Ryan Braun Responds to Boos with 3-Homer Day at Citizens Bank Park

In a very Barry Bonds-esque performance at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, Ryan Braun was booed and then booed some more. His response? Three home runs.

In the video below, Philadelphia Phillies fans can be heard calling him a cheater from the stands, unwilling to forgive or forget his purchase of PEDs from Biogenesis, denial of said purchase, and the slap on the wrist that followed.

After only three hits in 20 at bats this season, the Milwaukee Brewers right fielder knocked in a career-high seven runs to tie a franchise record in his team's 10-4 victory. He had not gone yard in 98 plate appearances -- the longest drought of his career -- dating back to last summer. However, it was no surprise he ended his homer slump in Philly, where he has 10 longballs in 21 career games.

Brewers Fans Welcome Back Ryan Braun in Opening Day Victory

While most avid baseball fans have a general hatred for players who cheat, get caught, lie about cheating, then get caught again, it seems Milwaukee Brewers fans have found it rather easy to forgive Ryan Braun.

The fired up, sellout crowd at Miller Park on Opening Day gave their right fielder a standing ovation as he entered the batter's box. Braun went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Milwaukee's 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves, with his base hit and steal nicely setting up a two-run double by Aramis Ramirez in the fourth.

He was involved in one of the first calls to be overturned under MLB's new replay system as well, when his infield single to lead off the sixth was overturned to an out after the call was challenged by Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. Thankfully, the review took only 58 seconds.

Well Hello Again Stranger: Andy Pettitte Out of Retirement

That was pretty quick... apparently retirement wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Just over a year after announcing his departure from Major League Baseball, Andy Pettitte has decided to make a comeback.

The New York Yankees announced Friday that the 39-year-old lefty had signed a minor-league deal with an invitation to big league spring training. If he ends up making the major league roster, he would get a $2.5 million, one-year contract.

Pettitte is expected in camp on Tuesday and is vying for a spot in the rotation, which already includes CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, Phil Hughes, and maybe even Freddy Garcia.

Pettitte, who owns a career 240-138 record, spent all but three of his 16 seasons in the big leagues with the Yankees, heading down to Houston to pitch for the Astros from 2004-06. In his last season in the Bronx in 2010, he was named to the American League All-Star team and went 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA. He was always dependable in the postseason, and that's always handy when you're the Yankees.

Welcome back Andy Pettitte, thanks for the surprise.

[River Ave. Blues]

Testosterone Medication Allegedly to Blame for Ryan Braun's Failed Drug Test

We've been waiting a while to weigh in on the whole Ryan Braun deal lately, mostly because we couldn't find a credible source with any real information to cite. Now that a few semi-major news outlets have suggested the Milwaukee Brewers left fielder may have been prescribed a medication containing testosterone which made him fail one random test and then pass the second, we're gonna throw in our two or three cents.

Not that it's any of our business, but I'm sure you're wondering just like us, what possible secret ailments could Braun have that require synthetic testosterone for treatment?

The obvious conclusion for some asinine sports blogs out there is that he has herpes. Of course. First of all, page views and hits will never be so important to us that we would create a rumor that a player has a sexually transmitted disease in the hopes people will visit our site and spread the rumor... kind of like herpes. That would be stupid and irresponsible... kind of like having unprotected sex.

There are many illnesses and issues in which testosterone is used as a treatment and/or cure. Since we're too lazy to speculate, we'll just sit back and wait to see if Braun decides to share the news with the public after his appeal, if this is indeed the case. Either way, he'll most likely be suspended for 50 games to start off the 2012 season; it's still his responsibility to know exactly what he's putting into his body and to make sure it's within MLB regulations.

Herpes. How dumb.

[Big League Stew]

Barry Bonds Gets a Slap on the Wrist, Manages to Avoid Jail Time

The Barry Bonds fiasco is finally over... at least for now.

Upon his conviction for giving "misleading testimony" (a.k.a. lying his ass off) before a grand jury investigating steroid use in sports, the Home Run King was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, two years probation, a $4,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service on Friday. The federal judge cited his many charitable donations as part of the reason actual jail time seemed irrational.

Ryan Braun Faces 50-Game Ban for Allegedly Cheating; We Might Take it All Back

We haven't been more disappointed in a ballplayer than we are with Ryan Braun tonight. Honestly, he was one of the last players we'd ever suspect of cheating.

The Milwaukee Brewers left fielder has tested positive for a banned substance and now faces a 50-game suspension. Of course he is disputing the results and referring to them as complete "bullshit." A spokesperson for Braun released this statement Saturday evening:

"There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident he will ultimately be exonerated."

On the heels of his first 30-30 season, a synthetic testosterone was found in his system in a recent random test. A second administered test was negative, so we're awfully confused by that. If the suspension is upheld, the Brewers are totally screwed early on in the season. Especially after losing the big bat of Prince Fielder to free agency.

Over his first five big league seasons, the reigning National League MVP has averaged 36 longballs, 118 RBI and a .563 slugging percentage. If he is indeed a cheater-pants, we take back everything nice we've ever said about him. If the positive test is just a bunch of BS, then we apologize for finding the douchiest picture possible of him to go with this post.

[Daily Pitch]

Roger Clemens Does Not Understand Term "Gag Order"

A federal judge warned Roger Clemens on Monday that he was getting "precariously close" to violating a gag order by verbalizing his opinion on Barry Bonds' upcoming trial on steroid allegations.

Apparently, United States District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton was unaware of the fact that the Rocket never ever shuts the hell up. Ever. The sound of his own voice is music to his ears.

Despite being told clearly last August to keep his giant mouth from opening, Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee gave interviews about the case last week.

Just two days after McNamee went on a radio show denouncing the accusation that he is a "rat," the Rocket told ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike that he's excited to defend himself:

Jose Guillen is [Allegedly] an Idiot

The San Francisco Giants are rolling right through the World Series, winning the first two games at AT&T Park this week. Obviously, this puts the players and the organization in high spirits.

Sadly, their buzz may be killed with the news of outfielder Jose Guillen -- left off the postseason roster due to a nagging neck injury -- being linked to a federal investigation into shipments of performance-enhancing drugs.

Really Jose? Again?

Apparently, several unidentified lawyers informed Major League Baseball just before the playoffs began that they were looking into shipments of human growth hormone that was sent to Guillen's wife, who lives in the Bay Area.

Roger Clemens is a Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Blah blah steroids.

Roger Clemens was indicted Thursday on a series of charges for lying to the United States Congress of all people about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

People lie about their age, their weight, their whereabouts to their wives, but lying to Congress? That's a big no-no. A snippet from the 19-page indictment:

In truth and in fact, as Clemens well knew when he gave this testimony, Clemens knowingly received injections of anabolic steroids while he was an MLB player.

Blah Blah Steroids: Jose Canseco

Can you imagine the sort of shady crap you'd have to be involved with for the FEDERAL BUREAU of INVESTIGATION to show up at your doorstep? Yeah, that kind of thing only happens on television... unless you're Jose Canseco.

I happened to be scanning my Tweetdeck this afternoon when @JoseCanseco (yes, I totally follow him and yes, aside from the fact he has a little trouble with spelling and some anger management issues, it's pretty entertaining) tweeted the following...

Blah Blah Steroids: Hot Tub Party!

In an attempt to spoil our Spring happiness, Brian McNamee has come forward with more "news" (i.e. self-deprecating confessions) regarding the never-ending Roger Clemens' steroid scandal.

He injected him with an illegal substance in a hot tub.

Not just any hot tub, but the sacred hot tub in Yankee Stadium. Another time (July or August of 2001) McNamee claims he shot up The Rocket in the pitcher's high-rise Manhattan apartment.

Continue reading and rate this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

Blah Blah Bonds

Barry Bonds may be looking for $100 million or more from MLB if an arbitrator decides baseball owners conspired to end his career. Why such a large number? According to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, a player is allowed triple in damages from lost earnings if the reason he did not play was shady enough.

Yes, Barry was bad for baseball. Yes, it became incredibly irritating to see his ugly mug plastered all over the internet and television while he chased Hank Aaron's homer record and after he was indicted on charges of perjury.

But did owners collude to have him blackballed? Even though Bonds was not offered a contract after the 2007 season, he never officially retired. His agent, Jeff Borris even shopped Bonds at the big league minimum of $390,000 and still drew no interest. At one point he somewhat jokingly offered to play for charity. Still crickets.

Thoughts?

[AFP] | [Sportaphile] | [SF Giants Fantatic]

#756 In Hall After All

Apparently, the Hall of Fame is not interested in Barry Bonds' record-breaking #756 home run ball. Home Run King supporters: you can blame the baseball's owner, Mark Ecko.

"The owner’s previous commitment to unconditionally donate the baseball has changed to a loan. As a result, the Hall of Fame will not be able to accept the baseball," a correspondent for the Hall said in a statement.

They went on to say that should Ecko decide to donate the ball unconditionally at a later date, they would be "delighted" to take it off his hands.

It is, after all, the most disputed memorabilia in the history of ever.

Update: Barry Bonds' souvenir #756 baseball landed in Cooperstown Tuesday night after many pubic exchanges between owner Mark Ecko and the Shrine. A driver walked the ball up to the front steps of the Hall of Fame (fancy) and handed it over along with a letter from Ecko, who paid $752,467 for the shady memorabilia, claiming unconditional donation.

[amNY] | [Cooperstown] | [Dueling Couches] | [The Barry Bonds Trial]

Barry Bonds Indicted

Ooooh, Scott Boras is going to be pissed! Barry Bonds has trumped any upcoming Alex Rodriguez announcement by going and getting himself indicted.

The indictment states "During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes."

Should Bonds be convicted on all five counts listed in the indictment, he could go to prison for up to 30 years. While there are other unnamed athletes involved in the decision, Bond was the big fish.

I can't provide legal analysis and I won't even try. In the next few days, every lawyer under the sun is going to weigh in with an "expert" opinion. But I will say this. Pete Rose has been denied the Hall of Fame for betting on games. Betting FOR the team he was playing for. Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned, despite being acquitted by the grand jury for game fixing. If Bonds ends up in the Hall of Fame after this indictment, it will be an injustice. For the league, for the fans, and for the players who take this game seriously every day.

Bud Selig can do what he wants with the record. Asterisk it, erase it, let it stand. It's no longer about the record. It's about the responsibility of the league and those who govern it to keep the sanctity of the Hall and the game.

[Steroid Nation]

Barry Bonds Edges Closer With Homer No. 748

Fun fact: After going hitless in 8 at bats against Tim Wakefield, Barry Bonds hit #748 Sunday, marking the first time he's nailed one off a knuckleballer since he hit #73 off Los Angeles Dodger Dennis Springer in 2001 and the first one he's hit at Fenway Park. He also singled in the eighth.

That solo shot didn't do much in the way of winning, however.

Wakefield pitched well before hitting a kink in the sixth to help the Boston Red Sox complete the three-game sweep over the San Francisco Giants. He allowed five runs and eight hits with a walk, striking out three over 5.2 innings.

Manny Ramirez was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, David Ortiz had a pair of doubles, and Kevin Youkilis went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs for the Sox.

Matt Morris lasted just four innings for San Francisco, allowing eight runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out two.

In just his sixth career game, Nate Schierholtz had three hits, including his first career triple while Pedro Feliz hit a solo homer for the Giants - his ninth of the season and 98th of his career.

Big Papi Says... I'm Not Sure

Apparently, David Ortiz isn't quite sure whether he's taken steroids or not.

Big Papi told the Boston Herald that he couldn't say for sure if he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs in the past, but if he did, it was when he was much younger:

"I tell you, I don't know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that [shit] up... I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it. You've got to be careful."

He later joked that maybe he should try doping just to see what all the fuss is about.

Yankees Find Scapegoat in Marty Miller

The best way to correct a problem is to first find its root.

The root of the New York Yankees' recent string of injuries? Maybe it was their new old strength coach, Marty "McFly" Miller. Because clearly, no one can take responsiblities for their own actions.

Miller was appointed scapegoat today, fired just one day after the Yankees' most prized prospect, Phil Hughes went down with a hamstring injury.

Angel Berroa Sucks Now. Why?

Seriously. How can a thing like this happen?

Angel Berroa has gone from being the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year to possibly losing his job as the Kansas City Royals' starting shortstop.

The right-handed hitter has struck out 12 times in 26 at-bats during spring training this year. For all you math-whizzes out there, that's almost half of his plate appearances.

Berroa will be competing for the starting job with Alex Gonzalez, who has started for the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs, along with prospect Andres Blanco. And it is wide open, says manager Buddy Bell...

We still want Angel to be the shortstop. We still expect him to be the shortstop, but that could change in the next couple of days. He has to play better. He knows that. He wants to play better. Angel is still ahead. That is a decision that more than likely will go down to the end.

Berroa hit .287 with 17 home runs, 92 runs and 21 steals as a rookie, but in 2006, he slipped to .234 with nine homers, 68 runs and only three stolen bags in four attempts. He grounded into 21 double plays and his .190 road batting average was the absolute worst in the American League.

[Yahoo! Sports]

Blah Blah Steroids: Darren Holmes

Just when you think the recent steroid probe can't get any worse, you hear the news of former major league pitcher Darren Holmes joining the list of athletes linked to the nationwide investigation.

It's been reported by Sports Illustrated that Holmes received somatropin, a form of HGH, and testosterone from Palm Beach Rejuvenation in October of 2003. Holmes, a journeyman who spent 13 years in the majors, played for eight different clubs and last pitched in 2003 with a career record of 35-33.

Holmes admitted that he ordered and received the HGH, but never used it, "I'm being as honest as a cheater I can." He claims that he ordered the HGH as an alternative to his shoulder pain. When the box came in the mail, his wife asked him if he was sure he really wanted to take them, which apparently changed his mind.

The growing list of athletes linked to the scandal include current players Gary Matthews Jr., Jerry Hairston Jr. and David Bell, former major leaguers Jose Canseco and John Rocker, heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Pittsburgh Steelers doctor Richard Rydze, 1996 Olympic wrestling gold medalist and professional badass Kurt Angle along with the veiny sweaty bodybuilder, Victor Martinez.

On Thursday, 54-year-old Daniel McGlone, the owner of a New Jersey pharmaceutical company, was arraigned on drug-related and money-laundering charges in a separate Rhode Island federal steroids investigation. He pleaded not guilty, of course, on the charges of 80 counts of health care fraud, conspiracy and illegal drug distribution along with 51 counts of money laundering.

When customers called asking for steroids, he allegedly paid two doctors - Ana Maria Santi and Victor Mariani - to write medically unnecessary prescriptions for the substances.

[Sports Illustrated]

Blah Blah Steroids (Updated)

Shocking news regarding the Blah Blah Steroids Scandal this morning...

Two more people linked to a nationwide investigation into the illegal sale of steroids were arraigned Tuesday on drug-related charges as more athletes' names surfaced, including the controversial former reliever John Rocker. Really? John Rocker? You don't say.

Also among the implicated were major leaguer David Bell, giant Ohio bodybuilder Victor Martinez and 1996 Olympic wrestling gold-medalist/WWE wrestler Kurt Angle. These names were all on Applied Pharmacy's client list - a Mobile, Alabama company that was recently raided in connection with the investigation.

Rocker's publicist told the New York Daily News that he admitted taking Human Growth Hormone (HGH), but claims it was prescribed by a doctor for his rotator cuff surgery in 2003.

Steven and Karen Lampert, the two arraigned in the investigation, pleaded not guilty in an Albany County courtroom and were released without bail. The Anti-Aging Centers are charged with submitting prescriptions to a Florida pharmacy - some the district attorney say were "obviously forged" - for more than $50,000 in drugs for people without a medical need.

Steven Lampert is charged with 20 counts, his wife with two. One day earlier, 11 other defendants plead not guilty as well, including four officials from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida.

Bell, a third baseman with the Phillies and Brewers last season, says he received a shipment of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) last April and refused to disclose what supposed medical condition the drug was prescribed for.

Bell is the third current ballplayer to be named in this particular investigation, along with Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Gary Matthews, Jr. and Texas Rangers outfielder Jerry Hairston, Jr.

Martinez, considered an "unindicted co-conspirator" who won the Arnold (Schwarzenegger) bodybuilding competition Saturday, claims that he bought testosterone from the Lamperts after their clinic told him he had low levels of the hormone.

Cause, yeah. He definitely looks like he's lacking testosterone.

He also said the company asked him to become a partner, but he declined, saying that he "didn't trust them" after others had warned him not to do business with them.

Update: John Rocker, of course, denies having ever had HGH in his system. He told ESPN Radio's The Herd: If somebody's got a beef to make with me, show me a prescription. I was trying to pitch all the way up until a week before I had my surgery. And obviously feeling as bad as I was, I called every doctor I could [to find out] what can I do to strengthen my shoulder and give me more arm strength. Every one of them said go to a GNC, buy something over the counter, human growth hormone, these very several amino acids... basically [that] is the way it's done."

Cheater.

[Sports Illustrated] | [New York Daily News]