WHY DID RYAN BRAUN GET A STANDING OVATION?

Call me old-fashioned, but there is something important about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the difference between right and wrong. With Major League Baseball’s tough new rules on performance-enhancing drugs, I felt like we were going in the right direction. Then, on Opening Day at Miller Park, Milwaukee Brewers fans stood on their feet for a standing ovation when Ryan Braun walked up to the batter’s box.

There has been a lot written about this. Many people castigate Milwaukee fans for this, hurling verbal vitriol in their general direction. That is not where I am going with this. Fans have the right to cheer for their players for any reason they see fit. It is what this symbolizes that troubles me.

When I think of standing ovations in baseball, I think about a key home run that brings the fans to their feet. I think of pitching gems and pitchers walking off the field to a standing ovation. I think of last year’s Mariano Rivera tour and fans showing respect for his career accomplishments. I think of Joe Torre’s first game back – at Fenway Park of all places – after recovering from cancer treatment. All of these scenes symbolize major accomplishments and overcoming tremendous circumstances.

What did Ryan Braun overcome? What was his accomplishment? He returned to baseball after serving a season-ending 65-game suspension for his involvement with Biogenesis. That, my friends, is where the rub is. A standing ovation? I get that his fans are happy to see him back. The ovation and thunderous applause, as those in attendance described it, seems to send a different message. The thought that disturbs me is that fans are more interested in having their player in uniform, at the plate and in the field, than they are in having them behave responsibly and respect the sense of fair play.

I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. To his credit, Ryan Braun did apologize for his actions that led to last year’s suspension. His fans have apparently accepted it, and I would not hold a grudge against him. Nevertheless, there is an ethical alarm going off that would not allow me to rise to my feet in welcoming him back.

Major League Baseball has done great work in trying to eliminate what everyone agrees is a problem with baseball. Last year’s suspension of Braun and many others was in line with that work. While fans have the right to cheer for anyone they want, their response to his return trivializes what he did, as if it was not a big deal, and we are just thrilled that he is back. What he did was a big deal. It violated the integrity of baseball. It violated the trust of the fans of the sport. It set a poor example of how to play with integrity to kids who are old enough to understand what he did, but young enough to be impressed by it. If he is sincere about his apology, let’s see him maintain his performance while testing negative for PED’s. Do that for a good stretch of time, then we can talk about standing ovations.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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