Though he's prohibited from suiting up in a Brewers uniform and performing on the baseball diamond, suspended Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun was welcomed with open arms in the team's club house Wednesday in his first visit back since MLB suspended him for his connection to the Biogenesis scandal and performance enhancing drugs.
Braun has been making apology rounds after accepting and agreeing to a 65-game suspension due to his link to the clinic, and hadn't visited Miller Park since the ban was handed down to him in July.
According to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Braun was accepted into the clubhouse without any problems from teammates or his manager.
"He looked good," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke told the paper. "I think all the guys were really happy to see him. He was just in to say hi. He misses the game and he misses the guys, so he wanted to come in and say hi."
Braun has been a controversial figure around baseball ever since he was suspended earlier in the season, mostly because he vehemently denied any connection to performance enhancing drug use and was able to get off on a technicality back in 2011. He failed a urine test and then went on a tirade against a urine sample collector that led to the collector's termination after Braun attacked his character.
Braun has been vilified, and has even lost marketing deals with Nike, the Kwik-Trip convenience store chain, and a restaurant partnership he had with fellow Wisconsin athlete and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Braun issued a public apology to the Brewers in a press conference in August and has even called up season ticket holders to apologize to them for what he's done.
Even though there was no informal team meeting for Braun when he came into the clubhouse Wednesday prior to the Brewers 7-0 victory over their division rival Chicago Cubs, Roenicke said the team was happy to see him.
"It was really nice to see him," Roenicke told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "All the staff was happy to see him; the players were happy to see him. It was nice he came in."
Due partially to Braun's suspension and the absence of Corey Hart, who required two knee surgeries, the Brewers (68-83) have endured a lost season. The team sits in fourth place in the National League Central, 20.5 games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals (89-63), and 18 games out of a wildcard spot.
Milwaukee plays in a division that will most likely be sending three teams to the postseason as the Pittsburgh Pirates (87-65) and Cincinnati Reds (87-66) each hold the two NL wildcard spots entering play Thursday.
Through 61 games prior the ban, Braun was hitting .298 with nine homers and 38 RBIs.
While Braun has made his rounds at Miller Park and has done everything he can to try and fix his public image, after the lies and deception, it may be too little too late for most baseball fans to forgive him but he knows he's welcome somewhere: in his own clubhouse.
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