NEW YORK (AP) — The first star to fall in baseball’s latest drug investigation is one of its biggest: Ryan Braun.
The 2011 National League MVP was suspended without pay for the rest of the season and the postseason, the start of sanctions involving players reportedly tied to a Florida clinic accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs.
The Milwaukee Brewers star accepted the 65-game ban, 15 games more than the one he avoided last year when an arbitrator overturned his positive test for elevated testosterone because the urine sample had been improperly handled.
Braun, injured Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and more than a dozen players were targeted by MLB following a report by Miami New Times in January that they had been connected with Biogenesis of America, a now-closed anti-aging clinic.