Local reaction to Ryan Braun’s suspension by Major League Baseball

Ryan Braun’s former high school baseball coach at Granada Hills, Steve Thompson, said Monday he was “disappointed he did do it,” referring to Braun’s acknowledgment he had violated Major League Baseball’s basic agreement and its joint drug prevention and treatment program.

Braun, who plays for the Milwaukee Brewers, has been suspended for the rest of the season without pay.

Thompson added, “Acknowledging he did something wrong is a good thing. He’s hurt his image and now he’s going to have to repair it.”

Thompson supported Braun more than a year ago when the former National League MVP won an appeal over testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Despite the turnabout, Thompson said, “I support him in his efforts to move forward.”

High school players, however, expressed skepticism Monday with the latest twist in baseball’s crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs.

Jack Flaherty of Studio City Harvard-Westlake, last season’s Southern Section Division 1 player of the year, said, “Obviously it’s disappointing someone like Ryan Braun did abuse the drug policy, because there’s so many who did it the right way. It just makes you think who might else be doing it.”

Austin Dudley, a catcher at Granada Hills, said, “I’m happy he’s taking his punishment. It shows they’re not afraid to go after anyone no matter who it is.”

Austin White, a junior first baseman at Reseda Cleveland who played at Dodger Stadium in last season’s City Section championship game, said, “The whole situation is disappointing because he was such an influential player people looked up to. It’s sad to see he cheated. I think what baseball is doing is right. If anything, it should have happened sooner.”

ALSO:

Ryan Braun accepts 65-game suspension from MLB

Dodgers’ Matt Kemp doesn’t think ankle injury is serious

Ryan Braun suspension doesn’t change winning MVP over Matt Kemp