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Former major league first baseman Mike Jacobs was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday for testing positive for human growth hormone.

The 30-year-old Jacobs, a one-time Toronto Blue Jays farmhand now playing in the minor leagues for the Colorado Rockies, is the first North American athlete to be suspended for HGH. He will serve his punishment immediately.

Jacobs has apologized for taking HGH saying it was a "horrible decision," according to FOXSports.com, noting he used them to treat knee and back problems. The Chula Vista, Calif., native said he hopes to continue his playing career after serving his suspension.

"A few weeks ago, in an attempt to overcome knee and back problems, I made the terrible decision to take HGH," Jacobs said in a statement released through his representative. "I immediately stopped a couple of days later after being tested. Taking it was one of the worst decisions I could have ever made, one for which I take full responsibility."

The Rockies released the slugger shortly after news broke of the postive test and released a statement expressing their disappointment in Jacobs and saying performance-enhancing drugs must be eradicated from the sport.

Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, praised baseball's hard stance on HGH at the minor league level.

"All those that value clean sport know that HGH testing is a necessary part of an effective anti-doping program; otherwise you give athletes a license to use this potent performance enhancing drug with impunity," Tygart said. "This case demonstrates how MLB has stepped up to the plate and implemented HGH testing in the minor leagues to protect clean athletes and the integrity of competition."

HGH testing is one of the items under negotiation between the National Football League and the players union as the sides put the finishing touches on the10-year labour accord they reached last month to end the nearly five-month lockout.

Evermore wrote:I'm not saying this is the case with Jacobs...because I don't know the extent of his knee injury...

But for the sake of discussion...

If a player were to suffer a serious knee injury...one which required surgery and extensive rehab...I would have no issue with this player using whatever means necessary during the recovery process to get healthy

It could be argued that depriving anyone of such options is inhumane...


After my laser eye surgery...I was given steroid drops to help with recovery...

Avenger wrote:

Evermore wrote:I'm not saying this is the case with Jacobs...because I don't know the extent of his knee injury...

But for the sake of discussion...

If a player were to suffer a serious knee injury...one which required surgery and extensive rehab...I would have no issue with this player using whatever means necessary during the recovery process to get healthy

It could be argued that depriving anyone of such options is inhumane...


After my laser eye surgery...I was given steroid drops to help with recovery...

A small but considerable minority of baseball fans are for this but the problem is getting through the juvenile and immature position that the majority has adopted when it comes to performance enhancing substances. I don't how it could possibly be in the best interest of the game to not allow the players to recover from injuries in the most efficient way and get back on the field as soon as possible.

Evermore wrote:
After my laser eye surgery...I was given steroid drops to help with recovery...

Homer Jay wrote:

Avenger wrote:

Evermore wrote:I'm not saying this is the case with Jacobs...because I don't know the extent of his knee injury...

But for the sake of discussion...

If a player were to suffer a serious knee injury...one which required surgery and extensive rehab...I would have no issue with this player using whatever means necessary during the recovery process to get healthy

It could be argued that depriving anyone of such options is inhumane...


After my laser eye surgery...I was given steroid drops to help with recovery...

A small but considerable minority of baseball fans are for this but the problem is getting through the juvenile and immature position that the majority has adopted when it comes to performance enhancing substances. I don't how it could possibly be in the best interest of the game to not allow the players to recover from injuries in the most efficient way and get back on the field as soon as possible.

The problem is policing out the legitimate use from the cheating. You can't trust the doctors, they just get paid off, and what is the treshold? Torn ligament? Ok. What about a broken bone? Kinda grey. A sprain? Probably not, but what if one guy gets it and another doesn't? What if guys start sueing the league if they don't get it?

It's just a quagmire and they only way to avoid it is total ban for everybody.

Schadenfreude wrote:Anabolic steroids I understand completely as the issue there is that the performance-enhancement also comes with some extremely adverse side-effects, including but not limited to death. HGH isn't all sunshine and roses either, but there's less of a need to ban it for reasons of public safety; I've yet to hear of any cases of teenagers suffering cardiac episodes because of the stuff.

The other question with HGH is whether it's even a performance-enhancer at all. Yeah, you'll add muscle...however, what studies have been conducted suggest that it doesn't help one to add functional strength and can lower stamina; heh, when your joints and tissue swell and lactic acid builds up faster, major athletic endeavours are tricky.

Evermore wrote:These guys aren't just lifting weights...

They're working with personal trainers who have studied swing and throwing mechanics...and know how the body should be trained to maximize effort during game-time performance...


Simply put...

The bat will feel lighter to someone who has gained considerable strength via steroids or HGH

Lighter bat = increased bat speed

Schadenfreude wrote:Anabolic steroids I understand completely as the issue there is that the performance-enhancement also comes with some extremely adverse side-effects, including but not limited to death. HGH isn't all sunshine and roses either, but there's less of a need to ban it for reasons of public safety; I've yet to hear of any cases of teenagers suffering cardiac episodes because of the stuff.

The other question with HGH is whether it's even a performance-enhancer at all. Yeah, you'll add muscle...however, what studies have been conducted suggest that it doesn't help one to add functional strength and can lower stamina; heh, when your joints and tissue swell and lactic acid builds up faster, major athletic endeavours are tricky.

Skin Blues wrote:I really doubt that adverse side effects are an issue with fans, considering how blood thirsty they are when it comes to entertainment. Just look around at the NFL, UFC, NASCAR (which had to allow fighting to stay relevant), hockey (has to keep fighting to remain relevant). People want to be entertained, and they don't give a **** about the well-being of the athletes.

Schadenfreude wrote:The other question with HGH is whether it's even a performance-enhancer at all. Yeah, you'll add muscle...however, what studies have been conducted suggest that it doesn't help one to add functional strength and can lower stamina; heh, when your joints and tissue swell and lactic acid builds up faster, major athletic endeavours are tricky.