(Dino Laurenzi is not shown above. And I’m sure he hates Wisconsin Nazis as much as you do).

You’ve got to hand it to Ryan Braun.  Even when he’s suspended and otherwise out of the public eye, he’s doing his best to take the heat off Alex Rodriguez.  On Sunday, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported that prior to the successful appeal of his original suspension, Braun tried to influence opinions of his peers in the game, and made rather specific comments about the integrity of urine sample collector Dino Laurenzi Jr.

According to sources, Braun called veteran players around baseball privately at that time to lobby for their support. In the calls — confirmed by three sources — Braun told other players that in the preparation for his appeal, some information had become known Laurenzi, including that he was a Cubs fan — with the implication he might work against Braun, who played for a division rival of the Cubs.

Braun, who is Jewish, also told the players that he had been told the collector was an anti-Semite.

Aside from this sounding like a rather desperate and despicable strategy, let’s presume that if Braun rang up Delmon Young, he pretty much stopped at “Laurenzi’s a Cubs fan.”