Except Judge is hitting at the major league level at a level he was never close to in this minors.

We haven't forgotten anything. The guy used a substance to try and heal a bum calf muscle that had plagued him almost his entire MVP season. Was it the same as taking a steroid to make him bigger and stronger like Bonds? Hell, no. Was it still wrong that he did it? Hell, yes. But, the guy paid his due to the game, and made amends with the collector. What f#&^g more do you want?

And please don't make idiotic comments about an entire fan base, the overwhelming majority of which you'e never met, let alone spoken to. That really chaps my hide.

As for Braun, he's a fantastic hitter. He's about as sound a hitter, mechanically, as there is in the game today. You don't play 11 seasons, and have a .304 career average, an MVP, an MVP runner up, and another MVP third place finish, and five career Silver Sluggers, unless you're an incredible talent. I could shoot steroids every day of the week, and I wouldn't hit .200 in the bigs.

Braun screwed up, but to crap all over his entire career because of one mistake is ridiculous. You need to let it go.

Braun got on his high horse and lied to the fans and his fellow players for more than a year about what he did. Deplorable. I agree to disagree.

I'd also suggest that if a player from the Dominican Republic or Cuba did this you wouldn't find a single person saying "hey, he's a great guy . . . give him a break." Would love to see the forgiving response Puig would get if he was ever busted.

I agree with some of your sentiment but we shouldn't forget how callous Braun was to the sample collector he more or less called a liar, and maybe even insinuated had tampered with his sample rather than come clean about what he did.

Hope you are doing well. A Seattle sportswriter recently interviewed Kyle Seager, and Kyle agreed with your assessment that Thames was hugely muscular then as well.

You too. Will check out your ebay store again. It's been a while. Such a cool variety of stuff.

Braun acted on the advice of counsel, whose job it is to vigorously defend their client. The collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr., did not properly maintain the sample, per the mandate established by the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Laurenzi Jr. was required to drop the sample at an approved shipping facility within a certain amount of time after its collection. Instead, he took it home, and it sat in his basement, on a counter top in a Tupperware container, not a refrigerator, until the following Monday afternoon. There were several Fed Ex locations between his home, and Miller Park (including, from memory, two locations that were open 24 hours).

Braun, in his statement, did not accuse the collector of wrongdoing. What he did say that an investigation by is legal team learned things about the collector, how the sample was stored by the collector, and how easy it would be to tamper with the sample if the custodian of the sample were so inclined to do so. There is a difference, and it may be a subtle one, but this is a common defense tactic, to create doubt, not in court this time, but in public opinion. And remember, Braun won his hearing because procedure was not followed. So, nothing he said was inaccurate. He did not slander the collector. Had Laurenzi, Jr done his job per his mandate, Braun could have never raised the issue.

Ultimately, Braun shouldn't have said some of the things he did, and he definitely shouldn't have used the prohibited substances. I don't defend his actions. I am merely providing some perspective. The guy is not the dirtbag some are trying to make him out to be. He's done a hell of a lot of charity work in Wisconsin, both before and after the test results became public. Let us not forget that we should have never even have known about the failed test, and the winning appeal, because the whole process is supposed to be confidential. MLB dropped the ball somewhere along the line in allowing the information to be leaked.

Braun is a grade a jerk who deserves continuous negative comments. He also deserves to continue his fine career. I'm Fine with Thames, good for him.

Braun defenders always get hung up on the chain of custody thing but the fact remains that it didn't matter what the collector did with the sample. Braun admitted that he used.

In my 30 year legal career, not once have I ever seen advice of counsel to be "go out there and keep lying. Keep it up." Advice of counsel is shut up and say nothing.