MLB Bolsters Drug-Testing Program

Major league baseball players will soon receive random in-season blood-tests for human growth hormone (HGH), according to a new agreement reached today by the Major League Players Association. The league will also begin a new test designed to catch players who use testosterone. Major League Baseball was the first major US sport to test players for HGH beginning in November 2011, but until now, players were only given tests during spring training and the off-season. The new regime would arguably make Major League Baseball the professional sport with the toughest testing program in North America, putting it far ahead of The National Football League, which currently has no HGH or testosterone testing programs. It's been a rough year for pro-baseball: during the 2012 season, All-Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera, Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon and San Diego Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal all tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and were given 50-game suspensions. It was announced yesterday that not one player on the 2013 ballot for induction to the baseball Hall of Fame received the necessary number of votes to be inducted.