MLB and its players’ union “defended their drug testing program Friday and promised to tighten collection procedures following criticism by anti-doping agencies of an arbitrator’s decision to overturn" Brewers LF Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension, according to Ronald Blum of the AP. Braun held a press conference Friday in which he “criticized drug testing by baseball as ‘fatally flawed,’ citing the roughly 44-hour lag between when his urine was collected and when it was given to Federal Express for transport to a laboratory in Montreal.” Braun also “left open the possibility that the delay could have led to his sample being altered.” However, MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations & HR Rob Manfred in a statement said, “Neither Mr. Braun nor the MLBPA contended in the grievance that his sample had been tampered with or produced any evidence of tampering.” MLBPA Exec Dir Michael Weiner in a statement added, “We are confident that all collections going forward will follow the parties’ agreed-upon rules.” Manfred: “Our program is not ‘fatally flawed.’ Changes will be made promptly to clarify the instructions” (AP, 2/24). In Milwaukee, Tom Haudricourt noted Braun during his opening comments “hammered hard on the issue of the collector's delayed shipment of his urine sample, suggesting that tampering was not out of the question.” MLB Commissioner Bud Selig's office “took great umbrage at the notion that the collector would do something untoward.” Manfred said, "The extremely experienced collector in Mr. Braun's case acted in a professional and appropriate manner. He handled Mr. Braun's sample consistent with instructions issued by our jointly retained collection agency.” MLB officials said that the seals “were still intact when Braun's sample reached the laboratory in Montreal, making it impossible to tamper with it before testing.” Still, both Weiner and Manfred indicated that the “collection and shipping process would be tightened to avoid future disputes as well as the crux of an appeal” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/25).
POLICY FLAWS: In N.Y., Jere Longman wrote MLB’s drug testing policy “falls far below the most rigorous standards of effectiveness and legitimacy.” In any “valid antidoping system, athletes are judged by a standard called strict liability: no matter how an illicit substance gets into their bodies, athletes are responsible for it.” Braun was cleared “by a flawed baseball policy that lacks the independence and transparency of the Olympic system governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.” However, Longman noted MLB has made “significant improvements in its drug-testing aspirations” and some consider its program “more stringent than the NFL’s.” Still, MLB and the MLBPA “bear blame in the Braun case.” To truly “give credibility to drug testing, the union and baseball should agree through collective bargaining to completely outsource drug-testing collection, oversight and prosecution to an independent organization” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/26). In Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote the Braun “mess falls directly at the feet" of MLB and Selig, who has "wanted you to believe for some time his league offers the toughest drug-testing program in professional sports.” This is one of the “regrettable byproducts of collective bargaining, a drug-testing program with no transparency or rigorous guidelines.” Had MLB “been serious about implementing a drug-testing program that would rival the planet's finest, it would have opened its doors wide to the World Anti-Doping Agency instead of insisting it could create a strict enough program on its own.” It would have “patterned itself after WADA instead of turning its nose at it” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/25). In a special to the N.Y. DAILY NEWS, BALCO Founder Victor Conte wrote the outcome of this case should prompt MLB “to consider the use of CIR (Carbon Isotope Ratio) testing as a screen test for testosterone use” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/26).
TIME TO MOVE ON: In Milwaukee, Michael Hunt wrote under the header, “MLB Just Needs To Move On.” The best interests of the game “demand that baseball let the Braun affair go.” The best interests of the game “mandate baseball to move on and distance itself from fallout that is relatively certain to occur between Braun and anyone he believes may have contaminated his urine sample.” Innocent people “are convicted and the guilty skate all the time in the judicial system, the reason for the appeal process.” But this is “just a game, and the best interests of the game are telling its temporary keepers to pack up the bat bag and live to fight another day.” If MLB “drags out the Braun affair, there is a good chance it may suffer more than the object of its scorn.” That would “not be in the best interests of the game” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/26). In Chicago, Phil Rogers wrote under the header, “Selig Has Little To Gain From Braun Battle.” Rogers: “Why was MLB so outraged after a decision by arbitrator Shyam Das cleared the National League Most Valuable Player? …Why wouldn't Selig and his staff quietly accept Das' ruling, apologize to Braun for the unintentional public nature of the proceedings and turn the page?” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/26).
PLAYING THE VICTIM: The JOURNAL SENTINEL’s Haudricourt wrote Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio “has been in a delicate position” during the Braun situation. As an MLB official, he “must make it clear that he fully supports baseball's strict drug policy,” but as an owner, “he wants what's best for his team, which includes having his four-time all-star available for the entire season.” Attanasio said, “I'm a big Ryan Braun supporter, which extends well beyond being MVP of the league. At the same time, I'm a supporter of a strong drug-testing program. And, by the way, I believe baseball does have a strong drug-testing program” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/26). In Boston, Nick Cafardo wrote the only “real winners” in this situation are the Brewers. They “get their superstar back from Day One.” But, both MLB and Braun “still need to explain what went wrong” (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/26). In N.Y., Mike Lupica wrote Braun “wants to stand for all victims." Lupica: "But you keep coming back to this: A victim of whom? Baseball? You think the commissioner wanted this? Bud Selig once owned the Brewers, he lives in Milwaukee, he loves the Brewers and the success they had last season as Braun was becoming the MVP of the National League, he loves his sport’s smallest market drawing like gangbusters, the way the Brewers did last year” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/26).
PLAYERS HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS: ESPN’s Buster Olney said some MLBers have come out in support of Braun, saying his successful appeal "really affirms the testing program.” However, other players “are angry about this." Olney: "They feel like it’s a decision that calls into question the program. They want a rock-solid program in their eyes where there isn’t this question of the chain of custody, where there aren’t a lot of issues and questions about the integrity of the entire program. Those are now questions being asked by some players, as well as baseball executives” (“Outside The Lines,” ESPN, 2/24). CSNChicago.com’s Patrick Mooney said members of the Cubs "are a part of the same union, and I think on some level they look at what happened to him and wonder, ‘Am I next? What would happen to me if I'm not a star like him?’" (“Chicago Tribune Live,” Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2/24). MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds: "You're not going to find anybody coming out negative about this thing. I still think that there’s going to be players that are sitting there going, ‘Something is not right. I take my test, I watched them seal the sample, something’s not right here. He got away with it.’ There’s going to be guys that say that. That’s going to happen because they all lived it” ("Hot Stove," MLB Network, 2/24).
