Opinion Corner: Braun’s test just a ‘bump in the road’

Talk about it

It’s only been a matter of days and already I have multiple people telling me Ryan Braun has no shot at enshrinement in Cooperstown. Let me quell that fire here and now.

The slugging Brewers’ left fielder and National League MVP recently had a 50-game suspension overturned over an alleged failed drug test for performance enhancing drugs.

So what?

This will go down in the books as a bump in the road in one of the most storied careers a player will ever have in the Brew City.

Braun’s numbers don’t lie, and that is not an alleged fact.

Aside from batting .332 last year with 33 home runs and 111 RBIs, Brauny is swinging the stick at a .312 clip lifetime over five seasons.

He’s only 102 hits away from 1,000, which is a pretty good pace for a 28-year-old.

Throw in 161 homeruns and 531 RBIs and it seems to me like he’s off to a good start — to say the least.

Let’s not forget the 96 stolen bases that make him a five-tool threat.

He may not crush the ball, like a certain first baseman, whose name shall remain out of this column, but he’s a heckuva ball player — no one can deny that.

While certainly some of the biggest news of the offseason, this appeal will be gone and forgotten come September when Braun is leading the Brew Crew on the hunt for the postseason.

Alex Rodriguez admitted to juicing and some staunch believers say that confirmed cheater is destined for upstate New York.

Braun won the appeal process, which for all intents and purposes clears him of any wrong doing.

It may be a black eye for Braun, but shiners heal over time.

Just ask Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach, a Hall of Famer, whose ugly temperament and personality are well documented.

If an angry, racist, bigoted, drunk can be recognized as one of baseball’s all-time greats, should Braun’s first brush with something untoward permanently stain him?

Cobb beat up a paraplegic in the stands — Braun won an appeal process. What’s worse?

I realize I’m comparing apples and oranges here and the era is different, but I just don’t see it.

The All-Time Home Run King Barry Bonds* will never get a spot in the hall and that’s because of how he carried himself off the field. Braun is a class act that led his team into the NLCS for the first time since 1982.

The Giants actually got better when Bonds left and eventually won a World Series.

Keep in mind he was never found guilty of doping either, just lying to a grand jury.

Voting members for the hall don’t like egomaniacal monsters — it’s a good thing Braun isn’t one.

Everyone has a voice and I can’t wait for the talking heads to dissect this near debacle. But as I see, it’s all kosher for the Hebrew Hammer.

Rodgers is a news writer at the Jamestown Sun

Tags: sports, mlb, baseball