In a statement released Thursday, suspended Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun apologized for taking banned substances. Braun also admitted to being misleading “both in the information I failed to share during my arbitration hearing and the comments I made to the press afterwards.”
Here’s more of what Braun had to say:
Here is what happened. During the latter part of the 2011 season, I was dealing with a nagging injury and I turned to products for a short period of time that I shouldn’t have used. The products were a cream and a lozenge which I was told could help expedite my rehabilitation. It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately.
In July, the 2011 MVP was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season for links to the Biogenesis drug dispensary. Instead of appealing the decision, Braun issued an apology and accepted the suspension for violations of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension amounts to 65 games without pay. This isn’t Braun’s first run in with Major League Baseball’s drug rules; in Febraury 2012, the outfielder successfully appealed a 50-game drug suspension on the grounds that Major League Baseball mishandled his urine sample.
In his statement, Braun said, “It is important that people understand that I did not share details of what happened with anyone until recently. My family, my teammates, the Brewers organization, my friends, agents and advisors had no knowledge of these facts, and no one should be blamed but me.”
