Ryan Braun overturned steroids conviction

Ryan Braun - Steven_Paluch - Flickr

Milwaukee Brewers left fielder and reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun tested positive for PED (performance enhancing drugs) on Saturday, October 1, 2011 during Game 1 of last year’s National League Division Series. This case was overturned because Braun's urine sample was send to the laboratory nearly 48 hours later.

This is the first time in history of baseball that has successfully challenged a steroid related punishment. He could have been suspended for 50 games if his second test was denied.

Braun was tested at the beginning of the playoffs and learned in late October that he had reached the level of testosterone usage. According to a person who knows about the results said that the test showed a prohibited substance in Braun’s body, but not a drug or a steroid. 

Soon after the first test result came out, Braun took a second test in an independent laboratory, and the second result showed that he had normal level of testosterone.

So which test shows the real results? The first test shows that Braun is taking steroids and the second test that Braun did in an independent laboratory showed that he had normal levels of testosterone?

Well, Braun himself was really happy with the result of the second test. "It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation. We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side," Braun said.

While Braun is claiming that he did not take steroids, Dino Laurenzi Jr., the man who collected Braun's first urine sample claims that he was doing what he was being instructed to do; however, Braun argued that keeping a sample at a collector's home violated baseball's drug testing rules.

Laurenzi has worked for the Major League Baseball's Comprehensive Drug Testing since 2005 and performed more than 600 collections during four separate seasons and for five different teams. Laurenzi said that the sample was sealed correctly and was not tampered with. He says that he kept the samples in the basement of his home over the weekend until FedEx opened and could ship them immediately like any occasions.

For now, Braun is still playing for the Milwaukee Brewers but if Braun starts to hit fewer home runs, and steal fewer bases after the test, then suspicions would arise about Braun's positive test.