Brewers OF Ryan Braun emerged from exile Wednesday, taking part in a Miller Park charity food drive and answering some (but hardly all) questions about his state of mind and attempts to mend fences with the urine sample collector he so blatantly smeared. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak :

“I have not made any payments to (Dino Laurenzi),” Braun said. “I’ve had some really productive and positive conversations with him. The Laurenzi family was actually gracious and kind enough to have my fiancée Larisa and I over to their house for dinner last night, and we had some really good conversation.

“We’ve made amends, and I think we’re both excited to be able to move forward and put this behind us”

Braun was asked twice for more details about his dinner with Laurenzi.

“I’m not going to get into too many details other than to say it was an incredible experience,” he said. “It was extremely kind and gracious of them. They’re really special people and I appreciate them giving me the opportunity to go to their house and have a conversation in person.

“I wish that I could change it. I wish that I hadn’t said anything about him. I wish I knew more at the time I said what I said. But he was really a special person and his family was a special group of people.”