Baseball's performance-enhancing drug problem just refuses to go away. The fresh start and turning of the page desperately desired by Bud Selig is just not happening, as more news of steroid and human growth hormone use continues to surface.
Eric Gagne, once a dominant closer with the Los Angeles Dodgers who had 84 consecutive saves, admitted that he used HGH to recover from a knee injury in 2005. Gagne's admission is not a surprise, considering he was named as a recipient of HGH in Senator George Mitchell's report on PED use in baseball. But the former Cy Young award winner's admission comes when he is trying to revive his baseball career after accepting a minor-league invite from the Dodgers.
Henry Aaron, the rightful home run king, welcomed Mark McGwire's admission of steroid use and said all players who used PEDs should come forward and admit it because they will quickly be forgiven. He pointed to Andy Pettitte's confession of HGH use and the fact that he was embraced by his New York Yankees teammates and by Yankees fans. Aaron and other baseball fans are a lot more forgiving than I am, but he's right about all the players needing to come forward. Baseball can't move on with these near-daily reminders of its shameful past.
Selig consistently argues that baseball has moved past its drug problem, but until Major League Baseball tests for all drugs, including HGH, it will never be able to fully transition to a drug-free era. He said last year baseball is spending millions to develop a HGH test that works. Hopefully, a HGH test effectively used by anti-doping agencies will truly give baseball the fresh start it needs.
Eric Gagne, once a dominant closer with the Los Angeles Dodgers who had 84 consecutive saves, admitted that he used HGH to recover from a knee injury in 2005. Gagne's admission is not a surprise, considering he was named as a recipient of HGH in Senator George Mitchell's report on PED use in baseball. But the former Cy Young award winner's admission comes when he is trying to revive his baseball career after accepting a minor-league invite from the Dodgers.
Henry Aaron, the rightful home run king, welcomed Mark McGwire's admission of steroid use and said all players who used PEDs should come forward and admit it because they will quickly be forgiven. He pointed to Andy Pettitte's confession of HGH use and the fact that he was embraced by his New York Yankees teammates and by Yankees fans. Aaron and other baseball fans are a lot more forgiving than I am, but he's right about all the players needing to come forward. Baseball can't move on with these near-daily reminders of its shameful past.
Selig consistently argues that baseball has moved past its drug problem, but until Major League Baseball tests for all drugs, including HGH, it will never be able to fully transition to a drug-free era. He said last year baseball is spending millions to develop a HGH test that works. Hopefully, a HGH test effectively used by anti-doping agencies will truly give baseball the fresh start it needs.
Thanks to Brent & MariLynn's via Wikipedia for the photo.
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