Reactions

The word that minor league players are going to be tested for HGH (Human Growth Hormones) sent a few reporters out for reaction.

In Fort Wayne: TinCaps cheer test for HGH

On Thursday, Major League Baseball implemented random blood testing for human growth hormone in the minor leagues, the first professional sports league in the United States to take the aggressive step against doping.

“The minors have been so far out in front in most cases of the drug testing, both recreational and performance enhancing, before the major league guys,” TinCaps President Mike Nutter said.

Blood testing for HGH becomes part of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, which baseball Commissioner Bud Selig introduced in 2001 to test for performance-enhancing drugs.

Fort Wayne players and personnel praised the decision as a move toward leveling the playing field.

“We’ll see who is real now,” TinCaps relief pitcher Miles Mikolas said. “We’ll see who the real gamers are.”

Testing will be limited to players with minor-league contracts because they are not members of the Major League Players Association. Blood testing for HGH is not part of the major leagues’ collective bargaining agreement.

In Dayton: Blood testing for HGH meets with approval from Dragons

To members of the Dayton Dragons, this is good news.

“We’re all trying to get to the big leagues here, but you have to do it clean,” first baseman Tommy Nurre said. “You have to keep the game intact like it’s supposed to be.”

Nurre acknowledged drawing blood could be an issue for players who don’t like needles. For others, it’s a fact of life. Third baseman Frank Pfister has had blood drawn since he was diagnosed with a thyroid condition in eighth grade.

“If a little bit of privacy has to be taken away, that’s the way it has to be,” Pfister said.

Dragons outfielder Andrew Means was a college football standout at Indiana University as a wide receiver, and received an invite to the NFL Combine. To him, testing is a necessary evil because cleaning up the minor leagues will lead to cleaner players in the majors.

“It will clear up problems down here before they start testing in the majors,” Means said. “It will make players think twice before they put something in their bodies.”

I heard that FOX 11 was at Time Warner Cable Field yesterday for reaction, but I did not see video on their website.