# NL MVP Ryan Braun tests positive for banned substance **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 11, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824 "2011-12-11T13:31:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/1 "2011-12-11T13:31:55Z")
[Say it ain’t so…](http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AlK0SnO5PxdzcVKaGs1R.hY5nYcB?slug=ap-braun-positivedrugtest) The banned substance appears to be some type of synthetic testosterone. Braun is appealing, and requested a second test after learning of the positive result. Apparently the second sample result was ok… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/2 "2011-12-11T17:39:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > [Say it ain’t so…](http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AlK0SnO5PxdzcVKaGs1R.hY5nYcB?slug=ap-braun-positivedrugtest) > > The banned substance appears to be some type of synthetic testosterone. Braun is appealing, and requested a second test after learning of the positive result. Apparently the second sample result was ok… If the second sample result was okay it’s possible there was an error, I guess. Braun would have to be monumentally stupid to cheat at all, much less cheat in a way that gets caught. If he’s not cleared, this is quite a PR blow to the major leagues, which was beginning to get out of this cloud and just named Braun the MVP a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/3 "2011-12-11T17:46:30Z")
I am eager to hear his amazing explanation. We’ll see if it’s anything plausible. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/4 "2011-12-11T17:56:02Z")
From Sports Illustrated: > [@](#): > > …since the detectable period for testosterone is between 2 and 4 weeks, the timing of that second test is key if it is going to be used as an affirmative defense. I assume the sample from the first test was preserved, because the only result that matters is whether or not there was a positive detection of synthetic testosterone from that. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/5 "2011-12-14T00:25:56Z")
Told ya Kemp was the MVP! ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/6 "2011-12-14T16:47:07Z")
Last I had heard they weren’t saying if it was a PED, a suppliment or some other “banned” substance. There has been a lot of noise about taking his MVP away, but it won’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nl-mvp-ryan-braun-tests-positive-for-banned-substance/605824/7 "2011-12-14T17:12:50Z")
Well, they’re not going to take away Barry Bonds’s MVP Awards, either, or Roger Clemens’s Cy Youngs. It would also be in defiance of the point of the award, which is to designate the most valuable player. Braun cheating would not change the fact that he was, in the estimation of the voters, the MVP. The penalty for cheating is (appropriately, IMHO) suspension, not pretending that he didn’t hit 33 home runs.