[bigboydan]

Well I'm convinced that HGH works good

This would sure explain his numbers now wouldn't it.

Report: Ankiel is latest to come up in steroids probe

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, who punctuated a storybook comeback from pitching travails by homering twice with 7 RBIs Thursday, joined the list of athletes linked to a Florida-based steroids investigation.

The New York Daily News reported Friday that Ankiel received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug-distribution operation, citing records its reporters saw. That Orlando outfit, Signature Pharmacy, has been implicated in a steroids investigation run by Albany County (N.Y.) District Attorney P. David Soares, which has resulted in 22 indictments and several Florida clinic raids.

Ankiel's prescriptions were signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called "The Health and Rejuvenation Center," or "THARC."

Ankiel has not been accused by authorities of wrongdoing, and stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005, The News reported.

MLB does not test for HGH, but a player who is known to have used it or even possessed it from the time it was banned can face a 50-game suspension.

Ankiel's agent, Scott Boras, would not comment.

Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said: "This is the first I've heard of this. If it's true, obviously it would be very tragic, along with everything else we've had happen to us this year."

MLB officials also declined comment, saying they would "look into" the allegations, but weren't sure whether any action could be taken.

So far, 22 people have been indicted in the case, and several Florida clinics were raided. They allegedly were part of a scheme to provide prescriptions over the Internet to clients who never actually met with the prescribing physicians. A similar federal prosecution also is under way in Rhode Island.

Athletes linked to the scandal, in various reports, are baseball's Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Canseco, John Rocker, Jerry Hairston Jr., David Bell and Darren Holmes, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Pittsburgh Steelers doctor Richard Rydze, 1996 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kurt Angle and bodybuilder Victor Martinez.

On Thursday, Ankiel homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-4 in a rain-shortened game.

Brought up Aug. 9 in his first major league appearance since he pitched for the Cardinals in 2004, Ankiel is batting .358 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 23 games. He also homered twice against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 11.

The hard-throwing lefty won 11 games and struck out 194 in 175 innings as a 20-year-old rookie pitcher in 2000 and was a surprise pick to start the Cardinals' postseason opener that season against Atlanta. But he became the first major-league pitcher to throw five wild pitches in one inning since 1890.

Ankiel threw nine wild pitches in four innings during the 2000 playoffs and was never really the same after that. He showed some promise at the plate in 2000, batting .250 with two home runs.

[xxx]

story says he got them in 2004-2005, before MLB implemented drug policies. Must of gotten them from Mcgwire. But still, another blow to MLB.

[bigboydan]

This should be interesting on sports talk radio tomorrow around here, because I'm sure the Cardinals management will address this in some type of fashion.

[tacomax]

Where's the story here? Although taking performance-enhancing drugs may be unsportsmanlike, if MLB (in their total ineptness) didn't think of banning it (like every other sport would have done a long time before) then the guy has done nothing wrong in terms of the sport.

[Willie Bee]

story says he got them in 2004-2005, before MLB implemented drug policies. Must of gotten them from Mcgwire. But still, another blow to MLB.

So you're saying that McGwire, who retired after the '01 season and has been all but a recluse since, showed up at Ankiel's doorstep or the locker room of Ankiel's minor league teams, without anyone noticing him, and pushed HGH to Ankiel and possibly others? Not sure what you mean by 'must of gotten then from McGwire.'

[bigboydan]

They aren't really ripping Ankiel on the sports talk radio today like I thought they were. Everyone is approaching this one as a "wait and hear his explanation".

[WestsidePete]

This was in 2004-05...not now..this sucks for him

[bigboydan]

I'm curious to see how this one turns out, because he's been tearing it up ever since he started using that stuff.