Ryan Braun is trying to win back fans at World Baseball Classic

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Braun understands why many people are skeptical of him, given the way his name has twice been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

He refuses to let it bother him.

On a sun-splashed field in Arizona, the Brewers slugger said that getting back to spring training has helped him deal with the swirling controversy, and that playing for the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic could help to convince some fans to give him a clean slate.

“Obviously, there’s been a lot of things I’ve dealt with over the last year and a half,” he said, “but I’m just trying to focus on the things I can control.”

After his MVP season in 2011, Braun tested positive for steroids during the playoffs. But he fought the case and eventually had his 50-game suspension overturned by an arbiter who discovered chain-of-custody issues in the handling of Braun’s test sample.

Then this past off-season, Braun’s name surfaced in records from the now-defunct Biogenesis of America LLC clinic that allegedly provided substances to several players.


(nationalpost.com)