Ryan Braun on PED charge: “I’m completely innocent”

By Dec 11, 2011, 12:16 AM EST
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There’s been so much blatant lying on the topic of steroid usage in baseball that fans have rightfully developed trust issues with the game’s athletes.

But Ryan Braun deserves to be heard on the charge that he was using synthetic testosterone — confirmed by an early-October positive test, then denied by a negative test a few weeks later.

Braun is allowed to tell his side of the story. And he’s doing just that in text message form with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s Tom Haudricourt.

Here’s a text from the 2011 NL MVP that Haudricourt received around 10:40 p.m. CT Saturday night:

“I can’t wait to get that opportunity,” said Braun. “This is all B.S. I am completely innocent.”

Braun couldn’t offer much more because he’s in arbitration with Major League Baseball on the charge and the 50-game suspension that goes along with it. A mediator will decide his fate at some point soon.

Phils’ Hoskins tears knee, expected to miss significant time

Associated PressMar 24, 2023, 12:02 AM EDT
hoskins injury
Dave Nelson/USA TODAY Sports
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CLEARWATER, Fla. — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee Thursday fielding a grounder in a spring training game and is expected to miss a significant amount of time.

The Phillies did not say when Hoskins would have the surgery or exactly how long the slugging first baseman might be sidelined.

Hoskins hit 30 homers with 79 RBIs last season for the reigning National League champions.

He was backing up to play a chopper on Thursday when the ball popped out of his glove. Sooner after, he fell to the ground and began clutching his left knee. Teammates gathered around him before he was taken off of the field.

Hoskins, a free agent at the end of the season who turned 30 last week, hit six homers in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

The injury was another blow for the Phillies, who will be without top pitching prospect Andrew Painter for another few weeks because of a sprained ligament in his right elbow. And slugger Bryce Harper isn’t expected back until around the All-Star break after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.