MLB, players union mull opioids testing; easing off on pot
by Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times
Oct 03, 2019
4 minutes
NEW YORK - When healthy, Kyle Blanks could crush a baseball. In the final 32 games of 2009, his rookie season with the San Diego Padres, playing in a home field so cavernous it was known as Petco National Park, Blanks hit 10 home runs.
But he never hit that many home runs in a season again, his career deteriorated by a procession of injuries and surgeries to his elbow, leg and shoulder, and procedures on both feet. In 2017, as he finished his professional career in the minor leagues, the pain was so persistent that Blanks said he got relief from alcohol: a half-bottle of rum some days, a whole bottle on others.
It made no sense
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