PHOENIX — Slugger Ryan Braun insisted Friday he always believed his 50-game suspension for a positive drug test would be overturned and he would be able to suit up on opening day along with his Milwaukee Brewers teammates.
“We won,” the NL MVP said, “because the truth is on my side. The truth is always relevant, and at the end of the day, the truth prevailed.”
Less than 24 hours after Braun’s suspension was overturned by an arbitrator, a decision that irritated Major League Baseball officials, the outfielder confidently professed his innocence while questioning the system that allowed him to be suspended for failing a test he took following a playoff game Oct. 1.
Braun learned Oct. 19 his sample tested “three times” the level of any previous specimen. He said he began “a humanistic” defense by showing documentation he never gained a pound, his running times did not improve and he didn’t get any stronger.
“I truly believe in my heart and I would bet my life that this substance never entered my body at any point,” he said. Braun cited a possible “chain of custody” problem with his sample. He said the urine test he provided on Oct. 1 was not delivered to Federal Express until Oct. 3. Baseball’s drug agreement calls for samples to be delivered to FedEx on the same day they are collected.
Braun did not rule out the chance someone may have tampered with his sample.
