Baseball Player's Drugs of Choice

I spent the better part of my professional career as lab rat / pharmaceutical engineer testing anabolic steroids and HGH. The correct drug name for HGH is Somatropin and the anabolics are Nandrolone decanoate (Deca-Durabolin) and Nandrolone phenylpropionate (Durabolin). I worked for the drug company, that manufactured them, they still do, thought I have moved on to provite consulting.

Anabolic Steriods

The anabolic steroids are sterile injections. The drug active is solubilized in Sesame Oil and filled into pre-sterilized vials or syringe for sale to hospitals. It is sued to promote tissue growth in after trauma, either trauma from ambulation or surgical removal. It is commonly given to women who have radical mastectomies to promote growth of the breast tissue and muscle that is removed with the cancer. Having handled the product for testing, I cannot imagine injecting it; it’s like injecting a tablespoon of oil under the skin. Its use is to promote muscle and tissue growth after cancer or where limb amputation has occurred.

The powder forms of the drug actives are common sold to illegal drug manufacturers. They manufacturer the liquid forms. The liquid forms must still solubilized in an oil solvent, however the activity is limited. True performance of the product is from injecting the sterilize liquid under the skin. The only approved legal form of both drugs, a sterile injection. Both active drugs are destroyed in the stomach, therefore oral medications have limited activity until a liquid partially absorbed in the oral mucosa.

The two active substances, Nandrolone decanoate and Nandrolone phenylpropionate are chemically synthesized. Not of animal origin but similar to the naturally occurring hormone in the body. Both materials have been around as approved since 1959. My knowledge of these drugs and Somatropin, HGH comes from the extensive safety precautions we were trained in just to test he materials, raw material and finished drugs.

HGH, Somatropin

Somatropin was originally obtained from urine. The drug hormone was extracted chemical and recrystallized to be prepared for an injectable substance. The original assay for testing the product involved animals. The original drug manufacturer was Eli Lilly & Company of Indiana.

In the late 80’s with the advances in tissue culture, a synthetic form of Somatropin became available. This was desirable due to the issue surround natural substances. Substance of animal origin must be tested for infectious diseases including viruses, especially the hard to detect HIV/HTLV viruses as well as Hepatitis B and C. The new substance could be made using mouse cells implanted with the HGH production gene. The new form of drug manufacture was cheaper and safer.

With the new technology came a new requirement. There must be a validated analytical test for the product, no more animal assay. The FDA and industry does not like animal assays, they have issues, beyond the use of animals. Approval of the better from of HGH required a repeatable analysis other than an animal assay could quarantine the safety of the patient taking the drug.

The new assay for Somatropin using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for testing the product. It still uses a rat assay as well as HPLC in testing the drug raw material. However the official test is the HPLC Assay.

For the non chemists out there, HPLC generates a wavelength pattern unique to the material tested. Each pattern is fingerprint, unique to that product. This test has been around and approved or 15 years now, despite claims from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig it (the test) didn’t exist. The International Olympic Committee and other international athletic organization have been using this test to detect HGH use in athletes since the early 90s.

Somatropin is also a product only absorbed through injection. While some absorption through the mouth or through the skin can occur, the official route of administration is injection. It like the anabolics steroids is a very dangerous drug with serious side effects.

None of these materials were designed to be used in the athlete's game of Russian Roulette for enhanced performance.

Official dose information and route of administration on HGH and anabolic steroids can be found on the FDA website, http://www.fda.gov/.

MLB Owner Admits Some Drugs Are OK with Him

Until this morning I thought Hank and George Steinbrenner had the greatest brain to mouth dysfunction. According to ESPN, an unidentified major league baseball team owner (not from New York) came out and stated he really isn’t concerned about his athletes taking performance enhancing drugs, he is concerned with alcoholism, cocaine and marijuana use: substances and drugs that can impair performance. If that is the truth, it explains the hesitance of the commissioner’s office to test for HGH. It’s back to being all about the money not player health.

One truth for sure, the HGH era has lead to a rise in baseball profits, on both the major and minor league level. During this era of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, we have increased the number of major league teams, and expanded the minor leagues.

Minor league baseball, once an endangered species north of the Mason-Dixon line, has seen expansion by the major teams of Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox’s. The majority of the minor league training program for both Philadelphia and the New York Yankees is concentrated within a 90 minute drive of each team.

The Phillies have 6 minor league teams, two housed in Florida, the Clearwater Threshers, an “A” level team and the Gulf Coast Phillies, an “R” or recruitment/rookie training team. The rest of the Phillies organization is in PA, except for one of two minor league “A” teams, the Lakewood Blue Claws, located in Lakewood NJ.

The New York Yankees also have 6 minor league affiliates, however three, the Staten Island Yankees, the Trenton Thunder and the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Red Dogs are located in NY, NJ and PA respectively. Despite this strong presence of MLB farm teams; there are many other minor league teams, with no MLB affiliation that are turning a baseball profit.

In the last decade, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) has expanded. The league has no affiliation with any major league baseball team this league operates in MD, PA, NJ, NY, and CT. The league founded in 1998 has brought baseball to areas where it once had faded. With that rise of baseball fever, came the MLB minor league teams to the same area, to cash in on the dollars. In search of affordable family fun, a night at an ALPB game or any MLB minor league can be less than $100 for a family. The same type of event in the MLB could run over $500 for a family.

For MLB teams, acquiring the northern minion league teams brings them new facilities. Most stadiums are less than 15 years old and designed to bring the family to the ballpark. The Yankees in the last 5 years have moved “AAA” and “AA” operations to Scranton and Trenton. And with the local popularity of baseball in NJ and PA, it guarantees they will fill the stadium; by allowing access to their developing replacement players or a site close to home for the injured to have rehab starts.

In contrast the ALPB is league of ex-players. While there are some young minor league players, the vast majority of the league is ex-MLB pros, who aren’t ready to turn in their spikes. Most notably among the names are John Rocker and Jose Canseco. The league maximum is $3000 a month, and most survive on endorsements or a well –invested MLB salary. However the stands still fill each night.

The Mitchell Report was Pandora’s Box, a plaque on baseball. Like the movie “Outbreak” the plaque continues to spread, however as of yet, no impact on baseball profits has been seen. Like watching Ian Kennedy pitch I am waiting for the other shoe to drop on baseball profits. And with this latest anonymous owner comments you have to wonder if they were just looking the other way all this time.

How will America respond now that some owner has hinted it is all about the money? We can only wait and see.