We here at the MVP of Yesterday office (AKA my recliner) do not care about whether a player is, was or may one day use steroids. We only care about who the MVP of Yesterday is. So, to the displeasure of countless Phillies fans, I name Ryan Braun, he of the three HRs and countless Phillies-fan heckles and boos, the MVP of Yesterday.
(Standings after jump)
You’ve seen the apology from Ryan Braun, now look at the word cloud! What words did he use the most? See for yourself (and click on it to expand):
In the hours since the Ryan Braun news broke, you could see a wide variety of responses. Here are the types I found… I am not including examples as a way to protect the innocent and/or guilty. In addition, many tweets may be crosses between the below.
The Purely Informational Tweet: Tells us what’s happening, how people are reacting, give us further details, etc.
The “He had it coming” Tweet: Self-explanatory.
The “He should apologize” Tweet: He should apologize to his teammates, he should apologize to that sample-collector, he should apologize to the arbitrator, he should apologize to the fans, he should apologize to his family, he should apologize to those who defended him, he should apologize to Matt Kemp for winning the 2011 MVP Award instead of him, etc.
The “Not Enough” Tweet: Suggesting that Braun got off easy. Other suggestions can range anywhere from 100 games to some who suggest expunging Braun from the record books, banning him for life and then shooting him on a rocket towards the heart of the Sun. Only slightly exaggerating.
The “Who Cares?” Tweet: Somebody either says they don’t care about PED use anymore or don’t see what the big deal is because the Brewers are already out of playoff contention.
The “A-Rod’s Next” Tweet: Self-explanatory.
The “Tie this into another event” Tweet: Ranging from the rather apt comparison of the reaction to Braun’s suspension to the reaction to the suspension of the NFL’s Von MIller to the rather silly, such as saying that this means that the Royal Baby won’t be named “Ryan”.
The “Get off your high horses” Tweet: Again, self-explanatory, usually aimed either at sportswriters or MLB itself.
The “MLB is just as bad” Tweet: Focuses on the fact that some of the methods that MLB has used in these investigation are rather suspect morally or ethically. In extreme cases this may appear to be an attack on MLB instead of a condemnation of both MLB and Braun.
The “Anti-Semitic” Tweet: I haven’t seen any, but given the fact that this is Twitter and some real scumbags are on it, I’m sure they exist.
The “Woah” Tweets: People are so stunned at this development that they just can say “wow” or “woah” or something similar.
Any types I’m missing?
BREAKING: Ryan Braun suspended rest of the season for connection to Biogenesis.
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) July 22, 2013
BREAKING: MLB will seek to suspend A-Rod, Ryan Braun and about 20 players connected to Miami clinic. Founder Tony Bosch agreed to cooperate.
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) June 4, 2013
Well, I wouldn’t say this came out of nowhere, but I don’t think I was expecting to see this today. You?
One thing that noticed- and worries me- in the recent wave of PED news is that many of the players have a big connection: The University of Miami.
Ryan Braun played for the University of Miami.
Yasmani Grandal played for the University of Miami.
Danny Valencia played for the University of Miami.
Cesar Carrillo, a minor leaguer who has been connected to BioGenesis, went to the University of Miami.
Alex Rodriguez has been a major financial donor to the University of Miami baseball program- their park even bears his name.
Jimmy Goins, named in the Biogenesis reports, is the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Miami.
I’m hardly the first to notice this, look at what Tim Brown and Jeff Passan wrote at Yahoo!:
The early portion of MLB’s investigation has focused on the web of connections to the University of Miami, where Braun attended college. Carrillo, a pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization, was Braun’s road roommate for three years. Jimmy Goins, a strength-and-conditioning coach at the school and alleged client of Bosch’s, worked with Braun during his three years at Miami. Goins has denied a connection to Bosch.
And this leads to my concern: Will others consider former Hurricanes players to be guilty until proven innocent? Will a new star who comes to the majors, having played at “The U”, have whispers behind their back?
Because that would not be healthy for the sport. There still needs to be evidence, one cannot just assume that because player X went to college Y he must be on PEDs. And we must never forget that.
The Baseball Continuum 