baseball to begin hgh testing in the minors.

[mike913]

Baseball has caught such a bad rap...

It's funny how the NFL isn't scrutinized anywhere close to the level that the MLB is...

Canseco-rott in hell...

I think the NFL isn't as scrutinized as much, but you do here about guys "violating" the NFL drug policy pretty frequently...usually it isnt even AAS tho. Maybe people just arent as surprised when they hear about NFL players testing positive for roids. I will say this however, virtually every player in the NFL is a friggin' genetic freak (in terms of sheer size and muscularity)...thats for sure. Baseball on the other hand, not so much.

 

[madmick]

Guys in the NFL can beat there wife, cheat, carry illegal weapons, smoke meth and walk away with a 3 game suspension... its a friggin joke

 

[KillerStack]

The "test" is window dressing, that's all. Only one athlete has ever been sanctioned for GH due to failing a test. It's still quite safe to use by tested athletes.

Scientist Don Catlin says HGH test for minor leaguers may be of limited use

Ronald Blum, The Associated Press

23/07/2010 11:01:00 PM

NEW YORK, N.Y. - A scientist who has worked to develop a urine test for human growth hormone says the blood test baseball plans to use for minor leaguers can only detect the substance for six to 12 hours.

Don Catlin said Friday that the test, announced a day earlier by baseball commissioner Bud Selig, is of limited use. In February, a British rugby league player became the first athlete suspended following a positive HGH test.

"The fact that it's been around for a few thousand tests and only one positive suggests that either there's much less growth hormone being used than we thought, which is doubtful, or the period of detectability is really pretty short - a few hours. It's probably the latter," said Catlin, adding detection probably would work only with "middle-of-the-night testing."

Players with minor league contracts will be given the blood test, which Selig called "a significant step."

Victor Conte, whose Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative triggered a federal investigation of steroids use and distribution among athletes, also criticized the blood test. He said it would detect little and called it "flawed" because baseball will collect only post-game blood samples.

"It wouldn't take much of an IQ for a player to circumvent this proposed HGH testing procedure," he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "A baseball player could possibly inject HGH as soon as leaving a ballpark and test negative from a blood sample collected post-game the following day. HGH injections are routinely done at night before bed, so a morning blood sample would be the target. The available test for HGH requires a random blood collection protocol to be considered anything more than a PR move by MLB."

Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice-president of labour relations, said baseball was taking whatever steps it could.

"We are using the best available technology for the detection of HGH," he said.

 

[SwoleTexas]

Guys in the NFL can beat there wife, cheat, carry illegal weapons, smoke meth and walk away with a 3 game suspension... its a friggin joke

It really is...I agree there.

 

[maldorf]

elevated IGF levels would indicate GH usage.

What I was thinking. Thats not rocket science. If its much much higher than normal either the person is taking GH or they have a tumor on their pituitary!

 

[KillerStack]

What I was thinking. Thats not rocket science. If its much much higher than normal either the person is taking GH or they have a tumor on their pituitary!

The problem is proving it. There are a lot of drugs an expert looking at blood profiles might suspect are being used, but proving it is another matter altogether. If IGF testing was reliable the test would have been ready to be applied many years ago. And much better than what they use now since IGF stays elevated all day long pretty much.

 

[speed]

i heard spinal taps are illegal, because they show a life time past of drug use, and that could fuck things up for someones future

 

[maldorf]

i heard spinal taps are illegal, because they show a life time past of drug use, and that could fuck things up for someones future

A spinal tap isnt needed, its just a blood sample! I dont know how that got started. I might be the old tale about how the only way to test for halicinogens like LSD is in CSF, but Im not even sure if that is true.

 

[Kaladryn]

There is a brand new test out that can detect GH "markers" and can detect use going back much further than before, this test just came out this year, I dunno if it's actually being used or not...

 

[speed]

A spinal tap isnt needed, its just a blood sample! I dont know how that got started. I might be the old tale about how the only way to test for halicinogens like LSD is in CSF, but Im not even sure if that is true.

yes that is the only way you can test those, its almost like a timeline that can show many various things about what you have put into your body

 

[Ehren]

Jeez, they found another way to make Baseball less interesting. What fans WOULDNT flock to a game with fewer home-runs and slower, weaker players with shorter careers due to repetitive stress injuries!! Sounds neat.

 

[mike913]

well

with all the AAS and HGH testing going on in baseball now the era of the pitcher has begun....already 2 perfect games and many no hitters thrown this year. We probably wont see too many more home run races like we saw with Mcguire, Sosa and Bonds. About all we will likely see is high career totals (e.g. A-Rod about to hit 600).