Well unless Ryan Braun is paying the Crash Davis's of the world to tip him off to what pitches are coming I think we can pretty much put this PED discussion to bed. I mean sure there are still some questions that people want answered. Braunie keeps referring to the 'real story' every time it's been brought up but doesn't shed any further light on it. Guy is protecting whatever 'it' is tighter than George Costanza protects his ATM code. But not only has he not lost a step, he's flat out having a BETTER season than he had last year. Guy won the MVP last year and hit 33 bombs. He's got 20 this season and we're not even at the All Star break. So if your argument is that he won his MVP while on some sort of steroid or performance enhancing drug then you have to legitimately wonder if PEDs actually have the reverse effect on Ryan Braun. Because even though the guy's power numbers from year to year have never strayed to far from the mid-30's, he's currently on pace to hit about 50. On top of that he's batting .320, has a 15 game hit streak and is 2nd in the NL in RBI. No big deal. Guy's just going Biff Tannon on Major League pitchers on the regular. He looks like Billy Madison playing dodge ball against 3rd graders out there. Legit MVP candidate even though he'll probably never win one again.

The truly amazing thing is that he's doing this all in a year where people are analyzing his EVERY at bat. All of the news outlets (read:ESPN) are looking for some statistical drop off to support baseless claims. And Ryan Braun knew full well that if he even dipped a little bit he'd have no chance of recovering his image. Like if he goes out there and bats .280 with 23 home runs this year he's got a scarlet letter for life. And assuming he's never been on anything ever, the guy is frieking Roy Hobbs. He is a flat out natural. But even things that come easy to you become more intense when they're under the microscope. Like this past winter I had my wisdom teeth removed. First surgery ever. They hook you up to a machine to monitor your heart rate and it beeps every time your heart beeps. Under normal circumstances I have a resting heart rate of about 30, but all of a sudden when you hear the beep and the number goes up you start thinking about it. Before you know it you're looking at a reading of 210 and being rushed to the ER before a simple 30 minute surgery. So with the pressure on and his career (Hall of Fame) on the line, Braunie is thriving. Pretty incredible stuff. Thus endeth Penthouse Forum Ryan Braun blog #2134243.

PS: While I was thinking about this blog I was trying to come up with something that comes as easy to me as baseball does to Ryan Braun so I could draw a parallel between them. And the only thing I could come up with is maintaining a heart beat. That's either a major compliment to how easy baseball is for Ryan Braun or an indictment on my ability to do anything. Probably both.

Double PS: If you're counter argument to his numbers this year is 'well then he must be on something even more undetectable' you're an idiot.