Braun sample collector says he followed protocol

[cruzg24]

NEW YORK (AP)—The person who collected Ryan Braun’s urine sample that tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone said he followed the collection program’s protocol.

Dino Laurenzi Jr. issued a statement Tuesday confirming he handled the sample submitted following a playoff game on Oct. 1. He says he has been a collector for Comprehensive Drug Testing since 2005 and has taken more than 600 samples for Major League Baseball’s drug-testing program.

“At no point did I tamper in any way with the samples,” Laurenzi said.

Laurenzi’s name emerged last week after the NL MVP’s 50-game suspension was overturned, making Braun the first big leaguer to successfully challenge a drug-related penalty in a grievance.

Braun was not available for comment Tuesday at the Brewers’ spring training camp in Phoenix. Asked for reaction to Laurenzi’s statement, Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart declined comment.

Laurenzi said he stored Braun’s sample in his basement in accordance with CDT’s protocol because there was “no FedEx office located within 50 miles of Miller Park that would ship packages that day or Sunday.”

Braun, however, has said at least five FedEx locations within 5 miles were open until 9 p.m. and there also was a 24-hour location.

Laurenzi said the operating procedure is to “safeguard” the samples at home until FedEx can ship the sample to the lab.

“There have been other occasions when I have had to store samples in my home for at least one day, all without incident,” he said.

Laurenzi added that he had “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.”

He said he issued the statement “to set the record straight.”

In his statement, Laurenzi said he graduated from Wisconsin in 1983 and held master’s degrees from North Carolina and Loyola University of Chicago. He said he is now the full-time director of rehabilitation services at a health care facility.

Laurenzi said he was a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, had worked as an athletic trainer and done volunteer work with Olympic athletes.

Laurenzi said he had collected samples for MLB in four different years and had done collections for other professional sports leagues.

Last week, Braun said he was the “victim” of a “fatally flawed” system.

“There are a lot of things that we heard about the collection process, the collector and some other people involved in the process that have been concerning to us,” he said. “But as I’ve dealt with the situation, I know what it’s like to be wrongly accused of something, so for me to wrongly accuse somebody wouldn’t help.”

MLB had no comment, and referred instead to its statement from last week:

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

 

[Yankees2772]

This is about as credible as Sandusky saying he didn't do anything with the kids. What else is he going to fucking say?

 

[Elite]

This is about as credible as Sandusky saying he didn't do anything with the kids. What else is he going to fucking say?

Except for the fact that there were eye-witnesses to what Sandusky did and a motive for Sandusky to lie about what he did.

It's not like this guy could be out to get Braun because he never even knew whose test sample this was.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

He says this is what they've always been told to do. If that was a lie why would he say it? Somebody else who handles drug testing could easily come out and shoot it down. And this is a pretty dumbed-down version of what he said.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

WISN
On February 24th, Ryan Braun stated during his press conference that “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.” … I have performed over 600 collections for MLB and also have performed collections for other professional sports leagues. I have performed post-season collections for MLB in four separate seasons involving five different clubs. On October 1, 2011, I collected samples from Mr. Braun and two other players. The CDT collection team for that day, in addition to me, included three chaperones and a CDT coordinator. I followed the same procedure in collecting Mr. Braun’s sample as I did in the hundreds of other samples I collected under the Program. I sealed the bottles containing Mr. Braun’s A and B samples with specially-numbered, tamper-resistant seals, and Mr. Braun signed a form certifying, among other things, that the specimens were capped and sealed in his presence and that the specimen identification numbers on the top of the form matched those on the seals. I placed the two bottles containing Mr. Braun’s samples in a plastic bag and sealed the bag. I then placed the sealed bag in a standard cardboard Specimen Box which I also sealed with a tamper-resistant, correspondingly-numbered seal placed over the box opening. I then placed Mr. Braun’s Specimen Box, and the Specimen Boxes containing the samples of the two other players, in a Federal Express Clinic Pack. None of the sealed Specimen Boxes identified the players. I completed my collections at Miller Park at approximately 5:00 p.m.Given the lateness of the hour that I completed my collections, there was no FedEx office located within 50 miles of Miller Park that would ship packages that day or Sunday. Therefore, the earliest that the specimens could be shipped was Monday, October 3. In that circumstance, CDT has instructed collectors since I began in 2005 that they should safeguard the samples in their homes until FedEx is able to immediately ship the sample to the laboratory, rather than having the samples sit for one day or more at a local FedEx office. The protocol has been in place since 2005 when I started with CDT and there have been other occasions when I have had to store samples in my home for at least one day, all without incident….At no point did I tamper in any way with the samples. It is my understanding that the samples were received at the laboratory with all tamper-resistant seals intact.

 

[cruzg24]

I dont understand why the collector would make up a story because his name is already tarnished, there is no going back after this for him. Its not like he is going to get his job back for saying that he did what was most suitable for the process of mailing the samples.