Since Ryan Braun was basically found not guilty of using a prohibited substance, a lot of focus has been placed on the chain-of-custody breakdown that allowed Braun to make a successful appeal. Ryan Braun submitted a urine sample, but then that urine sample wasn’t immediately sent in to be tested, and this seems to have caused sufficient doubt in the arbitrator’s mind as to rule in Braun’s favor.
Ryan Braun Sample Collector Has A Name
Well, the person who took and handled Braun’s sample has a name, it turns out, and according to Major League Baseball, he didn’t do anything wrong. Jeff Passan:
The veteran collector of doping programs across sports who for two days held the sample of star outfielder Ryan Braun’s urine “acted in a professional and appropriate manner,” Major League Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred said in a statement Friday night.
Dino Laurenzi, who four sources said was the collector, has collected specimens for MLB since 2005 as well as the NFL and NHL through his job with Comprehensive Drug Testing.
Laurenzi placed a box of specimens, including Braun’s, inside a cooler in his basement when the FedEx location he stopped at no longer was shipping packages after Game 1 of the National League Division Series, according to sources. The package sat in his basement between Saturday and Monday, before it was shipped to the laboratory in Montreal that runs tests for MLB.
I guess the good news is that at least this isn’t going to get ugly and prolonged.
See More:
