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February 22, 2008

Jeter says blood testing of ballplayers would not be intrusive

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter said he'd support blood-testing of Major League Baseball players in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs.

Jeter said in an interview that it wouldn't be an invasion of privacy to have blood drawn to test for human growth hormone, as players already have blood taken during their preseason physicals.

"You can test for whatever you want to test for," Jeter, an eight-time all-star shortstop, said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio's "On the Ball" program to be aired this weekend. "We get pricked by needles anyway in spring training, so we have a lot of blood work to begin with."

Jeter's stance is in opposition to union leader Don Fehr, who opposes blood-testing.

HGH was added to baseball's list of banned substances in January 2005, though players aren't tested for it. A number of players, including Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, have admitted to using HGH in the wake of former Senator George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.

Almost 90 current or former major-leaguers were named in the report, including former Yankees Roger Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch. While Pettitte and Knoblauch agreed with statements made by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee linking them to performance-enhancers, Clemens has denied the claims.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Fehr said they support testing for HGH when a valid urine test is developed. Selig told members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that doctors have advised against storing blood samples to use once there is a commercial test for HGH.

Other Leagues

Like baseball, the National Football League, National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association do not have blood-testing for the presence of performance-enhancing drugs.

Baseball's recent drug hearings in Congress weren't the first.

In March 2005, six major-leaguers, including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, were subpoenaed to testify before Congress about steroid use in the sport, a hearing Jeter said helped baseball's cleansing process.

"It's really aided in the process of cleaning the sport up," said Jeter, who announced a partnership this week with 24 Hour Fitness, the largest privately owned U.S. sports club. "When they initially did it, that led to the stricter testing."

Baseball banned steroids in 2002, though a violation didn't carry a penalty until 2004.

A separate congressional committee will hold a hearing on banned drugs and sports on Feb. 27. Commissioners and union leaders from the four major U.S. sports leagues, as well as Olympic, collegiate and high school officials are scheduled to testify.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:14 PM | Permalink

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