Photo by Ben Smidt
The arguments are rather silly.
Ryan Braun was only good because he cheated.
Ryan Braun was only good because Prince Fielder hit behind him.
Ryan Braun won’t be any good now because of the mental toll from all the drama.
And by the way, if Ryan Braun is still good, then it’s only because he’s still cheating.
Believe any or all of it if you want, but do so knowing this: You may as well believe that Roseanne Barr can sing.
Ryan Braun hit a triple and three homers in San Diego Monday night, including one moonshot that nearly cleared a building in left field. Just imagine how far that blast would’ve gone if Fielder was still hitting cleanup.
It was an unprecedented single-game feat in cavernous Petco Park, a place that turns Louisville Sluggers into so much sawdust. Nobody had ever homered three times, nor amassed 15 total bases, since the stadium’s 2004 debut. And nobody in 43 seasons of Brewers baseball had ever hit the one-game 15-base mark. For that matter, only six baseball players since 1900 had ever hit three homers and a triple in the same game, the most recent being Fred Lynn in 1975.
It was a loud reminder that Braun, despite a relatively pedestrian April, is anything but a pedestrian player. No matter how much his detractors may want him to fail.
Something tells me they’re not going to get their wish.
If you still think in your heart of hearts that Braun cheated, then I suppose the schadenfreude sentiment comes with the territory. So does looking for whatever evidence may be out there to support that belief.
Personally, I’ve tried to keep an open mind about the whole situation. Yes, there’s evidence to suggest that Braun did indeed cheat, namely the failed test. But there’s also evidence to suggest that he was a victim of circumstance – mainly, his defense team’s success at replicating the failed test and his exoneration by a neutral arbitrator, one who had far more information at his disposal than we do.
Put simply, we don’t have access to all the information, so I don’t think we know the whole story. Moreover, I don’t think we ever will.
What I do know is this: To believe that Braun’s prowess stems solely from test tubes is a whimsical flight of fancy. Otherwise, there’d be a cadre of chemists drawing big-league salaries.
Nor was Braun great at hitting baseballs because of whatever other outside influence you want to cite.
The simple truth is, he’s a talented player, period. And whatever taint you want to assign him will not usurp the talented part.
Accept it or don’t. It won’t change the results.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I tweet as howiemag. And listen to me chat sports with Mitch Teich Friday at 10 a.m. on WUWM’s “Lake Effect.”
