Positive test for HGH is a North American pro first
By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. ??? Major League Baseball strengthened its resolve Thursday to incorporate controversial human growth hormone testing into its next labor agreement shortly after announcing that Colorado Rockies minor league first baseman Mike Jacobs had become the first North American pro athlete to test positive for the banned substance.
Mike Jacobs is first athlete in North American pro sports to have a positive HGH test.
Jacobs, who played parts of six seasons for the New York Mets, Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals, was suspended for 50 games and released by the Rockies on Thursday.
"We don't duck the issue," Commissioner Bud Selig said at the quaterly owners meetings. "I think this is a dramatic manifestation of that."
MLB spent much of the past decade trying to rid the game of performance-enhancing drugs and now says it's critical to add HGH screening to its drug policy, which now includes urine tests.
"Anything we can do to assure our industry and fans that our performances are all natural, I think we should do," Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz says.
MLB has proposed that blood tests for HGH be part of the next collective bargaining agreement that is being negotiated, according to vice president Rob Manfred. MLB was able to implement the program last season in the minor leagues since those players are not protected by the union.
Michael Weiner, executive director of the players association, declined to comment on the subject because it's part of the negotiations. The union has resisted HGH testing because of privacy issues and questions of the test's validity.
The NFL is negotiating specifics of HGH testing in its 10-year labor deal, which might include game-day testing.
"It doesn't matter to me whether they have it," Schuerholz said of the NFL, "but it certainly supports our position."
By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. ??? Major League Baseball strengthened its resolve Thursday to incorporate controversial human growth hormone testing into its next labor agreement shortly after announcing that Colorado Rockies minor league first baseman Mike Jacobs had become the first North American pro athlete to test positive for the banned substance.
Mike Jacobs is first athlete in North American pro sports to have a positive HGH test.
Jacobs, who played parts of six seasons for the New York Mets, Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals, was suspended for 50 games and released by the Rockies on Thursday.
"We don't duck the issue," Commissioner Bud Selig said at the quaterly owners meetings. "I think this is a dramatic manifestation of that."
MLB spent much of the past decade trying to rid the game of performance-enhancing drugs and now says it's critical to add HGH screening to its drug policy, which now includes urine tests.
"Anything we can do to assure our industry and fans that our performances are all natural, I think we should do," Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz says.
MLB has proposed that blood tests for HGH be part of the next collective bargaining agreement that is being negotiated, according to vice president Rob Manfred. MLB was able to implement the program last season in the minor leagues since those players are not protected by the union.
Michael Weiner, executive director of the players association, declined to comment on the subject because it's part of the negotiations. The union has resisted HGH testing because of privacy issues and questions of the test's validity.
The NFL is negotiating specifics of HGH testing in its 10-year labor deal, which might include game-day testing.
"It doesn't matter to me whether they have it," Schuerholz said of the NFL, "but it certainly supports our position."
