You Can't Escape Justice, Only Avoid it for a Time

Yesterday, Ryan Braun accepted a 65 game suspension (the rest of the season) for violating the league's PED rules. Braun's suspension comes as part of the fallout from the Biogenesis scandal. He is probably baseball's biggest name to get busted for PED, while at the height of his career.  His involvement in a PED scandal is especially damning and especially intriguing because of his previously failed, and than overturned, drug test.

Back during the 2011, MLB announced that Braun had failed a drug test. The story dominated the headlines during the season. During that period Braun vehemently denied the accusations. He lambasted everyone involved in case. The outfielder battled the allegations that he took PED and eventually overturned MLB ruling, on a technicality, during the appeal process.

After the appeal overturned his suspension, the sports writers awarded him with the 2011 MVP award. Braun than played the entire 2012 season and produced what is arguably, an even better season than his MVP campaign. His 2012 wRC+ was 161. It appeared that the whole PED thing was behind him. Than, the Biogenesis list leaked and those of us that never believed his story about tainted pee cups or prolonged exposure got to see the star fall.

Here is the thing, I wasn't rooting for Ryan Braun to fall because he took PEDs. Honestly, I couldn't care less if he doped. I was rooting for Ryan Braun to fall because he was a smug, insolent, asshole about whole thing. The guy obviously caught a huge break when the test taker just so happened to not follow the exact written procedure. 

So what did he do? He didn't count his lucky stars and quietly go back to his successful career as a major leaguer. No, he decided to take the low road. After being cleared of wrong doing, Braun continued his crusade to clear his name and villianized anyone involved in the case to suspend him. He questioned the urine sampler, the testing agency and baseball about their integrity. He basically took the least graceful path possible.

The main point I'm taking from this whole Ryan Braun cheating scandal is if you lie, cheat and steal your way to the top, you will eventually get your comeuppances. It might not be immediately or even in the short term, but some day you will pay a debt for being an asshole. I like to think that this is true everywhere in the world, but, even if it isnt, it is nice to know, that in the isolated world of Major League Baseball, eventually it all comes back around.