We all thought the Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun had everything — the brains and invincibility of a superstar.
Turns out, he has none of those.
On Monday afternoon, Major League Baseball suspended Braun for the final 65 games of the 2013 season without pay for violation of the league’s drug policy. Braun accepted the penalty and issued a statement that said, "I am not perfect. I realize now that I have made some mistakes."
Braun has only now realized he made some "mistakes?"
Come on.
The only mistake Braun made was getting caught. His utter lack of responsibility and remorse is astounding.
The rest of Braun’s statement was the typical "I’m sorry, it won’t happen again" spiel and ended with him stating he was “glad to have this matter behind me once and for all.”
Sorry Ryan, but this isn’t going away. Ever.
The amount of people Braun has cheated, including himself, is asinine.
Start with his teammates, who have stood by Braun every step of the way, including before the start of the 2013 season when he finally won the appeal of his positive test in 2011.
They sat through his post-appeal press conference and listened to Braun convincingly play victim, even though the real victims sat just a feet away from him.
Even other organizations, most notably the Arizona Diamondbacks, must feel robbed and cheated at this point.
Remember, the D-Backs played the Brewers in the 2011 National League Division Series and Braun’s positive test came after game two.
Braun pounded the D-Backs, going 9-18 (.500) with four RBI’s and the Brewers won the series in five games.
ESPN’s Buster Olney’s tweet, which came minutes after the announced suspension, sums it up perfectly: “It would be a good move for Braun to reach out to ARI players who were on the team he hammered in the '11 postseason. Some feel cheated.”
And what about Matt Kemp?
The Dodgers outfielder hit .324 with 39 home runs and 126 RBI’s and led the National League in runs, home runs, RBI’s and total bases, but finished second to Braun in the MVP voting.
Braun’s apology letter should be in his outbox sometime in the near future.
Most importantly, the fans deserve an apology from him.
They are the ones spending their hard-earned money buying his jerseys and going to games to watch him play.
Wouldn’t you feel cheated if you found out this is what your favorite athlete is truly like?
To those still in support of Braun, they can't defend him anymore after his statement of denial from the post-appeal press conference.
“I bet my life that this substance didn’t enter my body at any point,” Braun said in 2011.
Ryan, you’re a dead man walking.
Reach the columnist at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
