Braun wrong to imply tampering with no proof

I know that Ryan Braun is angry, but he has no right to even imply that some random drug collector tampered with his urine sample.

Braun said he knows what it is like to be falsely accused of something so he did not come out and directly assert that the collector tampered with his sample. But he did everything short of that by talking about not knowing what happened in the 44 hours before the sample got to the testing laboratory. Braun seems to be trying to clear his name by besmirching everyone else’s, including the collector who should have remained anonymous but now cannot because of Braun’s insinuations. I have absolutely no problem with Braun attacking Major League Baseball and the process itself. That is absolutely fair game. But he should not have crossed the line with his tampering implications.

I believe Major League Baseball should fire the collector, who I will not name even though Braun made him a target and he has been named elsewhere. Not because of supposed tampering, but because he clearly could have done a better job getting that sample out to the laboratory that same day rather than keeping the sample in his home. But that does not mean by any stretch that I believe Braun’s implication that the collector decided to frame him for using a banned substance.

Notably, Braun’s representatives did not try to argue during the arbitration process that the Milwaukee Brewers’ outfielder and reigning National League Most Valuable Player’s sample was tampered with. Why not? Because they had absolutely no concrete proof that it was and they would have lost that appeal if they tried to focus on alleged wrongdoing. Smartly, they focused on the time lapse between the collection and its arrival at the lab and succeeded in getting the 50-game ban tossed on a technicality. But they should have stuck with that approach in their public defense, rather than trying to subtly cast doubt on the results by even hinting at the possibility of tampering.

Braun has every right to be upset about the process and the leak of what should have been confidential information. If he wants to demand that Major League Baseball fix its drug-testing procedures and find out and fire whoever leaked the information, he is well within his rights. But Braun owes that collector a huge apology for even implying, with nothing remotely resembling evidence, that the guy was out to get him. 

Thanks to Steve Paluch via Wikipedia for the Ryan Braun photo. 

Braun not guilty but not innocent

If this were a criminal case, Ryan Braun would have won a not guilty verdict and been immediately set free. But that does not mean he is innocent.

Braun won his appeal of a 50-game suspension basically on a technicality because his urine sample was kept in a tester’s home refrigerator for two days rather than being immediately shipped to the laboratory. I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve watched a lot of Law & Order and it reminds me of one of those episodes where a judge dismisses a case against an obviously guilty defendant because the cops did not follow the proper procedures in securing the evidence. In those episodes, the prosecutors often figure out another way to convict the defendant. Major League Baseball has no such recourse.

Baseball officials were quick to issue a statement expressing their vehement disagreement with the ruling, which now casts a major shadow over the drug-testing system Bud Selig & Co have expressed so much pride in. They take no comfort from the fact that one of the best young players in the game will not have to endure an embarrassing and costly suspension. Truthfully, I think Major League Baseball would much rather have sacrificed Braun’s career to protect the integrity of their system.

Baseball has to move quickly to repair the damage, including firing whoever was responsible for this egregious error at the drug testing facility. I find it so hard to believe that the sample couldn’t be shipped for more than two full days just because it missed the last scheduled courier. In this day and age, could they not have called FedEx or some other shipping company to request a special pickup? And why would a sample being taken so late in the day if making that last shipment was truly an issue?

As for Braun, he probably feels vindicated by his successful appeal, but those feelings of vindication will be short-lived. I do feel badly for him in the sense that his failed test should never have come to the light of day since the process was not complete, per the drug-testing rules both MLB and the union agreed to follow (as part of its review, MLB should seek out the leakers of the information to ESPN and fire them immediately as the leak clearly came from the MLB side—there’s no way Braun or the union would have made this public).

It is technically correct that the unguarded sample could have been tampered with at any time, making its results questionable. But what seems to be the more likely scenario: that someone who for some unknown reason switched the sample or that the outfielder simply failed the test? Complicating Braun’s insistence of his innocence is the fact that of three samples, his was the only one that tested positive. So Braun alone bears the burden of many people believing that he cheated and then beat the system, as unfair as that may seem. 

Thanks to shgmom56 and UC international via Wikipedia for the Braun photo.

Will Mariano Rivera really say goodbye?

Will Mariano Rivera really call it quits after the 2012 baseball season is over?

It’s hard to imagine anyone walking away still at the top of their game, as Mo clearly is, but it seems like he is planning to do exactly that at the end of the year. Mo did not directly say he would retire, but he strongly hinted that the end of his unmatchable career is close to completion.

After achieving the all-time saves record last year, Mo has nothing else left to do in baseball. His status as the greatest reliever in the history of baseball is completely secure. He has five World Series rings and will hopefully win a sixth before he calls it quits. Mo could have even decided to join Jorge Posada in retirement this offseason if he didn’t have another year left on his contract. But Mo just has too much integrity to leave the New York Yankees in the lurch like that.

How do you replace an icon? The Yankees are actually in pretty good shape there. David Robertson has proven he has the chops to pitch late innings in tight games and has absolutely no fear of dangerous baseball situations. If Joba Chamberlain can come back from his arm injury, and all reports are that he is making excellent progress, then he can serve as Robertson’s back-up and take over the 8^th inning role. In a worst-case scenario, the Yankees also have Rafael Soriano, who has closer experience, and could try him out in the role.  

But I’m not sure if the Yankees are ready to lose their iconic closer. Even the heir apparent Robertson is unconvinced, suggesting that Rivera could “Brett Favre us”, meaning that he could decide not to retire. I would love it if that were true, but the tone of Mo’s recent comments suggest that as much as he would miss baseball, he is tired of the grind and of being away from his kids so much.

So of course he can call it quits. All good things come to an end eventually. At least we have a chance to say a proper goodbye. 

Yankees baseball is back

There’s nothing like the first day of reporting for pitchers and catchers to get people excited about baseball again.

For me, most of March will be spent tracking Syracuse University’s (hopefully long) journey through the Big East and NCAA tournaments toward another national title. But I will make some time for spring training baseball. I was excited to see the YES Network announcement of the first broadcast of a New York Yankees spring training game on March 4. Sure, most of the Yankees regulars probably won’t even play and those that do will only play for a few innings at the most. But it will be fun seeing the Yankees take the field again after their disappointingly quick exit from the playoffs last year.

And the start of spring training will once again lead to a rash of last-minute activity. Brian Cashman finally managed to trade away AJ Burnett, but he will still have some decisions to make about the roster, namely filling out the bench roles. It’s looking less and less likely that Johnny Damon will return to pinstripes (which I had doubts about due to his desire to chase 3,000 hits), but Eric Chavez seems happy to reclaim his supporting role with the Yankees.

The Yankees have plenty of decisions to make heading into the 2012 baseball season. Who will be the odd man out of the starting rotation? Who will be the back-up catcher for Russell Martin? Do they hire a designated hitter with the money they saved from trading Burnett or do they leave the job open for the aging Yankee infielders? The answers will probably come slowly over the next few weeks, but they will make spring training interesting to watch. 

Rooting for Joba Chamberlain comeback

Heading into spring training in 2011, I wrote about how there is no member of the New York Yankees I would be rooting for more than Joba Chamberlain. The same is true again this year, but for a different reason.


Joba got dealt a bad hand last year when he was felled by a serious arm injury in the midst of a successful campaign to once again become the set-up man for Mariano Rivera. He managed to do what I thought was impossible: cast aside Rafael Soriano despite the millions of dollars the Steinbrenners wasted on Soriano’s services. Joba’s numbers reflected the fantastic year he was having (2-0, with a 2.83 ERA and 1.05 WHIP). But he also showed us a maturity that we hadn’t seen before, which was not surprising considering that he is still only 26 years old. Being in the middle of such a professional renaissance made his unexpected season-ending surgery that much more devastating.

Reports indicate that Chamberlain’s rehabilitation is progressing quite well so perhaps we will see him back on the mound mid-season. Of course, he will need time to find his groove again. But if he can do that, the Yankees already strong bullpen could become an unstoppable force.  

Something good did come out of Joba’s injury since it allowed the baseball world (and the Yankees themselves) to see what David Robertson could do in that job. But I hate to see any player lose his job because of an injury, especially one that may have been preventable if the Yankees hadn’t shifted Joba back and forth from the bullpen to the rotation and back again.  

But that’s all in the past. I will look forward to the future and hope that Joba can once again be the pitcher that had all of New York buzzing about his promise. 

Best wishes for AJ Burnett

Even though I was too often frustrated by AJ Burnett, I’m truly hoping for him to find success in his new baseball home.

Brian Cashman finally succeeded in trading Burnett to another team willing to take a chance on him. 

After three years of inconsistency, with flashes of the talent that led the New York Yankees to give him that humongous contract mixed in, the Yankees finally admitted what the rest of the baseball world probably already knew: that Burnett was never going to become the pitcher they thought he could be, at least not in New York.

I think Cashman deserves huge kudos for this trade, even though he is only getting marginal prospects in return. I’m actually surprised he persuaded the small-market Pirates to pay $13 million of the remaining $33 million for Burnett’s services, given his struggles in New York and the Yankees’ apparent desperation to move him. But just because Burnett could not succeed in the Big Apple does not mean he cannot do well in Pittsburgh. On the contrary, I think this trade could actually be great for him in a lot of ways, including eliminating the glare of the New York spotlight and leaving the tough American League East for the National League.

No matter his struggles, I never rooted against Burnett. I really did want AJ to succeed in New York, mainly because I always felt the Yankees would be a much better team if he ever could figure things out on the mound. And Burnett, despite his tantrums at times, seems to be a good guy, well-liked by his teammates and coaches and a mentor to young Ivan Nova. Perhaps Burnett could slide into a role as a wise elder in Pittsburgh, a role that will give him purpose and the strength to become a better pitcher.  

AJ, I wish you nothing but the best. 

Sad day as Mets family loses Gary Carter

My heart goes out to the New York Mets family and all their fans over the loss of Gary Carter.

It’s a terribly sad day in Queens even though the news of Carter’s death is hardly a surprise. He had been bravely battling brain cancer for months, but his prognosis seemed to be getting worse. I could sense the end was near when he was too weak to attend last month’s Baseball Writers of America awards, with his children’s emotional acceptance of the “You Gotta Have Heart” award on his behalf.

Carter had a lot of heart. There’s no question about that. He was a mentally tough individual but a steady force in baseball.  And Carter was a very deserving member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, with 11 All-Star elections (twice being named the Most Valuable Player of the game), five Silver Slugger awards and three Gold Gloves.

On a team of hooligans who proudly abused drugs and women, Carter stood out for his refusal to join the party. Carter helped the 1986 Mets win a World Series championship, but never let their bad behavior touch him. He was the voice of reason and responsibility for a team that desperately needed it. The Mets would never have won that title without his leadership and his baseball talents.

Rest in peace, Kid.

Thanks to MTLskyline via Wikipedia for the image.