Steroids: Does MLB Owe Kemp, Voters and Fans an Apology for Late Discolosure?

On Saturday morning, Major League Baseball dropped a bombshell when they announced that the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player, Ryan Braun, had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs—PEDs for short.

The disclosure comes as a shock to the world of professional baseball as nobody expected a player like Braun, somebody adored and with close ties to the Milwaukee community, to become the latest superstar to hit the wall of shame.

Braun, who signed a five-year extension back in April to keep him in a Brewers uniform until 2020, was seen as one of the few ball players who remained loyal to their team, rather than take the money and run.

However, Major League Baseball may have some explaining to do and perhaps an apology may be in line to Matt Kemp, the voters and all fans of the game.

Why?

Turns out that Braun tested positive for "elevated" testosterone back in late October, almost a full month before the announcement for the NL MVP was made.

ESPN reported that Braun gave a urine sample during the playoffs and himself was informed sometime in late October. A second exam was done on Braun's positive test which showed that the testosterone was in fact synthetic or, in layman's terms, not originating naturally from the human body.

The question to be asked is why it took so long to make the announcement? And further, why weren't the baseball writers who vote for the MVP notified?

MVP votes are usually cast right before the start of the post season and if the results came back in late October, then why didn't Major League Baseball make an attempt to notify the voters who might have voted differently?

On finding out about the positive test, Braun simply responded "It's BS."

For baseball fans, you hope that what he says is true and that perhaps an over the counter substance may have caused the positive test, but the fact remains and the proof is in the pudding.

Ryan Bruan as of right now, is in the same category as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Jose Canseco—players who tested or admitted to doing steroids.

It's a sad day for baseball.