Ryan Braun wins appeal of 50-game suspension

Let's do GAPP? Generally Accepted Procedures of a Profession. Everypone who's involved knows the GAPP. They know the must follow GAPP or the test is thrown out. The reason is the possibility of cross contamination. So the person who took the sample was fully awzare of GAPP. They knowingly and willingly admitted that the violated GAPP. So he's innocent. The problem lies with the media. Every time thbere's this leak, whether it's secret grand jury testimony as in the Bonds case or this leaked test, i know that they can't convict that person in a legally approved manner. You know something's wrong. If they could convict whoever ethically and legally, then there would be no need to leak. They leak because the only conviction they can get is in the Court of Public opinion. What's happened to Braun is wrong.

Whether Braun is a PED-juicer or not, innocent or Guilty... That's irrelevant. MLB didn't follow the process they established and it bit them in the butts. Didn't help someone leaked the story to ESPN and caused the insanity in the first place. That's why there is an appeals process and if there is anything that can contribute the slightest of doubt then it should be recognized

Now everyone knows, if you want to do roids, just do so much of them that the arbitrator won't believe the ratio could possibly be real.

It's always funny when you have a "leak" in a story regarding a urine sample.

He fought the only fight a player is allowed to fight in this case. The lab is above reproach according to how the system is set up. He can't fight the fact that the sample tested positive. It did! He can't simply swear he's innocent and leave it at that. If he knows he did not take anything illegal he can only assume there was a mistake made somewhere in the process and that's the only argument he can make. How does he prove he's innocent if he doesn't know how/why the test was positive?

Braun was taking enzyte

Sorry. Getting off, on a chain of custody technicality, is not the same as being innocent!

Braun's use of PED or not, Matt Kemp performed better at the plate, on the bases and in center-field, the power position in the outfield. Braun plays the easier left-field position. Kemp still deserves the MVP. Braun should be a good sport and hand it over to him. Without Kemp, the LA Dodgers would have gotten nowhere, even with Clayton Kershaw. In fact, Clayton might not have won his Cy Young award sans Matty.

In terms of certain rules and policies, MLB has some credibility issues. For example, it just hurts the game to see a ground-rule double turned into an out when a fan interferes with the trajectory of the hit ball. Either move the front row of the bleachers back or make the event of that a ground-rule.

I see the idiots who really know nothing about the process are shooting their mouths off.

getting off on a technicality leaves an aura of doubt of his innocence...i'm guessing the fans of opposing teams will hammer him all season long.

people are stating that he never tested positive before. well that is stupid as it gets....there is always a first time.

People. Not all the facts are listed here. From the USA TODAY article notice the 'impossibly elevated' comment. It sounds like no one could have that amount of TEST in their body. Either way we've got to wait a few weeks if not months for more information.

From USA TODAY: Two people close to Braun and familiar with his appeal, but unauthorized to speak publicly about the process, acknowledge the sample collection was flawed. But they contend there were several factors in Braun's succesful grievance. There was no other proof that he took an illegal substance, and his 20/1 TE ratio [hormone testosterone to the hormone epitestosterone], they said, was impossibly elevated for an acceptable sample. A TE ratio of less than 4/1 is considered normal.

Is that why the mock drafts aren't working?

This does not prove Braun's innocence. This only proves that the chain of custody wasn't applied correctly. It's just a technicality.

Should I be concerned about Braun this season? He'll play the full season, but will his numbers dip in relation to last year, due to probably being under closer monitoring for PEDs? That might be a concern for fantasy teams...

Guilty?....See, we have to try every case in the court of the uneducated public opinion. Guilt before innocence.
Innocent?.....Conspiracy theories.

Okay, give Ryan the benefit of the doubt. But if he stinks it up this year, we'll all know why.

People, the news groups are leaving out two major points. Braun's argument was that due to procedures not being followed, it is very possible that the urine tested was not his. Also, he requested MLB do a DNA test to verify whether the urine being tested was his for sure, they denied this request. From this information alone, I believe he is truly innocent. Maybe he requested the DNA test knowing it would be turned down, but that is MLB's fault for not taking him up on it. But based on his past, and people really should be innocent until proven guilty, I believe he is innocent.

The way I see it, all previous tests, were negative, the follow-up test was negative, and the only positive test was tainted. I say give the guy more scrutiny, but it's tough to call him a cheater based on that evidence. His stats have been consistent over his career, and he never bulked up at all like Giambi, Bonds, Sosa, Canseco, etc.

Cool, cheating gets overturned, so what do you call it then? They challenged the integrity of the sample? Yeah, thats right people. INTEGRITY!!!

Just another cheater. I miss the days when Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry did NON-performance enhancing drugs.