While expressing regret for what he called Rodriguez's "mistakes," Braun refused to denounce the fallen Yankees star.

"Everybody makes mistakes, and I'm not the type of person that's going to change my opinion about who he is just because he made a mistake," Braun said. "I wouldn't just disassociate myself with somebody just because he made a mistake. I don't think anybody is perfect, and I don't think he's ever pretended to be perfect."

Braun first met Rodriguez on a recruiting trip to the University of Miami in 2001, the same year that Rodriguez, according to his first interview on the subject, began taking banned substances. The story that Rodriguez allegedly tested positive for steroids broke via SI.com on Feb. 7, but New York reporters did not get their first opportunity to grill Rodriguez on the subject until Tuesday.

Because Brewers hitters took the field at 11:30 a.m. MT for batting and fielding work, just as Rodriguez stepped behind the microphone, Braun would have to wait to see the exchange in replay.

"It doesn't do me much good to say anything bad about anybody," Braun said earlier in the morning. "It will be interesting to see what he has to say. I will say that I think he's done everything that he should have done [since the story broke] and the best thing he can do is come out, admit to everything and be completely honest. The situation will die a lot faster if he tells the whole truth."

Was he surprised by events of the past two weeks?

"I don't know if I would say I was surprised," Braun said. "I feel like it was so rampant, so prevalent in baseball during that time period that not much surprises me anymore. If anything, I was surprised he got caught, that it came out this long after he supposedly did it."

MLB  wrote: