I will not
be at the baseball writers’ dinner tomorrow, but Ryan Braun will be and I will eagerly
read the Sunday newspapers to see what he has to say about testing positive for
a banned substance, a result that he spent yesterday fighting.
Braun
apparently will not do interviews at the dinner, although he is expected to
give a speech in accepting the National League Most Valuable Player trophy. But
what could he possibly say that will make anyone feel better about this
terrible situation?
If I was
attending the event, as I did last year, I can tell you what I wouldn’t want to
hear. I do not want to hear Braun claim that he is innocent because he mistakenly
took a banned substance. The players get a lot of education and guidance about
what’s allowed and what isn’t under baseball’s drug policy so that is simply no
excuse. And I don’t want to hear him pull a Jason Giambi by offering an apology
without specifying what he is apologizing for.
If I had to
guess, I think Braun will say something along the lines that his positive test
only proves that there is something wrong with the drug testing system. Let’s
assume for a moment that Braun is completely innocent and ultimately successful
in his appeal, which under normal circumstances I would root for because he seems
like a good guy. But that would have terrible consequences for Major League
Baseball, which would have players challenging every dirty test and everyone
else questioning the system. It would force MLB and the players’ union back to
the negotiating table and those two sides do not have the best history of
working together on this issue. For the sake of baseball, it feels like Braun
has to lose his appeal or he could end up inadvertently destroying the drug
testing system it took many painful years to build.
I was
tempted to attend this year’s dinner, mostly because Mariano Rivera and David
Robertson of the New York Yankees will be honored. But I have a concert to go
to that night, which won’t be nearly as dramatic and controversial, but will be
a lot more fun and a lot less uncomfortable to sit through.
Thanks to Steve Paluch via Wikipedia for the Ryan Braun photo.
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