offering researched claims that bonds' trainer was providing illegal performance enhancers to bonds and other athletes. bonds had admitted that he did use a clear substance and lotion given to him by his trainer but had no idea that they were any sort of performance enhancers. bonds claimed that to his knowledge, the substances given to him were legal to treat his arthritis. 2006 baseball steroids investigation on march 29, 2006, espn learned that former senator, boston red sox board member, and disney chairman george j. mitchell would head an investigation into past steroid use by major league baseball players, including san francisco giants outfielder barry bonds. mitchell was appointed by baseball commissioner bud selig in the wake of controversy over the book game of shadows, which chronicles alleged extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs, including several different types of steroids and human growth hormones bonds allegedly had taken. selig did not refer to bonds by name in announcing the investigation, and many past and present players would be investigated. mitchell took on a role similar to that of john dowd, who investigated pete rose's alleged gambling in the late 1980s. however, selig acknowledged that the book, by way of calling attention to the issue, was in part responsible for the league's decision to commission an independent investigation. a report of the investigation released on december 13, 2007, named more than 80 former and current baseball players. on june 6, 2006, arizona diamondbacks relief pitcher jason grimsley's home was searched by federal agents. he later admitted to using human growth hormone, steroids, and amphetamines. according to court documents, grimsley failed a baseball drug test in 2003 and allegedly named other current and former players who also used drugs. on june 7, 2006, he was released by the diamondbacks, reportedly at his own request. mlb steroid policy main article: major league baseball drug policy over most of the course of major league baseball history, steroid testing was not a major issue. in 1991, commissioner fay vincent sent a memo to all teams stating that steroid use was against the rules, though there was no official rule change. vincent has said that the memo was intended as a "moral statement" to the players, rather than a "legal one", that "the only way a change could be made was through collective bargaining," and "when i left baseball, there was no written policy on drug activity in baseball." the 1991 memo did not ban the use of steroids. steroids were first banned from use in mlb in 2005, with hgh banned from use in 2011. fay vincent is actually on record stating that congress has a list of illegal substances that include steroids that one must obtain via a prescription. he is on record of saying that he in no way banned steroids from mlb, but merely passed along the information that congress considered the substances illegal without a prescription. after the balco scandal, which involved allegations that top baseball players had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, major league baseball banned steroids. the policy, which was accepted by major league baseball players and owners, was issued at the start of the 2005 season and went as follows: a first positive test resulted in a suspension of ten games, a second positive test resulted in a suspension of 30 games, the third positive test resulted in a suspension of 60 games, the fourth positive test resulted in a suspension of one full year, and a fifth positive test resulted in a penalty at the commissioner's discretion. players were tested at least once per year, with the chance that several players could be tested many times. this program replaced the previous steroid testing program under which no player was suspended in 2004. under the old policy, which was established in 2002, a first-time offense would result in treatment for the player and the player would not be named. in november 2005, mlb owners and players approved even tougher penalties for positive tests. under the new rules, a first positive test would result in a 50-game suspension, a second positive test would result in a 100-game suspension, and a third positive test would result in a lifetime suspension from mlb. on march 28, 2014, the players and owners announced that the penalties for a positive test would be increased to an 80-game suspension for the first offense, then escalate to a 162-game suspension for the second offense, and a lifetime ban from the sport for the third. players suspended for the season will not be allowed to participate in post-season games. suspensions do not allow the player to be paid while suspended. this steroid policy brings mlb closer to international rules. on february 7, 2022, the associated press reported that major league baseball has stopped testing players for steroids for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport's drug agreement, two people familiar with the sport's joint drug program stated. the people spoke on condition of anonymity monday because no public announcement was made. at the time, mlb and the union declined comment on the halt. the halt in testing was due to a 99 day lockout, which ended on march 10, 2022. testing resumed at that time, but doping and antidoping experts both expressed concern that there was ample time for foul play. barry bonds's trial steven hoskins, on wednesday, march 23, 2010, testified against barry bonds as a government witness in the perjury and obstruction of justice case against the former baseball star. hoskins described barry bonds's use of anabolic steroids, and how his personal trainer, greg anderson, would discuss taking the steroids in an open manner. even though hoskins never witnessed barry bonds actually taking the drugs, he witnessed anderson handling the needle, and barry bonds going in and out of the bedroom, and barry bonds complaining about the shots leaving his butt sore. barry bonds would use his girlfriends to get the steroids, and would pay them a few thousand dollars at a time. heisler analyzes the different sports and their testings. like most other sports, baseball has a testing policy. the policy states that a player cannot be tested without reason. meaning, that there must be a very specific reason why a player should be tested. biogenesis anti-aging clinic on january 10, 2013, mlb and the players union reached an agreement to add random, in season human growth hormone testing and a new test to reveal the use of testosterone. this testing began in the 2013 season and at least twenty mlb players (and athletes in other sports) were accused of taking hgh. ultimately 14 were suspended, most famously ryan braun of the milwaukee brewers (suspended for final 65 games of 2013 season), alex rodriguez of the new york yankees (suspended for 211 games), and nelson cruz of the texas rangers (50 games). the clinic was run by anthony “tony” bosch in florida. the notebooks he kept made it clear that he supplied human growth hormones, anabolic steroids, and performance-enhancing drug lozenges to his clients, which not only included professional athletes but teenagers as well. it was later revealed that bosch is not a doctor and has a fake medical degree. doping in college baseball although the ncaa randomly drug-tests student athletes from division i to division iii, the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs is not uncommon in the college level. it is up to the schools and universities whether they want to implement their own drug testing policy, which most do. the shortcut to the mlb is found in the junior college level or the national junior college athletic association (njcaa). the njcaa does not drug-test their student athletes so it is up to that college whether or not the players are drug tested at all. players in juco are also eligible for the mlb draft after one year in college. this allows players a way to get around drug tests while also taking a quicker route to the pros which is very appealing to many of the top prospects. two former lsu baseball players admitted that it was much easier to cheat the drug test at their junior colleges and that they had suspicions about certain teams that they played. even though this is where the use of peds is most common, they are still a problem in ncaa as well. today 10 percent of division i, 35 percent of division ii, and 79 percent of division iii schools have their own drug test policy. the head baseball coach for lsu, paul maineri, said in 2009 that after recruiting certain players from junior colleges that were not the same after showing up on campus, "in retrospect looking back, i’m a little smarter and would recognize that the players i recruited were doing something artificially help them in junior college". many mlb scouts along with coaches worry about drafting or recruiting players that are using performance-enhancing drugs with the concern that they would not be the same player after they arrive. effects on hall of fame alex rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001–2003. mlb suspended him for 211 games after he was found to be using hgh. mcgwire remained on the hall of fame ballot for the full ten years of eligibility, but never polled more than 24% of the vote. 75% of the vote is required for election. in the 2013 election, not a single player was voted into the hall of fame by the bbwaa. with players such as bonds, roger clemens, and sammy sosa making their first appearance on the ballot, there was great debate on the use of steroids surrounding the legitimacy of their performance toward election. with the topic of steroid use coming into the picture during these player's careers and the mitchell report released in 2007 investigating past steroid and human growth hormone use, the perception of these accomplishments has been debated as "controversial to the game of baseball and america's view on the sport". fans of the sport continue to debate whether or not these players should be elected, with some thinking that if they were to be, it might send a message to the world of baseball that it is acceptable to use steroids. despite this, others believe their accomplishments in the sport outweigh their negative associations with doping. in the 2019 election, bonds and clemens ballots had over 59% of the vote, compared to a little over 36% in 2013. in the 2022 election, bonds and clemens final year on the ballot, bonds had 66%, and clemens had 65%, and missed the hall of fame.