Sample collector in Ryan Braun case denies tampering

Dino Laurenzi Jr., the urine sample collector in the center of the Ryan Braun controversy, denies tampering with the samples he took from the National League MVP last Oct. 1.

Laurenzi issued a statement Wednesday to “set the record straight” after he came under fire for the way he handled Braun’s routine drug test.

Braun convinced a Major League Baseball arbitration panel not to suspend him for 50 games for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.

Braun claimed his sample was somehow mishandled on the basis of the excessive levels of testosterone uncovered by a World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal.

Laurenzi, the head of rehabilitation services at a Kenosha hospital, said there was not a Fed-Ex office within 50 miles of Miller Park that would ship packages on the Saturday he administered the test – or on Sunday.

Braun told reporters last Friday there were at least five Fed-Ex locations open until 9 o’clock that night within five miles of the stadium, and one was open 24 hours.

Laurenzi said he handled the tests the same way he’s done since 2005, when he became a collector for baseball’s Comprehensive Drug Testing program.

He said his basement office is cool enough to store the samples without tainting them. He said there were other times he’s held samples for at least a day without incident.

Laurenzi said the incident has caused “great distress” for him and his family.

After supporting his work last week, Major League Baseball said it would have no further comment. Braun refused comment as well.

Tags: wi sports, sports, proam