Braun to Accept M.V.P. Award in Wake of Positive Drug Test Christian Petersen/Getty Images The Brewers' Ryan Braun was named the National League most valuable player after he learned he had failed a drug test. At some point Saturday evening, hundreds of baseball fans, players, officials and members of the news media will sit in rapt attention as Ryan Braun approaches the podium to make a short speech at the Hilton in Manhattan. It has been a little over a month since news broke that Braun had tested positive for an abnormally high level of testosterone and was facing the possibility of a 50-game suspension. That came just weeks after Braun was named the National League most valuable player by the Baseball Writers" Association of America. Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers" left fielder, has not made a public appearance since then, but on Saturday at its annual awards dinner, the writers association will present the award to Braun. Despite the controversy, he plans to attend. "He will be there and he will accept his award," said Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Braun. Braun does not intend to do interviews Saturday, but perhaps his speech will reflect his sentiments from the day he was named M.V.P. When the award was announced on Nov. 22, Braun had already been informed of the positive results of the drug test, which was administered in October. In interviews that day, he praised the runner-up, Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and said the reason he won the award was because he played for a winning team and Kemp did not. "He had one of the greatest seasons in Dodgers history," Braun said. If he had won, I couldn't have argued with it. Braun was said to have had an abnormally high level of testosterone. Braun, through his representatives, has insisted his innocence and is appealing the ruling, but he has given no clear indication what his defense will be, and he is unlikely to do so Saturday. Braun will face a three-member panel to hear his appeal, most likely this month, and the usual process provides for an announcement if the initial ruling is upheld and he is suspended. Any suspension would probably begin opening day, meaning Braun could attend spring training. There is no provision in the process for an announcement if he is exonerated. But because the case has become public, Major League Baseball and the players union could agree to reveal the decision if Braun is cleared. Braun, who was the rookie of the year in 2007, won the M.V.P. with an outstanding season in which he batted .332 with 33 home runs and 111 runs batted in with a .994 on-base plus slugging percentage. Kemp batted .324 with 39 home runs and 126 R.B.I. with a .986 O.P.S. But the Dodgers won only 82 games, while the Brewers won 96 and went to the playoffs as the N.L. Central champions.