Sunday, December 11, 2011

Sports Shooting Themselves in the Foot, Part 1

I came home last night expecting to watch the Heisman Trophy ceremony and relax.  What I saw flashing across the screen was a shock.  2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun had tested positive for a performance enhancing substance and was facing a 50 game suspension.  And in one statement, all the good will that had been generated by baseball since drug testing was stiffened in the 2007 season went out the door.

Braun was the poster child for the new age of baseball, one where talent and hard work were the only ways to get ahead.  He had just recently signed a 5 yr, $105M contract extension that will keep him with Milwaukee through the 2020 season.  He, along with Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies, Evan Longoria of the Rays, and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, are leading a new era where young players sign long term deals with the teams that developed them, trading in the opportunity to hit the free agent market for the stability and security of knowing where you will be for the next decade.  In a sport where most teams are seen as farm systems for high revenue franchises, these players gave their fans a reason to be excited about their teams for the long term. 

I have had Braun on my fantasy team for several seasons now, so I am aware of his skills.  He has consistently been a top 10 fantasy performer and is a force in all five basic categories.  During his MVP campaign this past season, he hit .332 (2nd in NL) with 33 HR’s (6th) and 111 RBI’s (4th).  Not to mention he scored 109 runs and had 33 SB’s.  He was ROY in 2007 and has been an All-Star and Silver Slugger award winner every year since.  All the while performing on a mid-market team in Milwaukee, leading them to their first division title since 1982, when they were in the American League East.

And now it appears that Braun has been cheating.  The typical ratio of testosterone produced by the body compared to epitestosterone is 1 to 1.  MLB considers a positive test when the levels become over 4 to 1.  If there is a positive test, the sample gets checked for synthetic, or non-man made, testosterone.  According to reports, this was found in Braun’s sample, indicating steroid use.  Braun has denied the allegations and is appealing the test.  But, the damage has been done, not only to Braun’s reputation, but to baseball’s supposed cleaning up of the sport.

More details are sure to follow as the appeal is heard and second tests are discussed.  Being a Mets fan I should be happy that the Brewers are most likely going to be without their top two offensive players from last season, with Braun being suspended for the first 50 games, and Prince Fielder likely to sign elsewhere.  But, being a baseball fan, I can only hope that it is determined that Braun’s test was inaccurate.  The sport is coming off one of the most exciting finishes to the regular season, along with a great World Series.  Not to mention over two decades of labor agreements without a work stoppage.  Fans are coming back to the ballparks.  Teams like the Marlins and Angels, hardly the biggest spenders in the past, have signed the largest free agent deals this off-season. 

One can argue that the testing has worked.  And with the implementation of HGH testing in the next year, it will only get better.  But, news like this only adds to the skepticism of what used to be the Nation’s pastime.  Will it ever get back to that?  Or has the damage been done?  Only time will have the answer to that.  As a baseball fan, I can only hope the game is on the right track.

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