What exactly happened during Ryan Braun's PED suspension? A timeline of events

As important as Ryan Braun was to the success of the Milwaukee Brewers, there's a dubious chapter, as well: His suspension for the use of banned substances, enacted in 2013 but first rising to the public consciousness after a sample taken during his MVP season in 2011.

The duality of franchise legend with a tainted chapter makes him one of the more complicated figures in Wisconsin sports history , especially given that the bulk of his career came after the suspension.

Sunday, Braun is being inducted into the Brewers' Walk of Fame .

More: Ryan Braun's greatest moments with the Brewers, including some you forgot

Here is the timeline of what transpired:

2007-2010: Ryan Braun becomes the face of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise

Braun, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, became the face of the franchise quickly, bursting out of the gate to earn National League rookie of the year in 2007.

In 2008, he made his first of four straight All-Star game starts and five straight All-Star selections. Braun hit one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history, an eighth-inning blast on the final day of the 2008 season that helped the Brewers beat the Cubs and clinch the franchise's first playoff appearance in 26 years. The final week of the season also included a walk-off grand slam against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Braun led the league with 203 hits in 2009.

April 21, 2011: Ryan Braun signs $100 million extension

Braun had signed an eight-year, $45 million extension after his rookie season, but with a willingness to become a member of the Brewers for life, Braun and the Brewers were able to work out an even bigger deal.

In April, Braun signed a five-year extension worth $105 million, a deal running from 2016 through 2020 that included a mutual option for 2021. The deal included a no-trade clause and meant he'd be a Brewer through the year 2020.

To that point, only two other players age 27 or younger — Alex Rodriguez and Joe Mauer — had signed contracts with an annual value of $20 million or more.

Nov. 22, 2011: Ryan Braun is named National League MVP

Braun was the leading vote-getter for the National League in the All-Star game that year and led the league with a .994 OPS and .597 slugging.

The Brewers won the National League Central for the first division title since 1982, clinched with a win over the Florida Marlins made possible by another eighth-inning blast from Braun. The Brewers advanced to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, falling in six games, after a thrilling five-game win over Arizona in the division series.

On Nov. 22, he was named the NL Most Valuable Player , winning a relatively close vote over Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, 388 points to 332, with teammate Prince Fielder in third.

He became the third player in franchise history to win an MVP.

Dec. 11, 2011: News leaks that Ryan Braun has tested positive for elevated testosterone

According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines," Braun tested positive for an abnormally high level of testosterone and faced a 50-game suspension.

"This is all B.S.," Braun said in a text message to the Journal Sentinel. "I am completely innocent."

The information wasn't supposed to be public until after a player's appeal failed, so this counted as a leak.

The test result was collected Oct. 1 before Game 1 of the NLDS. Braun immediately requested a second test, collected after the Brewers had been eliminated. The MLB Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment policy had been implemented in 2003.

Jan. 20, 2011: Ryan Braun accepts MVP award in New York

Braun didn't take questions, but did include a passage in his speech at the Baseball Writers Association of America awards banquet about the positive test.

"Sometimes in life, we all deal with challenges we never expected to endure," he said. "We have an opportunity to look as those challenges and view them either as obstacles or opportunities. I've chosen to view every challenge I've ever faced as an opportunity and this will be no different. I've always believed that a person's character is revealed through the way they deal with those moments of adversity."

On Jan. 23, national talk-show host Dan Patrick first suggested that, based on a source he had close to the process, Braun could become the first MLB player to successfully win an appeal under the drug policy. One day later, Fielder signed to play for the Detroit Tigers. Braun, meanwhile, withdrew from his previous commitment to attend the Brewers On Deck event.

Feb. 23, 2012: Ryan Braun is notified that his appeal has been successful

After a month in limbo, Braun was informed that he had won his appeal. The case was heard by a three-man panel that included players union executive director Michael Weiner, Major League Baseball vice president for labor relations Rob Manfred and independent arbitrator Shyam Das. With the correct assumption that Weiner and Manfred would split their vote, Das rendered the decisive tiebreaker.

The appeal relied on poking holes into the process itself and not necessarily the validity of the sample. Major League Baseball made no bones about its displeasure, saying in a release, "While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”

Braun called a press conference the next day at spring training in Arizona.

Feb. 24, 2012: Ryan Braun gives now-infamous speech after successful appeal

Braun's public comments the next day became the flashpoint for the entire episode.

Among his comments, he called the process "fatally flawed."

"If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I'd be the first one to step up and say, 'I did it,'" Braun said. "By no means am I perfect, but if I've ever made any mistakes in my life I've taken responsibility for my actions. I truly believe in my heart and I would bet my life that this substance never entered my body at any point.

"I've always stood up for what is right. Today is about everybody who's been wrongly accused, and everybody who has had to stand up for what is actually right. Today isn't about me; it isn't about one player. It's about all players. It's about all current players, all future players and everybody who plays the game of baseball."

At the heart of the conversation was discourse about the collection process itself and the employee who collected the sample, Pleasant Prairie resident Dino Laurenzi.

Because Laurenzi thought it was too late to ship via FedEx that Saturday, he took the sample and two others home and kept them refrigerated. He shipped the samples on Monday afternoon, a 44-hour window that led to Braun's successful appeal defense. Braun indicated that there were five FedEx locations within five miles of the stadium open until 9 p.m. and a bevy of options to send the sample sooner. Braun noted that the drug program requires that samples be taken to FedEx immediately, "absent unusual circumstances."

"There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way that the entire thing worked that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened.

"We spoke to biochemists and scientists, and asked them how difficult would it be to tamper with somebody's sample. Their response was that, if they were motivated, it would be extremely easy. Again, that's why it's so important to get it out of the hands of the only person in the world who knows whose sample it is.

"I honestly don't know what happened to it for that 44-hour period. There are a lot of different things that could have possibly happened. There are a lot of things that we've heard about the collection process, the collector and some other people involved in the process that have certainly been concerning to us."

The office of Commissioner Bud Selig quickly responded to Braun's suggestion that Laurenzi might have done something inappropriate.

"The extremely experienced collector in Mr. Braun's case acted in a professional and appropriate manner," Manfred said. "He handled Mr. Braun's sample consistent with instructions issued by our jointly retained collection agency.

"The arbitrator found that those instructions were not consistent with certain language in our program, even though the instructions were identical to those used by many other drug programs — including the other professional sports and the World Anti-Doping Agency."

Four days later, Laurenzi released a statement explaining that the process he followed was consistent with the other samples he had collected.

"This situation has caused great emotional distress for me and my family," he said. "I have worked hard my entire life, have performed my job duties with integrity and professionalism, and have done so with respect to this matter and all other collections in which I have participated."

March 2012: Ryan Braun says there's more to 'real story,' but declines more detail

Braun indicated that players who knew "the real story" had his back, but he declined multiple opportunities to say what that means.

"People are going to have different opinions," Braun said. "Most of them don't know the real story. It's tough sometime to base your opinion or formulate a decision when you don't know what happened. Overall, everybody has been real supportive."

May 14, 2012: Major League Baseball fires Shyam Das as arbitrator

Das, who had been MLB's independent arbitrator since 1999, as agreed upon by management and the player's union, was fired by MLB. Either side was allowed to dismiss an arbitrator upon written notice, with approval of the other side.

A few days before the firing, Colorado catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, who tested positive for a banned substance in September, had his 100-game suspension (a second offense) overturned because of the same procedural issues that surfaced during Braun's hearing.

June 7, 2012: Major League Baseball and players association announce revised drug policies

The aftermath of the ruling didn't just include Das' firing; MLB also updated its policies to clarify handling of samples.

The new policy specified that the collector must stipulate two FedEx locations from which samples can be shipped. If "unusual circumstances" prevent the collector from delivering the samples to FedEx immediately after collection, he must notify Comprehensive Drug Testing, which oversees the process. The independent administrator of the program then will determine if the sample should be dropped at FedEx or have the collector maintain temporary custody. Before that change, the drug policy stated that "absent unusual circumstances, the specimens should be sent by FedEx to the laboratory on the same day they are collected."

2012: Ryan Braun delivers excellent 2012 season

If people believed Braun would see a downtick in production, either because of the distraction or because he now didn't have the luxury of using PEDs, they were wrong.

He socked a career-best 41 homers, led the league with a .987 OPS and finished second in the MVP voting behind Buster Posey, all while securing his fifth straight Silver Slugger award.

Feb. 5, 2013: Link between Ryan Braun and Biogenesis clinic first reported by Yahoo! Sports

Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported that Braun's name appeared in Biogenesis records as a client receiving performance enhancing drugs.

Yahoo! reported it obtained three documents from the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic that contained Braun's name, and said Major League Baseball would investigate the link. Though Braun's name didn't appear in an earlier Miami New Times report that cited several players, including New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Yahoo! said Braun's name wasn't listed next to any specific performance-enhancing drugs.

Braun issued a statement explaining the link to Anthony Bosch, who operated the now-defunct clinic, saying his lawyers were doing research to aid the appeal of his positive test for elevated testosterone.

"During the course of preparing for my successful appeal last year, my attorneys, who were previously familiar with Tony Bosch, used him as a consultant," Braun said. "More specifically, he answered questions about T/E ratio (testosterone to epitestosterone) and possibilities of tampering with samples."

Said ESPN investigative reporter T.J. Quinn, "It's hard to find somebody who is less qualified or less credible. ...The idea that anyone would go to him as a credible witness is astounding and is something that Ryan Braun is going to have to answer for."

Feb. 13, 2013: ESPN discovers another document with Ryan Braun's name

ESPN's "Outside the Lines" produced a hand-written note from Bosch with Braun's name and the figure "1500" next to it. ESPN cited a source that said players on that list received performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch.

May 1, 2013: Tony Bosch corroborates Ryan Braun's story on using the clinic for consulting

"I just answered a few questions from his legal team, not from Braun or any other ballplayer," Bosch said in an interview with ESPN, outlining his relationship with Braun.

June 3, 2013: Tony Bosch cooperates with MLB; talks of suspension heat up again

ESPN's "Outside the Lines" reported that Major League Baseball was seeking to suspend about 20 players, including Braun, connected to the Biogenesis clinic at the heart of an ongoing investigation into the alleged sale of performance-enhancing drugs.

Under the threat of lawsuits and prosecution, Bosch had agreed to cooperate with MLB in the investigation.

MLB investigators previously were able to obtain documents originally released by the Miami New Times showing the names of several players in Bosch's log books with payments that suggest the purchase of PEDs. But it would be all but impossible to suspend any players for PED purchases without Bosch confirming that's what the log books indicated.

ESPN cited a source who said the commissioner's office might issue 100-game suspensions for Braun, Rodriguez and others, instead of the 50-game suspensions that come with first-time offenses. That argument would indicate that the players' connection to Bosch constitutes one offense and statements to MLB officials denying any such link would constitute another.

June 14, 2013: Ryan Braun goes on injured list with thumb issue

Braun, who had been in and out of the lineup with a right thumb contusion, was finally placed on the injured list June 14. At that point, he was hitting .304 with an .880 OPS. He had last played June 9 and would miss a month. He'd be back briefly in July, but the thumb injury would be something that persisted for the rest of his career.

July 9, 2013: Ryan Braun is back, but for how much longer?

Early in July, TMZ reported that former Bosch associate Porter Fischer, a whistleblower in the case, was expected to meet with MLB officials.

The day Braun returned from the injured list, ESPN reported Braun wouldn't answer questions from MLB investigators about his connection to the Biogenesis clinic and was expected to be suspended, along with several other players, after the all-star break.

July 22, 2013: Ryan Braun is suspended for rest of season

When Braun agreed to accept a season-ending suspension for violating the Major League Baseball drug program, in essence he admitted to both using performance-enhancing drugs and lying about it.

In a sanction mandated by Selig's office, Braun agreed to sit out the remaining 65 games of the 2013 season without pay as punishment for evidence uncovered against him in the Biogenesis investigation.

MLB didn't announce what violations Braun committed, but a baseball source said the evidence was "so overwhelming" that Braun had no choice but to accept the 65-game penalty or face a much longer suspension. ESPN reported the evidence showed Braun used "a sophisticated doping regimen" for an extended period of time.

"As I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect," Braun said. "I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family, and it is has been a distraction to my teammates and the Brewers organization. I am very grateful for the support I have received from players, ownership and the fans in Milwaukee and around the country.

"Finally, I wish to apologize to anyone I may have disappointed — all of the baseball fans, especially those in Milwaukee, the great Brewers organization, and my teammates. I am glad to have this matter behind me once and for all, and I cannot wait to get back to the game I love."

He became the first former MVP suspended under the MLB drug program.

Aug. 2, 2013: Sponsors begin to end relationship with Ryan Braun

Nike and Wilson both ended their relationship with Braun in the aftermath of the suspension. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had opened a restaurant with Braun, expressed his frustration that he'd been lied to, and the partnership wouldn't last. The restaurant group later changed the name of his Eight*Twelve restaurant, bearing the number of Braun and Rodgers, and closed Ryan Braun's Graffito.

Kwik Trip ended a Braun promotion, and Muscle Milk had already elected not to renew its contract. The Brewers also began giving away $10 vouchers with every ticket, to be used toward merchandise, food or a future ticket, as a means of making amends to its fanbase. Season-ticket package prices were frozen heading into the 2014 season.

Aug. 19, 2013: Friend files defamation claim against Ryan Braun; report says Braun further disparaged Dino Laurenzi

In a strange twist, longtime Braun friend Ralph Sasson sued Braun for defamation. Sasson said he had done research to help Braun successfully appeal his PED case, but then Braun had shorted him on their agreed payment and made disparaging statements about Sasson to mutual acquaintances. The case was thrown out, and Sasson was later referred to prosecutors for contempt of court.

A separate report indicates Braun had reached out to other MLB stars during his appeal, trying to curry favor, indicating Laurenzi was an anti-Semite and a Cubs fan as possible motivation to sabotage Braun's sample.

Aug. 22, 2013: Ryan Braun admits to using performance-enhancing drugs

A month after acknowledging only that he made "mistakes," Braun released a statement and admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs during his NL MVP season of 2011, indicating the usage began to combat a nagging injury that season.

Braun said he used a cream and took a lozenge containing banned substances while rehabilitating the injury.

"It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately," Braun said in a statement released by the Brewers.

The statement didn't say who gave Braun the PEDs or where they came from, the exact substance in the products and if he knew the cream and lozenge were tainted when he used them.

"By coming forward when I did and waiving my right to appeal any sanctions that were going to be imposed, I knew I was making the correct decision and taking the first step in the right direction," he said. "It was important to me to begin my suspension immediately to minimize the burden on everyone I had so negatively affected — my teammates, the entire Brewers organization, the fans and all of MLB."

Braun battled a left leg injury in the middle of 2011 in which a tendon behind the knee, close to the hamstring, became inflamed. He sat out the All-Star game because of that issue but had a strong finish to the season.

While Braun didn't identify the banned substance, he used the cream and lozenges to ingest synthetic testosterone, which helps in strength gain, muscle recovery and the prevention of tissue breakdown. Braun tested positive for an extremely high level of testosterone after the Brewers' first playoff game against Arizona on Oct. 1, registering a 22-to-1 ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. Anything above 4-to-1 triggers a more comprehensive carbon isotope test, which was positive for synthetic testosterone.

Nov. 26, 2013: Ryan Braun meets media questions, says he ate dinner with Dino Laurenzi's family

Braun met the media late in 2013 while participating in a Brewers food drive, saying he and his fiancée had dined with Laurenzi's family in his quest to make amends.

"All I can do is move on and try to do everything in my power to earn back people's trust and respect and support," Braun said. "I don't anticipate being able to earn back everybody's support, but I certainly intend to do everything in my power to do that and I won't stop trying."

Braun still declined to go into specifics about exactly what he did, and for how long.

2014: Ryan Braun has worst season with Brewers, as thumb continues to be issue

Braun's OPS of .777 in 2014 was by far the worst in his career, with 19 home runs in 135 games and just a .324 on-base percentage. In October, he had surgery on his thumb for a nerve problem that was affecting his grip on the bat.

Braun underwent a somewhat experimental cryotherapy procedure Oct. 2 during which sub-zero temperatures were introduced into the damaged nerve via needle. He experienced enough relief to begin swinging a bat shortly afterward, with encouraging results.

The Brewers endured a difficult year, finishing 82-80 despite having a 51-32 record with one day left in the month of June.

November 2014: Ryan Braun given immunity to testify in Biogenesis investigation

In a Miami Herald report detailing the confession of Alex Rodriguez to DEA agents investigating the Biogenesis clinic that he used PEDs obtained, news arrived that Braun was one of the players given immunity from prosecution.

The report said Braun and eight other players were given immunity by federal prosecutors for their testimony in the Biogenesis investigation in which charges were filed against Bosch and an associate. The report said Miami criminal defense attorney Frank Quintero, who was representing an associate of Bosch accused of conspiring to distribute steroids to high school athletes, said the government's deal with Rodriguez was "a farce" and that none of the players should have been granted immunity.

"From the evidence that we've seen, there is no question that Rodriguez and some of the other major-league ballplayers should never have received immunity and, in fact, should have been prosecuted because they committed crimes," Quintero said.

As part of their investigation, DEA agents interviewed Bosch — who pleaded guilty in October 2014 to conspiracy to distribute testosterone and was one of eight people convicted in the federal investigation — at least nine times.

Aug. 20, 2015: Ryan Braun becomes franchise's all-time home run leader

In an 8-7 win over Miami, Braun homered for the 252nd time in his career, becoming the franchise's all-time leader over Robin Yount.

Braun, who had been named as a replacement to the NL All-Star game roster earlier that summer, finished with an .854 OPS, a dramatic improvement from the 2014 season.

2016-2020: Ryan Braun continues to rack up career accolades until retirement

Braun was even better in 2016, with a .903 OPS for the year, but the Brewers were 73-89. Trade winds swirled around Braun in June, but the team ultimately didn't trade him.

In 2017, he hit his 300th career home run and, in 2018, he reached 1,000 career RBIs. Though he struggled in 2018, the Brewers made a run to the seventh game of the National League Championship Series. He had 12 hits in the postseason, still batting third, including two doubles.

In 2019, he played in 144 games — his most in a season since 2012 — and had a strong .849 OPS at age 35, helping the Brewers to an appearance in the wild-card game. He went 1-for-4 in the loss to Washington, his final game in front of fans.

In 2020, Braun struggled over 39 games in the COVID-19-shortened season, and the Brewers were a quick out in the playoffs again. The Brewers didn't bring Braun back after the season, although he didn't officially retire until September 2021.

Braun finished his Brewers career first in career homers, fourth in games played, third in on-base percentage and OPS, third in hits, second in doubles and total bases, and third in stolen bases.

Sept. 13, 2023: ESPN revisits the scandal, 10 years later

ESPN published an extensive look back at the entire saga of Biogenesis, including Braun's place in the story, to commemorate the 10-year anniversary. The story named the liaison between Braun and the clinic and also indicated that he sometimes had packages delivered under the name of Brewers teammate Shaun Marcum.

Four months later, Braun was announced as a new inductee in the Brewers Walk of Fame.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A timeline of events surrounding Ryan Braun's PED suspension