HGH Testing Possible for Minor Leagues

After a British Rugby player was suspended for testing positive for HGH, the topic of testing in other sports has been popping up here in the US recently.

The NY Times reports that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball will begin HGH blood testing in the minor leagues sometime soon, with the hope that approval from the player's union can be obtained to start testing in the majors shortly thereafter.

The MLB Player's Association issued a response that was not at all unexpected, proudly proclaiming they are 100% against HGH use and unsurprisingly also against HGH testing. Similar positions have also been issued by the NFL and the NFLPA. In spite of conspiracy theories that the unions are out to protect their PED-using players, they do have some legitimate points. Firstly, one anecdotal case is not the same as adequate data. The single case of the rugby player has started this frenzy of calls for testing, but what needs to be looked at is the real data behind the test, not just the fact that we have one positive case. The other big point is that we are talking about blood testing, not a simple urine test. Blood testing is invasive, meaning someone has to stick a needle into your arm and there are risks associated with it (such as infection, although the risk is minuscule). I've never had mandatory blood testing done at any of my jobs, and I'd be a bit upset if anyone proposed it. Then again, I've never had a multi-million dollar contract to play games for a living, to be in the public spotlight and to be a role model for the youth of the nation.

Bud Selig is, for once, going about this the right way (hopefully having learned a thing or two from the steroid debacle.) The steroid era in MLB indelibly marred the image of the sport and it happened on Selig's watch. Selig's insinuations that he didn't know what was going on ring about as true as Rafael Palmiero's insistence that he only took B12 shots. Now that Selig is under the microscope and still catches heat for the substance abuse happening in the sport, he's forced to change tactics.

The new plan is to spring testing on the minor league players, most of whom are not part of the player's association. Baseball is free to get the ball rolling and start testing these non-unionized players. After a period of time, if the program appears to be working, it will be easier to pressure the union to approve testing in the major league. Despite all the resistance that MLBPA will put up, I believe that testing is inevitable.

Listening to Myers and Hartman show yesterday, one of their baseball experts threw out the prediction that "whatever the number of steroid users you think there are or were, the number of HGH users is triple. This is the free pass, the untestable substance, HGH is huge" and I have to agree.

Testing is coming. It will take a while before the MLBPA finally capitulates, but it's coming. This time it seems that Bud Selig is being proactive and taking action before the issue gets too far out of hand.