Ryan Braun Suspension News: Admits PED Use During 2011 MVP Season in Biogenesis Scandal
Suspended Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Bryan has finally admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs.
According to the Associated Press, the 2011 NL MVP said he used the banned substances during his MVP season. He tested positive for elevated testosterone in Oct. 2011 after using cream and a lozenge that was made up of banned substances.
Braun is serving a 65-game suspension handed down by Major League Baseball for his connection to the now-defunct Biogenesis clinic. Alex Rodriguez and other professional athletes have also been suspended for their participation with the clinic.
Bruan had previously only admitted to making "mistakes" but was never specific about what those mistakes were.
"I have no one to blame but myself," he said last year in spring training. "I know that over the last year and a half I made some serious mistakes, both in the information I failed to share during my arbitration hearing and the comments I made to the press afterwards,"
Braun apologized to drug collector Dino Laurenzi, Jr. after he publicly disputed the results after it was learned that the collector made the decision to take the sample home one night.
The suspended slugger met with league executives to discuss his wrongdoings and initially refused to answer questions. It was only after some time that he decided to openly discuss and admit to the things he did.
"After my interview with MLB in late June of this year, I came to the realization that it was time to come to grips with the truth," he said, according to the AP. "I was never presented with baseball's evidence against me, but I didn't need to be, because I knew what I had done."
Braun hit .332 with 33 home runs and 111 RBIs during his 2011 MVP campaign. He hit .298 in the 61 games this season leading up to his suspension.