While Alex Rodriguez has held court underneath the steroid spotlight trained on Major League Baseball, the biggest fish involved in the Biogenesis scandal in terms of current, on-field relevance was Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun.
Braun was a 2011 National League MVP, who failed a 2012 test but avoided a 50-game suspension by challenging how his urine sample was handled. He also called into question the integrity of Dino Laurenzi Jr., the man who collected his sample.
He accused Laurenzi Jr. of anti-Semitism, as well as not being a fan of the Brewers and insinuated that he tampered with his sample. This year the Biogenesis case was blown wide open, with Braun one of the centerpieces. MLB's evidence against him was so overwhelming that he accepted a 65-game ban, ending his season.
On Thursday, he apologized to the team, fans, and sport for his actions.
"For a long time, I was in denial," Braun said, "and convinced myself that I had not done anything wrong. ... There is no excuse for any of this. It was a huge mistake, for which I am deeply ashamed," he said, "and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately. I was dealing with a nagging injury," Braun said, "and I turned to products for a short period of time that I shouldn't have used. The products were a cream and a lozenge, which I was told could help expedite my rehabilitation."
Braun also apologized to Laurenzi Jr. "I felt wronged and attacked. But looking back now, I was the one who was wrong," Braun said. "I am beyond embarrassed that I said what I thought I needed to say to defend my clouded vision of reality."
While coming clean has worked for other players in the past, it seems more will be required of Braun, who lied for a long time about using PEDs. Baseball writer Jonah Keri tweeted, "Unless Ryan Braun intends to fast for 25 hours and spend all day in synagogue, feh."
ESPN personality Rachel Nichols took to Twitter as well, "Wondering if Ryan Braun intends to tape a copy of that statement onto the 2011 NL MVP trophy & mail it to Matt Kemp."
For a more full list of negative tweets about Braun click here.
2014 will be interesting for Braun when he returns from suspension, likely to a team that will struggle to contend. Visiting fans figure to be unkind, and it's not clear whether his own fans will have forgiven him, or if he'll be required to earn their admiration back.
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