Related: MLB’s Handling Of Ryan Braun And Miguel Tejada Doesn’t Add Up
When Ryan Braun was handed his 65-game suspension by the MLB for admitting to steroid use, I was honestly surprised by what players were saying about him; particularly, the interview with his teammate Jonathan Lucroy, who heralded Braun’s bravery for admitting his mistakes.
That is sickening.
Ryan Braun is a coward. He admitted to using PEDs because he got caught, not because he’s brave. He is a liar, a cheater and a black eye for an entire era of baseball.
Who can forget Braun coming out in his nice jacket at Miller Field and giving that wonderful speech to the crowd about how steroids had never entered his body? Was he brave for lying too? He lied to every single baseball fan when he did that, and a lot of people believed him. He thought he was above the game, that he was better than everyone else and that he was invincible.
Now he’s going to admit to that alleged steroid use in 2011 and apologize. If anyone, teammate or no, calls him brave for this, they are disillusioned and maybe partially insane to boot. He is a a scourge and a blight to the game, and anything negative you want to say about the guy is probably true. He is unforgivable, irredeemable and in a perfect world, him and Alex Rodriguez would be flipping burgers at some corner diner with their names stricken from the annals of baseball forever.
But unfortunately that won’t happen.
Braun is going to come back. People will forgive him, and he may even win more awards. Let that sentence sink in for a bit. He’s going to play, and no doubt he’s going to do well. Now, there’s no telling with guys like him when that steroid use began, but surely he has some sort of talent underneath the unnatural substances that are streaming through his veins.
I hope, at the very least, that he has to forever deal with pitchers throwing at him, opposing players berating him and fans booing him. He’s earned it.
Follow Josh Sippie on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
