The Most Valuable Player of the National League will start the 2012 Major League Baseball season after all.
Today, baseball arbitrator Shyam Das overturned Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension at the beginning of the regular season. Braun had been suspended in December after his October urine sample showed elevated testosterone.
Braun, an outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, appealed Major League Baseball’s decision and remarkably won.
Braun becomes the first player in Major League Baseball history to successfully challenge a drug related penalty according to the Associated Press.
Last season Braun had a .332 batting average and 33 home runs and 111 runs batted in. With the loss of Prince Fielder to the Detroit Tigers, Braun instantly becomes the face of the Brewers’ franchise.
Major League Baseball meanwhile was very disappointed in Das’s decision, and I am not surprised. Das’ ruling creates a dangerous precedent and allows many players who test positive in the future to use the Braun case as a measure of defense.
Das’s decision also has an impact in the Olympic community as it will clearly hurt baseball’s chances of getting into the 2020 Olympic Games. In 2005 a decision was made to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Olympic Games and despite a significant attempt by the IBAF, failed to gain access into the 2016 Olympic Games as well. A major reason why baseball was dropped from the Olympic program was because the International Olympic Committee felt Major League Baseball was too lenient regarding drugs.
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