It looks like the Philadelphia Phillies will have to begin their 2013 campaign without All-Star Carlos Ruiz behind the plate.Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that the fan favorite (Phan Phavorite?) has been suspended 25 games for using a banned amphetamine.”I am sincerely regretful for my mistake in taking a prohibited stimulant,” Ruiz said in a release. “I apologize to my teammates, the Phillies organization, and the Philadelphia fans. I will serve the imposed 25-game suspension to begin the season and I look forward to returning to the field and working toward bringing a championship back to Philadelphia in 2013.”The 33-year-old had a career season in 2012…hitting .325 with 16 home runs and 68 RBI. His suspension means Erik Kratz will likely begin the season as the team’s starting catcher.Suffice it to say, Kratz didn’t do as well as “Chooch” this past season…nor does he have as catchy of a nickname.
Tag Archive | "suspension"
This Time Guillen Has Gone Too Far
Posted on 09 April 2012.
The Miami Marlins should suspend Ozzie Guillen. A one-month suspension would send a powerful message that Guillen’s thoughtless remarks on Cuban dictator Fidel Castro will not be tolerated. A one-week suspension probably is more realistic.
Yes, we live in a free country, but the Constitution protects free speech only from restriction by the state and federal governments. The Marlins, a private entity, presumably can impose the penalty of their choice on Guillen, who is a management employee, not part of the players union. Still, I’m not confident the Marlins will take action, not when their expectations for the team are so high, not when they just opened their new ballpark.
Sorry, Guillen’s offense is bigger than any of that.
I normally cringe at politically correct overreactions, particularly in response to mindless, preposterous remarks from people who are just spouting off. But when Guillen told Time magazine, “I love Fidel Castro . . . I respect Fidel Castro . . .” well, that’s about as extreme and insensitive as it gets.
Guillen apologized and the team issued a statement condemning his words, saying, “There is nothing to respect about Fidel Castro. He is a brutal dictator who caused unthinkable pain for more than 50 years. We live in a community filled with victims of his dictatorship and the people in Cuba continue to suffer today.”
The Marlins, however, merit no sympathy. In fact, they will get what they deserve if an anti-Castro, Cuban-American group boycotts and demonstrates against them until Guillen steps down, a plan that is in the works, according to NBCMiami.com.
You hire a loudmouth, you live with a loudmouth. Until, of course, you can tolerate him no more.
For the Marlins, that day likely will not come anytime soon. They are all-in on Guillen, and not simply because he just started the first year of a four-year contract.
Guillen, 48, is the centerpiece of the Marlins’ rebranding efforts in Miami, a bi-lingual Venezuelan native and attention magnet who recently made the cover of Sports Illustrated with shortstop Jose Reyes — and, ahem, even warranted Time’s attention.
Yet, here’s Guillen alienating the very community that the Marlins are desperate to embrace. If the Marlins don’t punish him now, when will they? Ask the Chicago White Sox, who allowed Guillen to get away with one indiscretion after another before finally deciding that the relationship needed to end.
The Marlins probably had pre-written apologies ready to cut and paste the day they hired Guillen, but his remarks on Castro were beyond the pale. If he wants to get drunk at the hotel bar every night, as he told CBSSports.com, that’s his business. But Castro is a flashpoint for a community in which he has lived for 12 years.
I’m not sure even what Guillen was trying to say to Time — he apparently admires Castro for surviving 60 years when “a lot of people have wanted to kill him.” Whatever his point, it’s almost unthinkable that the manager of the Miami Marlins could say such a thing, particularly when he effectively acts as the spokesman for the team.
I like Guillen. I worked with him when he was an analyst for FOX during the 2010 World Series. I’ve shared many a laugh with him, and yes, chuckled at his creative use of vulgarity and some of his inappropriate remarks.
Guillen is non-stop energy, mostly harmless. None other than Eddie Einhorn — vice-chairman of the White Sox, the team that traded Guillen to the Marlins — pulled me aside at the opening of the Marlins’ new ballpark and said quietly, “He’s a good person.”
Well, good people make mistakes, and Guillen just made the biggest of his career. Chances are the matter will blow over; everything seems to blow over in this society of limited attention spans. But the Marlins shouldn’t allow it to blow over. No, the Marlins should take a stand.
Suspend Guillen.
Not because a protest group wants him out.
Because it’s the right thing to do.
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Maybe New York Yankees Alex Rodriquez Respects Ryan Braun Herpes
Posted on 27 February 2012.
Image via Wikipedia
Let me be clear by stating that Alex Rodriguez has never said anything about Ryan Braun’s failed drug test having to do with him taking medicine for herpes.
Of course A-rod wouldn’t because he knows better, as Derek Jeter would have failed way before Braun… right?
Kidding again. But now to the point, as this Braun saga is getting annoying but I wanted to weigh in my opinion.
So, there are three things that bothered me after I heard that Braun’s 50-game suspension got overturned last Thursday.
Quick Summary of the Braun Saga (for the readers who live in a cave):
Last Thursday the news broke that Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun had beat the system.
Braun’s urine tested positive for a banned substance last October, but he will not serve one day of the standard 50-game suspension given to first time offenders.
It marks the first time an arbitrator has ever reversed a player’s appeal of the embargo set by MLB for a drug testing violation.
Braun’s legal eagles had the 50…
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Braun Off the Hook but Not the Hot Seat
Posted on 25 February 2012.
On Thursday, Ryan Braun won his appeal after testing positive for a banned substance.
On Friday, his new ordeal began.
Brauns offseason was awkward, to say the very least: He was named the National Leagues Most Valuable Player but couldnt enjoy it while he waited for an arbitrator to decide whether he would serve a 50-game suspension.
But Braun was shielded from the public eye over the past several months, avoiding media interviews and team events while the case was pending. He cant use that as an excuse anymore — even if Major League Baseball is reportedly considering an appeal of arbitrator Shyam Das ruling.
Braun arrived at the Milwaukee Brewers spring headquarters this morning with a smile and addressed teammates in a players-only meeting.
They needed to hear it, manager Ron Roenicke said. With the outcome of it, I dont think he needed to explain anything. But he wanted to. The players probably appreciated that he did. I thought it was great.
The general public will be a more skeptical audience. Braun painted a plausible scenario in a late-morning news conference today, hinting strongly that his urine sample was tampered with before being shipped to a Montreal laboratory for analysis. But the unvarnished truth remained elusive, as Braun declined to answer specific questions about the collector who was in possession of his sample for nearly 48 hours.
Braun maintained his innocence, saying, If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I would be the first to step up and say I did it … I would bet my life this substance never entered my body at any point.
Braun didnt mention the substance by name, but ESPN previously reported that it was synthetic testosterone.
Braun was believable … but probably not convincing to the most ardent skeptics. He will begin the 2012 season with much to prove: He must continue performing at an MVP level, or else critics will argue he was juicing after all. And he needs to do it without the feared Prince Fielder hitting behind him.
In that sense, Brauns reputation along with his teams fate will be at stake every time he steps to the plate.
Good luck.
He has a unique ability to separate things thats what makes him so good, Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy said this morning, before a larger-than-usual group of reporters in the Milwaukee clubhouse.
He doesnt let outside distractions come into his head and mess with him. Hes able to block everything out, no matter whats going on. Hes one of the very few guys who can do that. Thats why hes so good. I think hell be just fine. I dont worry about him at all.
Brewers left-hander Manny Parra, a teammate of Braun’s since 2007, said Braun puts so much pressure on himself, anyway that it may be no different this year.
In a still-murky situation, about the only thing we know for sure is that the Brewers are happy. For months, it seemed likely that they would lose Fielder and Braun at the same time, at least to begin the season.
Now that Braun can be counted on for the Opening Day lineup likely protected by new third baseman Aramis Ramirez a repeat NL Central championship doesnt seem so farfetched.
Everybodys happy and positive a lot of people smiling today, Lucroy said. Whenever you have such a big piece of the ballclub in jeopardy, then all of a sudden he gets thrown back in, its like hitting the lottery.
Other than Brauns legal team, the Brewers may have been the only clear winner in Das ruling. Braun didnt win, because plenty of people still believe he used performance-enhancing drugs. MLB certainly didnt win, because a chain-of-custody issue with Brauns sample was the reason the suspension was overturned, thus exposing a loophole in a policy celebrated by baseball officials as being the toughest in North American professional sports.
MLB, in fact, issued a statement saying it vehemently disagrees with Das decision.
I was disappointed in that, Lucroy said of MLBs reaction. It was almost like a sore-loser move. It was a low blow. I dont think it was right to do that. This is the process both sides agreed to. The process worked in favor one time for an MLB player. To say something like that, I dont think thats right.
Parra said hes disappointed that a players privacy was not respected at all. Everybody has a right to privacy, to a certain extent. Thats what bothered me. … ”
“This is justice. He went through the process. You have these rights, and you have them for a reason. I respect the way it went. Im extremely happy that hes going to be with us.
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Brewers Fans Euphoric Over Braun News
Posted on 24 February 2012.
MILWAUKEE The snow was falling and temperatures were dropping but outside of Miller Park, Brewers fever was rising Thursday night.
News that Ryan Braun would not be suspended 50 games for violating baseball’s banned substance policy spread quickly around Milwaukee earlier in the day and especially outside the stadium, where fans were lined up awaiting the chance to buy single-game tickets when they went on sale Saturday morning during the team’s annual “Arctic Tailgate” event.
Huddled around a makeshift campfire, Madison resident Greg Schmidt was “ecstatic” over the news. He had doubts about he validity of the tests in the first place, but considering no player had ever avoided suspension under baseball’s testing policy, he had been bracing himself to start the season without the reigning National League Most Valuable Player.
“The fact that nobody else every beat it definitely puts a doubt in your mind, but I wasn’t going to doubt the guy,” Schmidt said. “I kept an open mind, a hopeful mind might be the better way to say it.”
Also trying to keep warm was Lance Farber of Milwaukee. He expected Braun to get a rousing ovation when the Brewers open the season April 6 at Miller Park. On the road, however, it might be a different story.
“Wrigley Field? Boos,” Farber said. “St. Louis, probably boos.”
Farber wasn’t confident that Braun would escape suspension but is happy that he’ll be in uniform when the season opens and like many, wonders how the results of a confidential testing process were leaked into the public.
“Somebody screwed up,” Farber said.
Downtown, fans at local watering holes were toasting arbitrator Shyam Das’ decision with pints of Milwaukee’s finest.
At the Old German Beer Hall on Old World 3rd Street, bartender Greg Brundage, was somewhat surprised that Braun beat the rap, considering no player previously had done so.
But he thinks Brauns name, whether guilty or not, will be mentioned throughout history when people discuss steriod testing in baseball.
Given the fact that he is the only one to win an appeal, this will be brought up for many years to come, Brundage says. As a result, Braun’s name will forever be tied to steroid testing.
Having Braun back in the lineup helps make up for the loss of Prince Fielder and puts the Brewers in perspective for another successful season and even the potential for another NL Central title.
It puts them in position to take the central again with another 90-plus win season, Brundage says. Without him, the middle of the batting order would have been badly exposed.
Follow Andrew Wagner on Twitter.
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Ryan Braun Suspension Ruling Expected Soon
Posted on 19 February 2012.
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun won the 2011 National League MVP award before it was revealed that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during the playoffs. Braun appealed the result of the test and his 50-game suspension in front of a three-man arbitration panel in New York City from Jan. 19-20. So far, no ruling has been made on the appeal.
According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a response to the appeal is expected to be handed down by February 24. That just happens to be the date Milwaukee’s position players must reported for spring training.
Rulings on suspension appeals are typically delivered within 25 days of the hearing, but that standard is not being applied in this case because it is the offseason and games are not being played.
Braun is attempting to be the first player in Major League Baseball to have a positive test overturned and – when you consider that synthetic testosterone was found in his system – it’s highly unlikely…
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Braun Makes Passing Reference to Drug Test
Posted on 22 January 2012.
Ryan Braun referred only in passing to his positive drug test and possible 50-game suspension as he accepted the National League MVP award at a black-tie dinner Saturday night.
After congratulating other award winners and thanking teammates, family, and the Milwaukee organization, the Brewers left fielder, speaking before a crowd of around 800 in a hotel ballroom, thanked the Major League Baseball Players Association for supporting him through his entire career, ”especially for supporting me through everything I’ve went through over the last couple of months.”
ESPN.com first reported in December that Braun had tested positive in October. Braun’s grievance appeal before arbitrator Shyam Das to avoid a suspension began Thursday.
”You know, sometimes in life, we all deal with challenges we never expected to endure,” Braun told the crowd. ”We have an opportunity to look at those challenges and view them either as obstacles or as opportunities, and I’ve chosen to view every challenge I’ve ever faced as an opportunity and this will be no different. I have always believed that a person’s character is revealed through the way they deal with those moments of adversity.”
Braun, the NL Rookie of the Year in 2007, hit .312 with 33 home runs and 111 RBIs in 2011 in leading Milwaukee to the NL Central Division title last season. He was not available to take questions from reporters Saturday night.
Braun’s appearance overshadowed a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant 89th dinner of the BBWAA’s New York chapter that honored, among others, former Mets catcher Gary Carter, who is fighting brain cancer. The Hall of Fame slugger was represented by his three children.
Also honored was ex-Yankees trainer Gene Monahan, who retired at the end of last season after 49 years with the organization.
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Carrasco Drops Appeal of Suspension
Posted on 05 August 2011.
Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco dropped his appeal against a six-game suspension Thursday, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
Carrasco was suspended by Major League Baseball Monday for throwing at Kansas City Royals first baseman Billy Butler last Friday.
Carrasco initially planned to appeal the suspension, allowing him to stay in the Indians’ rotation pending the review. But the right-hander changed his mind Thursday, a day after making his regularly scheduled start against Boston.
His suspension officially starts Thursday. He was also fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball.
Carrasco was ejected during the Indians’ 12-0 loss Friday after he narrowly missed hitting Butler in the head on the first pitch after Kansas City outfielder Melky Cabrera’s grand slam.
Cabrera stood at home plate and watched the ball sail into the right field seats, giving the Royals a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning. Both benches cleared after Carrasco’s next pitch just missed Butler’s head.
Carrasco is 8-9 this season with a 4.55 ERA in 21 starts. He pitched seven innings during the Indians’ 4-3 loss to the Red Sox Wednesday, giving up nine hits and two earned runs.
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