Posted on 02/24/2012 1:44:59 AM PST by jellybean
National League MVP Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension was overturned Thursday by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, the first time a baseball player successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance.
The decision was announced Thursday by the Major League Baseball Players Association, one day before the 28-year-old outfielder was due to report to spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers.
***snip***
During the hearing, Braun's side challenged the chain of custody from the time the urine sample was collected by Comprehensive Drug Testing Inc. to when it was sent, nearly 48 hours later, to a World Anti-Doping Agency-certified laboratory in Montreal, two people familiar with the case said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because what took place in the hearing is supposed to be confidential.
The sample was collected on Oct. 1, a Saturday and the day the Brewers opened the NL playoffs. The collector did not send the sample to the laboratory until Monday, thinking it would be more secure at home than at a Federal Express office during the weekend.
Baseball's drug agreement states that "absent unusual circumstances, the specimens should be sent by FedEx to the laboratory on the same day they are collected."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
A 50 game suspension is not taking away everything he has.
Good example... For me!
If the LAPD had used proper sample handling and Chain of Custody on OJ's blood sample, they may have convicted him. Instead, Detective Van Atter put the samples in his pocket and visited the crime scene. Later, when OJ's blood was found on the gate, the defense could point to VanAtter's actions, and suggest an alternate theory of how the blood got there.
If that sample had been handled properly, OJ's lawyers would have no plausible explanation of how the blood got there.
Given this and other stupid errors by the LAPD, the jury got it right and acquitted OJ.
It puts him in a one-strike-and-you're-out position, which would take away everything he has.
No, it would kick him out of the league, maybe, pending appeal, but he’d still get to keep everything he has.
I’ll admit I learned a lot from this thread - although getting those details from Jellybean was certainly like pulling teeth. Would have been much more useful if his initial post was more reporter and less cheerleader. But regardless, I’m now on the side that believes evidence points towards Braun being not guilty. However - what do you mean by one-strike-and-your-out? If he got hit with a 50 game ‘vacation,’ and then got caught sinning again, wouldn’t the next step be a 100-game suspension? Isn’t that what happened to Manny? And teams were still willing to take a chance on Manny, even with his diminished stats and increased mental retardation. Why would Braun be “out”?
I think there are a bunch of disgruntled Cubs fans posting on this thread!
He's been tested multiple times throughout the years. There has never been a trace of PED. You're the one whose logic has failed.
Is that we are in this country now?
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No, we live in a country where a part-time sample collector can violate drug testing protocol and store urine in his unsecure, personal fridge.
It is alleged that the sample purported to be Braun's contained 3x the highest level of artifical testosterone ever recorded in the history of the MLB testing program. A second Braun urine test administered a week later under proper protocol was 100% clean.
Braun exhibited no other symptoms (physical or emotional) of an individual that had consumed enough artificial testosterone to kill small farm animals. Braun claims that he did not take the testosterone and offered to submit a DNA sample to prove that either the initial urine sample was not his or that his DNA sample - which should still have had some trace of the testosterone - was in fact clean. It should be noted that all 3 player urine samples the collector obtained that day and stored at his personal residence contained traces of the artifical testosterone.
Given this set of facts, it is just as likely that a part-time collector screwed up his attempt to tamper with Braun's sample and sell a leaked story of an MVP's failed drug test to the media.
Most of the details were in the original article from ABC -which is an AP source and can only be briefly excerpted. Per JR: All material from the Associated Press must be excerpted regardless of source (very brief excerpts).. Is it pulling teeth for you to click on the link at the top of the thread? I assumed (falsely it seems) anyone interested in the topic would have at least a passing familiarity with the controversy.
Why would Braun be “out”?
Braun is on pace to be in the Hall of Fame. Until he's completely exonerated, his nomination is in doubt.
I am a Braun cheerleader, btw.
The point is you would do better pointing out the facts that helped Braun’s case right off the bat as opposed to cheerleading. Besides you don’t nearly have the legs for it.
You're right! I'm a 58 yo female with bad knees. There's no way I would be able to do the cartwheels!
this has comrade Selig’s fingerprints all over it..
Really? Is that why the commissioner's office vehemently opposes the decision?
Sounds like somthing Obama would do. It's the "Chicago Way"
Ryan Braun speaking now!
Hey - I’m sorry Jelly - you were being silly enough I assumed ‘guy’ - that was wrong of me.
Braun got off on a tecnicality. The test was positive. He’s no MVP. Let’s see what he does this year without the foreign substances in his system.
I'll bet his numbers this year will be close to his numbers from previous years.
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