The Ryan Braun Fan Club numbers seem to be dwindling. First, it was Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers who expressed disappointment in his friend and business partner. Now, one of Braun’s former teammates is finally speaking out about Braun’s 65-game suspension from Major League Baseball.
Former Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke wouldn’t offer his comments immediately following Braun’s suspension, but he has since opened up on the topic and he is none too pleased with his former teammate, according to the Los Angeles Times. Greinke was a member of the Brewers in 2011, when Braun initially vehemently denied use of performance-enhancing drugs.
“[H]e lied to us,” Greinke said. “He forced us to lie for him, threw people under the bus in order to help himself out and didn’t care, blamed others for his mistakes, and it’s just a lot of things you don’t expect from people.”
Braun was initially handed a 50-game suspension by MLB in 2011, but it was overturned after the outfielder’s lawyers successfully appealed the suspension, saying that Braun’s urine sample was handled improperly.
Greinke was one of many who believed Braun when he said he had never used PEDs.
“Oh, yeah, 100 percent believed him,” Greinke said. “Everything was so convincing. He had people to blame. He seemed like a really good guy. He was a good teammate at the time. You don’t know the guys that he was pinning it on. I’m not positive, but I think everyone 100 percent believed him at the time. Especially the next year, he looked just as good as the year before. His numbers his whole career, Hall of Fame numbers. How could you not believe him? He was so convincing.”
While Braun is under a gag order from MLB, Greinke said he is most disappointed with the fact that his former teammate still hasn’t issued a “real apology.”
“The fact that even to this day he hasn’t had a real apology is really upsetting to me,” Greinke said. “I thought about it a bunch. He still hasn’t really apologized.”
