Former Baltimore Orioles star David Segui sheds light on HGH/steroid hubbub in MLB

But he also admits now that he used it before then to speed up his recovery from a hand injury.
"The stuff is amazing for that purpose," Segui says. "That is how it started in baseball. When I first came in the league is when Tommy John [elbow] surgery started to become more prevalent. I remember guys coming back from [the surgery] and throwing harder. I remember hearing [of] guys using growth hormone to speed up the healing process and regenerate the tendon growth and all that stuff. That is how it became known for its healing properties. And then guys would have [other] surgeries, and that is what they would take. So I laugh every time I read an article that says it is a performance-enhancer. It doesn't enhance your performance. If you are horse crap, you are going to be horse crap when you come off the [disabled list]. You're just going to come off the DL quicker."

He doesn't advocate breaking the rules and he doesn't encourage the use of HGH unless it is under doctor's orders. But he is puzzled by what he perceives to be a media-driven hysteria regarding drugs in the sport. He believes human growth hormone mistakenly has been lumped in with steroids and other performance-enhancers.

"I've been on teams that you couldn't beg them to give you a cortisone shot; and been on teams before you blinked, the needle is already in your knee. So what if you are on a team that didn't readily give them out? Were you at a disadvantage? Did the other organization's players have an advantage because they were able to get a cortisone injection? Because there is no such thing as a level playing field. That is a myth."
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I'd assume there's a thin line between injury related HGH use... and HGH abuse...
It's understandable to how players can be pushed into HGH abuse... but it wasn't until 2005 when HGH was banned...
HGH of course is not steriods
The business of MLB puts pressure to force players out there to perform...
Teams who heavily market a player can't wait for players to recover from injuries, fans won't take too kindly to players who spend 40 games on the DL... thus neither will owners who write those paychecks...
hence why guys who play the whole time and yet are mediocre tend to just be as highly rewarded as injury risk stars... You know why the Cubs are paying Jason Marquis like $8 million a year for three years despite posting an ERA of 6.02 for the full season with Cardinals before that contract?? Because he pitched mediocrely for the FULL SEASON...
For most players, being able to play is how they get their salaries... If a player gets injured, they won't get good contracts b/c they've spent too much time on the DL healing naturally...