Drugs in Sports

Baseball investigator George Mitchell denied a report that he leaked information on Cleveland pitcher Paul Byrd’s use of human growth hormone. News broke before Cleveland lost Game 7 to Boston that Byrd had bought HGH online; he said it was used to treat a pituitary tumor. Mitchell said he learned of the allegations at the same time as the public, the AP reports. More »

Paul Byrd, the pitcher who's been critical in the Cleveland Indians' successful playoff run this season, bought almost $25,000 worth of human growth hormone between 2002 and 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle learned today. Byrd admitted taking HGH, but told Fox Sports he was using it legally with a prescription. The Chronicle report, however, says two of Byrd’s prescriptions came from a dentist whose license was suspended in 2003 for fraud. More »

A former Mets clubhouse attendant has turned over documentation allegedly detailing players' use of performance-enhancers to George Mitchell’s investigation of steroids in baseball. In April the attendant pleaded guilty to providing major leaguers with performance-enhancing drugs from 1995-2005. Now Mitchell has received the paperwork linking players to the drugs, reports AP. More »

Following an internal MLB conference call, rumors abound that the long-awaited report by George Mitchell on steroids in baseball will name names, including those of well known players, ESPN reports. The network says an MLB lawyer on the call labelled the report "salacious," and quotes an unnamed source saying, "This is going to be enormous...it's going to be a huge story when these names come out." More »

Nearly everyone has used drugs to improve performance in some aspect of life—caffeine to work late, sleeping pills to guarantee rest, medicine to clear up a cold—so it is nonsensical to prevent athletes from doing the same, argues Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post . Her answer to the burgeoning steroid scandals in sports is to legalize the substances and leave it up to athletes to police themselves. More »

US cyclist Floyd Landis' fight to retain his 2006 Tour de France title will go on, he tells ESPN.com. "I won the 2006 Tour de France fair and square," Landis writes on his website. That's why he is asking a Swiss-based sports court to reverse the split decision of a US Anti-Doping Agency panel, which Landis labels "contradictory and nonsensical." More »

Jameel McCline will get into the ring tonight to challenge Samuel Peter for the WBC heavyweight championship, despite reports in the NY Daily News that the fighter received $12,000 worth of steroids and HGH between 2005 and 2006.  McCline is the first boxer to be connected to the Signature Pharmacy investigation. More »

The International Olympic Committee announced today that it is ready to make a speedy move to strip Marion Jones of the three gold and two bronze medals she took home from the 2000 Sydney Games. Now that Jones has pled guilty, IOC vice-president Thomas Bach intends to "accelerate and speed up the procedures," the AP reports. More »

Olympic Gold Medalist Marion Jones has admitted using steroids in preparation for the 2000 Sydney games. The track star will plead guilty on Friday to lying to federal agents regarding her drug use, the Washington Post reports. It is not clear if Jones could be stripped of the three gold and two bronze medals she won in Sydney. More »

A source involved in the investigation of Signature Pharmacy told EPSN yesterday that Mets relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis received six shipments of steroids in 2003 and 2004. Signature is suspected of having distributed steroids and other drugs through online orders from doctors. The doctor who wrote Schoeneweis' prescriptions has been suspended for writing thousands more, including some for Toronto's Troy Glaus. More »

As former Senator George Mitchell's MLB steroid investigation continues, it is the 2004 Baltimore Orioles who are coming up again and again in allegations of performance-enhancing drug use, the Baltimore Sun reports. This month, injured outfielder Jay Gibbons was revealed to have had steroids and human growth hormone shipped to his house. More »

The DEA racked up the biggest steroid bust in history in a series of raids over the last four days, Yahoo News reports, arresting 124 people at 56 labs across the country. More than 11 million doses of the performance-enhancing drugs were seized from an illegal, underground network, as well as the names of hundreds of thousands of purchasers. More »

Finally catching up with other professional sports, major golf groups today announced new anti-doping policies, to be put into effect in 2008. Though the PGA Tour isn't adopting the World Anti-Doping Association list of banned substances, the AP reports, it has its own laundry list, which includes anabolic agents, hormones, stimulants, masking agents and narcotics. More »

In the wake of scandals involving Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel and Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, among others, Major League Baseball is weighing a blood test for human growth hormone that would be implemented by next season. A test developed by the World Anti-Doping Agency is expected to be available for mass use within a few months, USA Today reports. More »

Brain damage may have led pro wrestler Chris Benoit to kill his wife, their son, and himself, a neurosurgeon said today, calling the injuries “striking and maybe shocking.” Tests performed on the WWE performer’s brain showed “dead brain cells,” Julian Bailes told ABC, and the organ resembled the brain of an elderly Alzheimer's patient. More »

Chris Benoit's murder-suicide last June spotlighted the disproportionate number of early deaths among professional wrestlers; one activist has counted more than 60 dead before reaching 50 over the past 10 years. And a taxing, drug-addled lifestyle plays a big role. More »

Barry Bonds became Major League Baseball's all-time leading home run hitter last night, brushing aside Hank Aaron's vaunted record with a 435-foot solo shot to right center in the bottom of the 5th. Bonds 756th came off a 3-2 pitch from Nats starter Mike Bacsik—whose father denied Aaron his 756th home run in 1976. More »

Major League Baseball put the brakes on Detroit Tigers infielder Neifi Perez today, saying he couldn’t return from a drug suspension because he had failed his third stimulant test. The penalty, sitting out 80 more games, finishes his season. His second suspension of 25 games was slated to end after Detroit's game against the ChiSox last night. More »

Wrestling star Chris Benoit's testosterone level was 10 times the normal level when he killed his wife, his young son and himself last month, a Georgia medical examiner has determined. Benoit's wife and son were also apparently sedated with prescription medication. Benoit had taken a cocktail of anabolic steroids, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the sedative hydrocodone. More »

Jason Giambi, lawyer in tow, met yesterday with George Mitchell, the investigator for MLB's steroids probe. The Yankee first-baseman,  the first active player to sit down with Mitchell, clarified beforehand that he would only discuss his "own personal history"—which he has admitted includes steroid use. More »