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.

Ryan Braun wins doping trial due to late delivery

Ryan Braun / Dishfunctional / Flickr

On February 23th 2012 there was a case to find out if Ryan Braun had taken drugs to enhance his performance. The sample was taken by Dino Laurenzi Jr. October 1st after a playoff game between Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park. The case was overturned, because the sample wasn’t sent directly to the laboratory, but first 44 hours after it was taken.

Laurenzi was supposed to take the sample to a Fed Ex office to send it, but it was Saturday and he thought none were open. He said there was, “… no FedEx office located within 50 miles of Miller Park that would ship packages that day or Sunday,” to Suntimes.com. Instead, Laurenzi stored it in his basement in a cool place following protocol. He sent it the following Monday afternoon.

Braun won the three-person panel appeal with a two to one vote. Rob Manfred, the executive vice president for labor relations, voted to accuse him. Michael Weiner, who represented the players union, voted to let him off. The tiebreaker was Shyam Das, arbitrator between the management and the players union. He also voted to let Braun off.

Manfred and MLB management disagreed with Das’ decision. Baseball officials say it’s the first time a drug suspension has been overturned. "As a part of our drug testing program, the commissioner's office and the players' association agreed to a neutral third party review for instances that are under dispute. While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das," said Manfred to ESPN.com

On Friday February 24th Braun tried to raise questions about the testing process. He called the process, “fatally flawed,” and said there was numerous Fed Ex offices nearby that were open after the game ended. “There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way the entire thing works, that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened,” Braun said to NYTimes.com

Maybe there was accident during the testing process as Gary Wadler, a former high-ranking official in the World Anti-Doping Agency, said, “It’s a highly scientific process, and no one is entirely perfect.” Or Braun had actually taken drugs to enhance his perfomance. Either way he is free to play for now.