive test Saturday and issued a statement: "There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident he will ultimately be exonerated." What is the "case" that they are referring to? The case is testing positive for PED's. Also, notice state the goal is to demonstrate that there wer no "intentional" violations of the program? We all know that testing positive does mean 100%, without a doubt, that a person used PED's. With the information that we have though, it is very safe to say that Braun took a test and it turned up positive. If you still don't believe his camp confirmed a positve test, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. So there is never any case where there can be a false positive. Again we do not know everything and likely never will.

Braun tested positive for a PED. We have two sources: 1. ESPN 2. Braun's own camp But again do we know that others have not tested positive, but were successfully able to have it overturned? Do you know that for fact? Do we know if there have ever been a false positive? Have you or anyone else you know gone through this before? Do you yourself perform these tests or work for MLB? Likely the answer to all of these questions is NO. Not trying to be harsh or overagressive here, but my point is we don't know adn really at this point we should't know. Do I think the suspension will be upheld. Yes - but for a number of reasons that could be the outcome. We will never know the full story. And to me intent does mean at least something.

Looks like after a year or so of no posting I am really going at it today.... Two important things here it has been six weeks. To me that seems like a lot of time. If it was as clear cut as some of the "Braun is a juicer" people are stating then wouldn't the appeal process likely be completed already and MLB would have made announcement. I know I don't know much about the timing on these things, but seems there may be at least a little substance to his arguement. That brings up the next poitn, none of us know what the timeline should actually look like. This was supposed to be confidential. Others may have gone through this before and won their appeal and as such we have never heard about it. That is why I am mad at the media and whoever the source is. Let the process run its course, then if suspended trach him all you want. Now if that 1% chance that he is telling the truth is accurate he will forever be questioned.

This is actually the one thing I am not so worried about. From everything I have heard he is a hard worker and wants to be the best. If anything I think this will drive him more. Especially if he truly feels he was unjustly suspended. I think he will have a chip on his shoulder and want to prove to everyone that he can, and has done it on his own.

Wow - I am still very upset by this. In all my time as a Brewer fan there have only been two other Brewers I liked as much as Braun - Molitor and Yount. Since I found out last night I have probably been acting like my best friend died. Here is the problem as I see it. He did test postive for syntetic testosterone - so something illegal was in his system. Whether he intentionally meant to do it or not it is going to be a lmost impossible to prove. As much as I hate to say it, I don't see how the suspension si overturned. I hate it and it is killing me, but for the first 50 games of next season we will not only be missing Prince from our lineup, but also Braun. We have to hope to tread water during that time and come on strong at the end otherwise it will be a big waste of what could be Grienke and Marcum's last year with us. As for what really happened, what he took, the intent....we will never know the truth. All of that is supposed to be confidential and honestly I have not believed the league and most of it's players stories about this in the past. What I do believe is that others have probably successfully defended this in the past, but it stayed wuiet and confidentiIal like it was supposed to. This being leaked and becoming public, does as many others have said, make it extremely more difficult and unlikely that the suspension is over turned. As such we as Brewer fans have to decide on our own how we feel about Braun going forward. I for myself am not sure. Last night when I found out I half jokingly said to my wife that this might be what I felt like if I ever found out she cheated on me. To some extent it might be accurate. I am mad right now, and probably even more so for the first 50 games. Again, we will never know the truth. Did he let us as fans down either way, likely yes. But was he willfully cheating or was it an accident or oversite. Again we will likely never know, so we will have to make our own judgements going forward. Going back to my , do I want him gone or do I want him to stay to have the opportunity to make good. Again at this point I am not sure. Hopefully this is cleared up soon. I want to believe Braun and part of me does. But part of me knows how cocky he is and remembers that he is an athlete in a business where most are willing to do what it takes to be the best. For know I just have to hope!

Actually - just to clarify - I don't have a problem with Gamel at first, just not thrilled about the rest of the scenario.

I have that same bad feeling. Gamel at First, McGehee at Third and and probably Yuni back at Short. But hey with the way things are going we will have K-Rod at an extremely high price. What are the odd's that Pujols goes to Miami so that they take a step back too? Even in that scenario, I am then worried about the Reds. Now done panicking and back to optimism.