MLB Players Using Deer Velvet as Performance Enhancer
Most hunters know that antler velvet is some of the fastest-growing tissue in the animal kingdom. But apparently someone has figured out how to harness those fast-growing qualities into a spray that works as a substitute for anabolic steroids. Predictably, it's become all the rage among professional athletes and bodybuilders wanting to game the system. Now Major League Baseball is trying to clamp down.
From this story on SI.com: Baseball sent a warning to its major and minor league players last week that may sound odd, if not comical, but is a sign of these drug-testing times: stop ingesting deer antler spray. Until the warning went out, baseball players, taking their cues from the body-building and NFL cultures, felt safe using a deer antler spray as an alternative to steroids with almost no risk of flunking a drug test. Deer antlers? Yes, chemists have figured out that the velvet from immature deer antlers includes insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1, which mediates the level of human growth hormone in the body, and is also banned by MLB and the World Anti-Doping Agency, among others, for its muscle-building and fat-cutting effects.
The antlers are harvested from young deer, ground up and packaged into spray form. The substance is sprayed under the tongue. One manufacturer touts among its benefits "anabolic or growth stimulation," "athletic performance" and "muscular strength and endurance." IGF-1, like HGH, cannot be detected in the urine tests used by baseball.
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Now Major League Baseball is trying to clamp down. Baseball sent a warning to its major and minor league players last week that may sound odd, if not comical, but is a sign of these drug-testing times: stop ingesting deer antler spray.
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Alabama Crimson Tide Zone | Alabama Baseball Minor League Update
Late in June, Ross Wilson (2008-10), a member of the 2010 Crimson Tide, was called up to Double-A Birmingham. Since being called up, Wilson has appeared in eight games, collecting five hits with two RBI in 27 at-bats. For the season, Wilson is hitting .260 with two home runs and 28 RBI in the Chicago White Sox farm system.
UA teammates Kent Matthes (2006-09) and Josh Rutledge (2008-10) have been tearing things up for the Modesto Nuts in the California League. Matthes is hitting .334 for the season with 23 home runs and 95 RBI in 93 games. He also has 39 doubles, which are the most by any player in the Colorado Rockies organization. Rutledge saw his average climb to .341, second best in the Rockies system, after posting a Modesto Nuts team record 27-game hitting streak. His streak came to an end on Aug. 3, with a 0-for-3 night against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Matthes is third in the organization in batting average.
Former major league pitchers Wade LeBlanc (2004-06), Taylor Tankersley (2002-04) and Lance Cormier (1999-2002) are currently pitching for their respective organization’s triple-A affiliate, while LeBlanc and Cormier have made appearances in the big leagues this season. LeBlanc is 9-1 with a 4.30 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 106.2 innings for the Tucson Padres in 2011. He made four starts for the San Diego Padres this season, posting a 0-2 record with a 4.98 ERA in 21.2 innings. Cormier started the year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but after posting a 0-1 record with a 9.88 ERA in nine appearances, he was moved to the Durham Bulls of the International League. With the Bulls, he is 3-3 with a 5.56 ERA in 34 innings, and has made three starts. Tankersley has been with the Buffalo Bisons for the entire 2011 season, posting a 0-1 record with a 6.26 ERA in 39 outings.
Austin Hyatt (2007-09) continues to have a promising season for the double-A Reading Phillies. In 22 starts, he’s posted a 10-5 record with a 3.76 ERA and was named to the Eastern League All-Star team. Jason Townsend (2010) continues to have a solid season for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League, out of the bullpen. Townsend (0-1) has a 2.51 ERA and nine saves with 35 strikeouts in 34 appearances in 2011.
Alabama’s 2010 ace Jimmy Nelson (2008-10) is 6-7 with a 4.34 ERA in 20 starts for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Nelson, a second round pick by the Brewers in 2010, has 96 strikeouts in 118.1 innings pitched with one complete game.
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