Tim Allen

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Hi Tim. Been glued to WSSP all weekend. I've been lied to before, and have to admit that, yes, he COULD have gotten away with something, but my gut feeling says he is innocent. I understand why this is so divisive, grey and murky, and there may be more questions now than there were pre-ruling. I'll also admit that I'm biased. If this were Albert Pujols or Matt Kemp and they'd just won MVP... I'd probably be furious. What no one seems to be saying is that although he MAY have gotten away with something and gone unpunished, (professionally at least. he's gone through the ringer personally) imagine if he were suspended, the Brewers miss the playoffs by two games, and somehow we find out through more leaks or testing advances in the future he WAS wrongly punished and innocent the whole time. It would break Brewers fans hearts, perhaps even more so than if he had been found guilty, and the damage to MLB's credibility would be far worse than it is right now. We'd spend the rest of our lives contemplating what could have been, similar to the way we speculate what could have been if so much baseball hadn't been lost to World War II. Yeah, it's a big, dramatic, hypothetical, but I'm perfectly fine letting a possible cheater go unpunished, than I am an innocent man going unjustly punished. MLB has come down on the side of caution, prudence and humanity.

Sorry, MLB's INDEPENDENT ARBITER has come down on the side of caution, prudence and humanity. MLB has continued to pout embarrassingly about it.

Tim, can you still work with Sparky? He has called Braun a liar and says he can't root for him. I, personally don't want to hear his Brewer comments anymore. Stick to the Bucks Sparky and root for Stephen Jackson.

I wonder if MLB is so outspoken, issuing statements disagreeing with the decision and so forth, in order to create the public impression that it is not biased or afraid to suspend, etc., when it comes to a player like Braunie, the reigning MVP, or to an organization with ties to the commissioner. I wonder if the reaction is in part a front; one, to defend its vigilence in keeping the game clean; and two, while Selig is privately ecstatic the once promising young face of post steroid era comes out of this mess, and likewise the Brewers, in public MLB appears impartial, ticked and cold blooded, appeasing the conspiracy theorists out there who would have alleged favoratism. For its long term health, baseball may just be feigning its anger here. I just wish this vigilence--fake or real--was there in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, etc...before the Baseball record book became forever damaged, and before the reputations of post-steroid era diamond-in-the-rough stars and future hall of famers, like our homegrown Braun, would have their honesty automatically pre-judged due to guilt by association. For me, it comes down to the fact simply that I believe Braun--he adamentally states he never took anything illegal--he vows his life on it--and I have no reason NOT (Ramie, Josh, Gary, Sparky etc..) to believe him based on the actions of this collector, but more so, on the accused's 5 year career, consistent numbers, physical appearence,and prior clean history. The game doesn't look easy when he plays it, despite his talent. Ever since he came up, he appears to struggle/work his (pass) off at it, sustains intercostals on his lean frame, sweats plays out, and suffers small injuries for spells at a time. From day one, He does not appear or play like a guy who was juiced and has bottomless endurance. His numbers are in line with that. His total playoff numbers after the Game 1 test were above average, not off the charts, and also not, on the flip side, reflective of a nervous, paranoid, depressed wreck whose game started going into the tank, surprised that he was tested after Game 1. All of these human things we can analyze as we make a call on Braun's credibility--the key here--in light of a void p ee sample caused by the actions of a third party. Not everything in these cases should be about 'flawless science' and tests. And in light of everything outlined here I find Braun--not Bonds, Clemons, Sosa, Palmiero, Rameriz, Rodriguez (with years of baggage, all)--to have been credible. None of the other jokers were in their 5th year, with reasonable numbers, when they lied. They were all bloated and washed up, old, and putting up inflated numbers. This ruling was vitally important for the franchise. Das' gutsy ruling proved to have greater significance beyond Braun: the Brewers keep the integrity of the triumph of last season, as well as their future history and reputation as an organization which plays clean, in tact.