The National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2011 has accepted a ban for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. He is the most prominent ballplayer to be hit with such a ban.
His career A fast and powerful hitter, Braun, 29, has been the centrepiece of the Milwaukee Brewers offence since his rookie season, in 2007. In 2011, he hit 33 home runs and drove in 111 and won the MVP voting. The club twice made the play-offs in his time in Milwaukee.
Failed test Braun failed a random test for performance-enhancing drugs during 2011 play-offs. He escaped a ban when his lawyer attacked the handling of a urine sample, and Braun insisted: "I would bet my life that this substance never entered my body."
Biogenesis scandal Earlier this year, Braun's name turned up many times in the files of a Miami "anti-ageing" company named Biogenesis, believed to be dispensing PEDs. Baseball struck a deal with the company's top official, who turned over records to the commissioner's office.
Called on carpet Last week, Braun met with MLB officials who showed him the evidence that had been gathered. Meanwhile, Braun did not answer questions at the meeting on whether he used PEDs.
Accepting punishment Apparently convinced baseball had enough evidence to suspend him, and perhaps concerned about a suspension of 100 games or more, Braun on Monday accepted a ban through the remainder of the 2013 season, which amounts to 65 games.
What he said In a statement, Braun said: "I realise now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family, and it is has been a distraction to my teammates and the Brewers organisation."
The aftermath Braun will lose US$3.25 million (Dh11.9m) in salary and ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote: "His baseball legacy will never recover from this." The names of several other players appeared in the Biogenesis files including, most prominently, that of Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.
