Ryan Braun, Jewish Baseball Slugger, Denies Wrongdoing in Drug Inquiry

Hebrew Hammer: Jewish slugger Ryan Braun insists he did nothing wrong in latest performance enhancing drugs scandal.

By Anne Cohen February 7, 2013

Former baseball MVP Ryan Braun is reportedly the latest in a series of players linked to a Miami-area clinic that allegedly distributed performance-enhancement drugs to a number of stars.

According to the Yahoo! Sports report, the Milwaukee Brewers star’s name appears on three records from the Biogenesis clinic, but there are no drugs listed next to his entry.

Major League Baseball is investigating the Biogenesis clinic and its operator, Anthony Bosch. Braun’s name is on a list along with Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Cesar Barillo, all three of whom received PEDs from Bosch according to the Miami New Times, which broke the story last week.

Alex Rodriguez has denied having anything to do with Bosch, the New York Times reported (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/sports/baseball/report-links-ryan-braun-to-florida-clinic-under-scrutiny-by-baseball.html).

Braun, who was named to the 2011 Forward 50, is the first Jewish player in decades to be named Most Valuable Player. He explained in a written statement that his “attorneys, who were previously familiar with Tony Bosch, used him as a consultant,” to answer questions about testosterone levels and the possibility of tampering with urine samples, in preparation for Braun’s appeal of his positive test for illegal synthetic testosterone during the 2011 postseason.

“I have nothing to hide and have never had any other relationship with Bosch,” Braun said. “I will fully cooperate with any inquiry into this matter.”

According to the New York Times, Bosch is not a licensed physician in Florida, and his medical experience remains unclear.

In February 2012, Braun became the first baseball player to successfully appeal a positive test, after a baseball arbitrator ruled that there chain-of-custody issues surrounding his urine samples, the New York Times reported.

According to the Yahoo report, Braun still has eight years and more than $130 million dollars left on his contract.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO