MLB Players and Managers React To Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun was suspended for the rest of the 2013 season without pay after being involved with the Miami based Biogenesis clinic. He released a statement apologizing, but that hasn’t kept other MLB players from venting. The Associated Press and CBS New York asked some MLB players and coaches for their feelings on the suspension.

The most irate among them might be Skip Schumaker of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Watching him talk right now makes me sick,” Schumaker of the Los Angeles Dodgers said. “I have an autographed Braun jersey in my baseball room that I’ll be taking down. I don’t want my son identifying what I’ve worked so hard to get to and work so hard to have — I don’t want him comparing Braun to me.”

Can’t argue with the point he makes, I wouldn’t want my kid to associate me with that.

“In my opinion, he should be suspended — lifetime ban. One strike, you’re out. It’s enough. It’s ridiculous,” Schumaker said. “He lied to a lot of people. I was convinced, after that MVP, that he didn’t do it.”

His current teammate Matt Kemp came in second in the MVP voting to Ryan Braun. I wonder what the actual success rate for using PEDs and getting away with it is, because Mariano Rivera says its very slim.

“You know that if you do something like that, you’re going to get caught and you’re going to pay the consequences,” Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said. “Simple as that. If you did it and you don’t get caught, then good luck. But if you get caught — and 99.9 percent of the time you’re going to get caught — you know you’re going to pay the consequences.”

Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson agrees.

“The guys that are cheating or whatever are taking something away from the other players. They’re lying to the fans, they’re lying to their teammates, they’re lying to their GMs, their owners, and they’re going to get caught,” Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson said.

The Seattle Mariners players weren’t thrilled about it.

“I think for me what makes me mad,” Seattle outfielder Jason Bay said, “basically it just kills all the credibility of anybody.”

“I think everybody’s frustrated, especially the players. I think we all feel a little bit cheated,” Mariners pitcher Joe Saunders said.

“I talked to a lot of the guys and we think the penalties aren’t harsh enough,” Saunders said. “I think it should have been a year’s suspension, at least. Just my take on it. I don’t get why guys have to do that stuff.”

But the fact that it continues to happen almost shows that MLB’s punishments aren’t working. It certainly doesn’t seem to be deterring players from seeking out these clinics and using PEDs.

And it’s still tarnishing the game, and still hanging over baseball.

“It’s a sad day,” Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s a black eye when something like this happens.”

“I’m tired of steroids,” said New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi. “I’m tired of that. Just do things the right way — bottom line. … You don’t accept a deal unless you were guilty. It’s disappointing. It’s just another black eye for our game.”

Braun’s former teammate C.C. Sabathia was stunned.

“I never would have thought it, but I guess you never know,” Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia explained.

Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter had a different and unique ‘live and let live’ approach.

“He stepped up. It’s just like when you get a ticket, a speeding ticket,” Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter said. “You know you were speeding. You get a ticket and you go and you do your time or pay your speeding ticket, then you’re doing what you’re supposed to do. That’s what Braunie is doing. Everybody makes mistakes. It takes a man to forgive him. If you don’t forgive him, then are you a man?”

Maybe he is onto something. Players who admit guilt, apologize and move on are generally forgiven and forgotten, unlike those who fight it vehemently.

“If you look at the guys who have done stuff and just come out and admit it, a lot of guys don’t remember who those guys were,” Bay said. “But the guys who run up and down and say, ‘No, no,’ and then it gets drug through the mud 10 times worse, it makes it tougher on themselves and the rest of us.”

And last, but not least, Braun’s teammate Jonathan Lucroy speaks out.

“I’ve said all along he doesn’t need that stuff to perform,” catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. “I don’t know why he ever took it.”

“I don’t think anybody here is going to hold a grudge,” Lucroy said. “He was depressed, but at the same time he felt a lot of weight come off his shoulder, come off his chest. That’s a tough burden to bear, withholding the truth for so long.”