WHY DOES MURRAY CHASE YELL IN HIS TITLES?

As a quiet no-caps counterweight, I'll just say that the mvp suggestion on espn is b.s.

That’s all I was able to read.

TLDR. That's the kind of quality you have to expect from bloggers.

I’ll be darned if I’m going to pay to read such nonsense, that even an innocent person who deserved the award should say, in effect, I’m innocent and the arbitrator will tell you that I am, but just in case you still think I’m guilty, I’ll give up the award to satisfy you and all of the others who think I’m guilty.

He's right, you know.

Mr. President.

Speaking of which, is that anyone's handle yet? I'd take it but I'm satisfied with mine as it is.

WALKS CLOG UP THE BASES, MR PRESIDENT!

You would think though, that someone who pretends to be at least a semi-serious sports writer would have an ESPN.com subscription.

ESPN explanations are always lame. I'm assuming that at the time he was arrested in 1997 for urinating from a second story balcony, ESPN personality Gary Miller was only trying to creatively fill a cup for a drug test.....

ESPN explanations are always lame. I'm assuming that at the time he was arrested in 1997 for urinating from a second story balcony, ESPN personality Gary Miller was only trying to creatively fill a cup for a drug test.....

It was an innocuous hug that was misinterpreted.

EVEN A BROKEN CLOCK IS RIGHT TWICE A DAY MR. PRESIDENT.

I’ll be darned if I’m going to pay to read such nonsense, that even an innocent person who deserved the award should say, in effect, I’m innocent and the arbitrator will tell you that I am, but just in case you still think I’m guilty, I’ll give up the award to satisfy you and all of the others who think I’m guilty.

Did Bill Conlin give up his award?

ESPN explanations are always lame. I'm assuming that at the time he was arrested in 1997 for urinating from a second story balcony, ESPN personality Gary Miller was only trying to creatively fill a cup for a drug test.....

Gary Miller claims that the cops in Cleveland (where it happened) were corrupt as heck and basically put a urinating charge on him for kicks.

I'll assume that anything Olney said is wrong (saves time) and "separate him from the legions of athletes who have issued denials in the face of accusations of performance-enhancing drug use" is just very silly but

(a) from a PR perspective, it might not hurt Braun to do this
(b) near as I can tell, even from Braun's perspective, it depends on your definition of "innocent."

That is, based on what we've seen reported, it sounds like nobody is really questioning that Braun tested positive. His innocence seems to rest on taking a drug that he should have gotten (or tried to get) a medical exemption for.

I am perfectly willing to believe either that Braun didn't realize he needed to report this med or that he was too embarrassed to report this med and had no intention of "cheating" ... and that his positive test was due to this med alone.* Of course the rule has little/no gray area and it's likely he'll be found in violation.

Anyway, saying something like: "I'll tell you what I told the appeals panel. I was taking a medication for legitimate reasons and that's what caused the positive test. I now realize that I should have gotten a medical exemption for this drug but I did not. I will understand if the voters feel that this violation means I should not receive the award ..." has PR potential.

I should also add that it depends on when he started taking the med. If it was after or right at the end of the season, I thoroughly agree it should have no bearing on the award. If he started mid-season ... well, I probably still agree that it should have no bearing on the award but then I'm sceptical that PEDs are all that magical. But if he was taking the drug for a good portion of the season, then he was in (technical) violation of the rules for a good portion of the season.

* I wonder if we'll see a rash of herpes cases among MLB just as we've seen a wave of ADHD.

I wonder if we'll see a rash of herpes cases among MLB just as we've seen a wave of ADHD.

Probably, the Brewers did have a very close-knit clubhouse...

I think that Buster Olney is the only writer on the planet who makes me want to side with Murray Chass in a debate. Olney is the world's worst. I don't understand how he is where he is and how Chass gets made fun of more often than Mr. Obvious over there.

I love the MR. PRESIDENT meme MR. PRESIDENT.

16: I agree that Buster is kind of an idiot. But his link list actually led me to discover this site, so i give him a pass (and ignore him completely).

Chass is right but he's such a punching bag at this point that nobody cares.

Yes, his mockery of VORP and his enthusiasm for Jack Morris' HoF case obscures the fact that he comes up with some gems. This little Ryan Braun snippet is preceded by a much longer, excellent polemic against the commmissioner's handling of the Theo-Epstein-to-Chicago Compensation Affair. U.N.C.L.E. Murray still has his reporter's instincts for where the important story is.