NEW YORK, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- St. Louis outfielder Rick Ankiel allegedly received shipments of human growth hormone in 2004, the New York Daily News reported Friday.
Ankiel’s comeback has been a bright spot of the baseball season. After failing to overcome wildness as a pitcher, Ankiel this year returned to the major leagues as a slugging outfielder.
Since joining St. Louis 23 games ago, Ankiel has a .358 batting average and has hit nine home runs and has 29 runs batted in. He had two home runs and seven RBI in the Cardinals’ win Thursday.
But the Daily News said it obtained records from an Orlando, Fla., pharmacy stating that Ankiel receiving eight shipments of HGH during 2004. That pharmacy is the center of an illegal Internet prescription drug sales investigation by New York officials.
The New England Patriots’ Rodney Harrison and the Dallas Cowboys’ Wade Wilson, now a coach, have been suspended by the NFL because of that investigation.
While Major League Baseball doesn’t test for HGH, MLB’s drug policy states that a player known to have used the substance can be suspended for 50 games.
