Rick Ankiel Was Given HGH [David Stefanini]

Rick Ankiel, who has been the feel good, comeback story of the past month or so, has now been linked to HGH. However, as of right now, it does not look like Ankiel did anything wrong. He was prescribed HGH by a Florida physician in 2004. HGH was not officially banned from MLB until 2005. Here is ESPN with more:

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 HGH prescriptions, including Saizen and Genotropin, were signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called The Health and Rejuvenation Center, or THARC, the newspaper reported.

The drugs were shipped to the 28-year-old Ankiel at the clinic's address, the paper said.

Right now MLB said they are going to "look into" this story, but are unsure on whether they will discipline Ankiel or not. I do not think they should. If this story holds up to be true and Ankiel stopped taking HGH in 2004, then he should not be punished. HGH was banned from baseball in 2005. Ankiel was not taking a banned substance at the time he was using HGH.