MLB, union agree to tougher drug-testing

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig speaks at a news conference in New York, November 22, 2011, to announce a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with the players that will allow play to continue uninterrupted through the 2016 season. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

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Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig can safely say his league now has the toughest drug-testing policy in professional sports.

The MLB and players? union reached a deal Thursday to expand the league?s drug program, agreeing to in-season blood tests for human growth hormones and a new test designed to catch illegal use of testosterone.

The decision comes a day after the Baseball Writers? Association of America failed to elect any players to the Hall of Fame, where players under scrutiny during the steroid era ? Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa ? were on the ballot for the first time.

In November 2011 the players agreed to HGH testing in their collective bargaining agreement but only during spring training and the off-season.

The NFL and its players union said they had agreed to HGH blood-testing but the union has expressed some trepidation, resulting in no protocol back in 2011.

Baseball?s tougher tests will start during the 2013 season.

Source: http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/01/10/mlb-union-agrees-to-tougher-drug-testing

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