Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers slugger who became the first Major League Baseball player to beat a positive drug test, is leaning on PR counselor Matthew Hiltzik.
Photo: Milwaukee Brewers |
An arbitration panel voted, 2-1, on Feb. 23 in support of Braun’s appeal of a positive test for testosterone, marking the first successful appeal since MLB moved to crack down on steroids and other drugs in the sport.
Hiltzik, the former president of Freud Communications who now runs his own New York firm, received praise from Braun in the outfielder’s statement Feb. 23 acknowledging the successful appeal.
“I’d like to thank my agent Nez Balelo and Terry Prince of CAA Sports and Matthew Hiltzik of Hiltzik Strategies for all of their help and counsel through the process,” said Braun, who noted he is “very pleased and relieved by today’s decision.”
The situation has been a no-win PR fiasco for Major League Baseball as Braun is MLB’s reigning National League Most Valuable Player and a high-profile and marketable young talent in the supposed post-steroid era of the sport.
Braun’s appeal was successful in part because the test administrator reportedly kept the player’s sample in his home refrigerator before testing the following day.
Hiltzik handled the Justin Bieber love-child scandal in November.