The fall from grace can be extremely humbling which is something that Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun found out the hard way. After Braun won the National League’s MVP Award in 2011, reports began to surface that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Braun appealed the positive test and it was overturned due to the fact that the collector of Braun’s urine sample did not immediately send it to the lab. Braun dodged a bullet and he would proceed to lead the NL in home runs for the 2012 Major League Baseball season as he went yard 41 times. But just went it appeared that Braun was out easy street, his name was linked to controversy once more. In the early portion of 2013 reports began to surface about a biogenesis clinic in South Florida that had been linked to several MLB players; one of those players was Braun. MLB commissioner Bud Selig had finally caught Braun red-handed and in late July he would suspend the Brewers outfielder for the remainder of the 2013 MLB season.
In the aftermath of his suspension Braun’s reputation was hurt even further due to the fact that when the going got tough he tucked tail and left his Brewer teammates to answer questions about him. Braun finally addressed everything this year during spring training as he was finally ready to move forward.
The fans in Milwaukee were willing to give Braun a second chance and on Opening Day they gave him a resounding ovation. Braun would go 1-for-4 that day as he began to remove himself from the PED cloud that has been hovering over him. Braun would go hitless in the next three games and Brewers manager Ron Roenicke saw the need to give him a day off.
Braun was not in the Brewers starting lineup last Saturday at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox and it was the right move for Milwaukee.
Braun returned to the Brewers starting lineup last Sunday afternoon and he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base as the Brewers completed a sweep of the defending World Series Champions in the Red Sox. Braun heard his fair share of heckling in Boston from the Red Sox fans which was only a prelude to what he would hear during the Brewers next stop on their six-game road trip.
Last week the Brewers were in the City of Brotherly Love to face-off against the Philadelphia Phillies. Sports fans in Philadelphia are notorious for expressing their disdain for opposing teams and Braun’s reputation as a PED user just added fuel to their heckling fire. When Braun stepped into the batter’s box Tuesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the same joyous ovation that he received in Milwaukee was nowhere to be found. The fans in Philadelphia quickly let Braun know that he was public enemy No. 1, but he was unfazed.
After grounding out in the top of the first inning, Braun got going in his next at-bat when he launched a three-run home run over the left field fence to put Milwaukee up 4-1. Undaunted the fans in Philadelphia still left Braun have it after his homer, but it didn’t slow him down as in his next at-bat he hit another home run and the jeers towards Braun turned to boos for the Phillies pitching staff that allowed him to leave the yard on two occasions. In the top of the eighth inning Braun would hit his second three-run homer of the game which gave the Brewers a comfortable 10-4 lead that they never relinquished. For the game Braun went 3-for-5 with 7 runs batted in as he led the Brewers to a victory.
Since Roenicke gave Braun that day off he has recorded at least one hit in each ballgame since. Braun is far from being out of the woods, but he is showing the mental resiliency that is needed for him to be successful.
In this early part of the MLB season the Brewers still have yet to have any road series against National League Central rivals such as the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals as their fans will let Braun hear it. In June the Brewers have a three-game road series against the New York Mets and the baseball fans in The Big Apple are sure to express their feelings about Braun be heard. But the biggest test will come for Braun in mid-August when the Brewers will have a three-game road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
When Braun won the NL MVP in 2011 there were many folks (myself included) that felt that Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp deserved the honor. That season Kemp led the National League in home runs (39), runs batted in (126), and he also swiped 40 bases. When Braun played at Dodger Stadium in 2012, the fans there let him have and they will not be any friendlier this time around.
Braun understands that he is the villain right now and it will be some time before he is able to win back the trust of baseball fans. In the meantime the only thing that Braun can do is continue to go out on the baseball diamond on a daily basis and give it his all while he attempts to legally regain the form that made him a National League MVP.
Source: Baseball-reference.com
Leave A Comment