Free Suspended Baseball Slugger Ryan Braun! Nick Gillespie in USA Today

Over at USA Today, I argue that baseball star Ryan Braun is getting a raw deal. The Brewers all-star has been suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and running afoul of poorly defined and arbitrarily enforced league policy.

A snippet:

With the possible exception of attempts to "get money" out of politics, no recurring moral crusade is more self-righteous and more doomed to failure than the one aimed at tossing "performance-enhancing drugs" (PEDs) out of sports.

Money flows into politics because politics determines to a large degree how much money a business might make. Steroids, amphetamines and other drugs flow into sports like a raging river of Gatorade (needs more electrolytes!) because athletes, coaches and fans all want jacked-up performances….

It would be far more mature to admit that drugs, off-the-wall therapies and secret-training regimens are part and parcel of pro sports, whether in baseball or the National Football League. If this were all done in the open, players, coaches and fans would at least be able to have truly informed debates on the moral and muscular merits of this drug vs. that one vs. actual abstinence.

Read the whole thing here. As a bonus, I reveal the real reason we all (baseball fans) hate A-Rod.

And read USA Today's editorial extolling the suspension - and likely onslaught of more penalties handed out to many top-tier players - here.

Reason on Sports.

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