UPDATE 10:05 AM CST: Well that was quick. The Rockies have released Mike Jacobs following his 50-game suspension.
UPDATE 09:48 AM CST: Mike Jacobs has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for Human Growth Hormone, reports Joe Capozzi via Twitter. While he's not the first to be suspended for HGH, Jacobs makes ignominious history as the first North American athlete to actually test positive, according to Danny Knobler. His suspension starts immediately.
The thirty year-old former Met, Marlin, and Royal was playing for Rockies' AAA affiliate in Colorado Springs. Unfortunately for Jacobs, he was rather honestly known as an all-or-nothing hitter, with an emphasis on the latter. In six major league seasons across the three clubs, he hit .253 / .313 / .375. He did have a nice little surge in 2008 with the Florida Marlins, though, where he hit 32 home runs (but still only hitting .247 on the year).
Troy Renk of the Denver post quotes Jacobs as taking full responsibility, using HGH for knee and back issues, and ""it was the worst decision I could have made."
This suspension obviously raises the question of exactly when Jacobs began doping (does HGH count as "doping?"), and further, exactly how effective it might have been. The harder question for us as fans, and for Jacobs himself, is whether this really was the worst decision he could have made. I said it earlier in a somewhat pedantic tweet, but Mike -- it wasn't working.
To the readers: you're a struggling, aging former Major Leaguer and you want one last shot at the biggs. Assuming you weren't doped up the entire time anyway, wouldn't you do whatever it took to succeed, including breaking the rules with a little baby juice in the butt?