Ryan Braun Admits Doping (PED use) in MVP Season [sb2Qkkqtf4Y]
Ryan Braun is not especially important to the baseball world anymore, except to those people who work or root for the Milwaukee Brewers. As a national figure, Braun is all but ruined. Most people will place him off in a corner of their minds — in a jail cell with giant syringes for bars, let's say — with all the other drug cheats. But for the Brewers and their fans, Braun is theirs to stay, signed with the team through 2020. He got a standing ovation at Miller Park in his first at-bat after agreeing to a $105 million contract extension in 2011. Later that season, he used performance-enhancing drugs, Braun admitted in a statement Thursday. In an interview last month, a week or so after Braun accepted a 65-game suspension from Major League Baseball, the Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said he was deeply hurt by his star's betrayal. But he also said there seemed to be enough good in Braun that he was worth trying to redeem. Taking his punishment was better than continuing to lie. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun issued a lengthy statement of apology for his use of performance-enhancing drugs during the 2011 season. Braun failed a drug test that fall, but he successfully appealed what would have been a 50-game suspension. The statement did not mention Biogenesis, the now-closed Florida clinic that, after a Major League Baseball investigation, resulted in the suspension of 14 players. Braun was the first of 14 players disciplined this year as a result of the Biogenesis probe. Twelve accepted 50-game penalties, including a trio of All-Stars: Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz, Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta and San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera. Braun was suspended for 65 games. "After my interview with MLB in late June of this year, I came to the realization that it was time to come to grips with the truth," he said. "I was never presented with baseball's evidence against me, but I didn't need to be, because I knew what I had done." "It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately," Braun said in a statement released by the Brewers. "During the latter part of the 2011 season," Braun said in a statement, "I was dealing with a nagging injury and I turned to products for a short period of time that I shouldn't have used. The products were a cream and a lozenge which I was told could help expedite my rehabilitation. It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately." Braun admits to PED use: 'I was in denial' Ryan Braun finally admits drug use in 2011 Ryan Braun admits to using PEDs in statement Milwaukee Brewers Braun admits to doping Ryan Braun Statement Text Braun apologizes, says he 'lived in denial' Suspended Brewers star Ryan Braun as good at apologizing as he is deception Twitter wags a finger at Ryan Braun's apology Ryan Braun's Statement Brewers' Braun Admits to Doping in MVP Season Brewers' drug cheat Braun admits PED use