NEW YORK -- In the wake of the Biogenesis scandal that led to 14 suspensions last summer, Major League Baseball and its players union announced Friday they are toughening penalties and increasing the frequency of testing in the most substantial revisions to their drug agreement in eight years. Players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that years post-season. In addition, discipline will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban. While there were two-to-four major league suspensions annually from 2008-11, the number increased to12 in 2012 and 14 players were penalized following last years investigation of the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic. Among them were former NL MVP Ryan Braun, who agreed to a 65-game ban, and three-time AL MVP Alex Rodriguez, who is suspended for the entire 2014 season. "Obviously, that showed that there was a need for harsher and stiffer penalties -- and this is a very clear and resounding answer for all of that," Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz returned from their 50-game suspensions in time to participate in last falls playoffs. Peralta became a free agent and was given a $53 million, four-year contract by St. Louis during the off-season. "In the past it hasnt been fair that guys, they get popped, they serve their suspension and they come back and play in the playoffs," said Oakland reliever Sean Doolittle, whose team lost to Peralta and the Tigers in the division series. "Then on top of that, guys parlay it into a bigger contract and getting a raise ... it was frustrating, mainly because he did so well against us." Accused of being slow to react to steroids in the 1990s, baseball started testing with penalties in 2004, established a 10-day suspension for an initial testing violation in 2005 and increased discipline to 50 games in 2006. In the last year or two, many players spoke out and said the deterrent wasnt sufficient. "There are 32 states that have the death penalty for murder, and murders happen in those states every single day. Its not going to stop people from committing the crime, even if you have a death penalty," Arizona pitcher Brad Ziegler said. "Youve got to put things in place better to get them caught. Thats the thing. People do it when they think they can get away with it." New union head Tony Clark, a former All-Star himself, said his members wanted to make sure "a player is not coming back and affecting a change in the post-season as a result of the decision that particular player made earlier in the year." "Our hope here is that the adjustments that weve made do inevitably get that number to zero," Clark said. "In the event that that doesnt happen, for whatever reason, well reevaluate and move forward from there. But as I sit here, I am hopeful that players make the right decisions that are best for them, for their careers and for the integrity of the game." Players who serve a PED suspension also will not be eligible for automatic post-season players pool money shares but may be given cash awards at the discretion of their teammates. "There are a lot of guys who havent done it right," San Francisco pitcher Tim Hudson said, "and I think the one thing that puts a bad taste in peoples mouth that are playing are the guys who have messed around with the stuff but then somehow have still benefited contractually and gotten paid more money than they might have done if they had been clean. Those are the things that kind of stick some players." A player serving a season-long suspension will lose all his pay. Under the previous rules, Rodriguez gets 21-183rds of his $25 million salary this year, or $2,868,852. "Although we had the strongest program in professional sports before these changes, I am committed to constantly finding ways to improve the program in order to eradicate performance-enhancing drugs from the game," said baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who had called a year ago for harsher penalties. An arbitrator would be allowed to reduce a suspension for a first or second testing violation by up to 50 per cent if a player proves by "clear and convincing evidence" that a positive test was not caused by his "significant fault or negligence." However, penalties may not be cut for muscle-building substances such as testosterone, human growth hormone, Boldenone, Nandrolone and Stanozolol. In-season random urine tests will increase from 1,400 to 3,200 overall in addition to the minimum two for each player, and off-season tests will rise from 250 to 350. There will be 400 random blood collections used to detect human growth hormone in addition to the mandatory one for each player during spring training. "We want to have a level playing field," Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. Players with PED violations, other than those who penalties are reduced for mitigation, will receive six additional random urine tests and three more blood tests annually for the rest of their careers. Foreign players entering the major leagues and those not subject to the major- or minor-league testing program for at least a year will be required to take urine and blood tests before signing contracts. "There are certain considerations we need to make in an effort to put guys in a position where the guys who are doing it correctly arent being adversely affected any more than necessary," Clark said. AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley and AP freelance writer Mike Cranston contributed to this report Air Force 1 Low Italia . According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game. Air Force 1 Alte Just Do It . Sections of the British media reported Friday that Brooklyn Beckham, the son of United great David, was invited to a training session at the club on Thursday. http://www.airforce1outletitalia.it/scon...-wash-cold.html. Joakim Nordstrom and Garret Ross also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford made 30 saves. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Red Wings (2-3-0), Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and Gustav Nyquist had three assists. Air Force 1 Alte Qs .J. Mayo made seven three-pointers and scored 25 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20, and the Milwaukee Bucks placed seven players in double figures in a 130-110 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost their 11th straight game on Monday night. Nike Sf Air Force 1 Mid Uomo Scarpe . The 34-year-old averaged 10.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 82 games played in 2013-14 with the Utah Jazz. Jefferson has averaged 14.5 points, 4.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hi Kerry! I hope you saw that attempt by Joffrey Lupul to elbow Henrik Sedin in the head on Saturday, but missed and took out Nazem Kadri. I just wanted to find out if the NHL has a rule against attempts to injure players. Im sure a running elbow would be a concussion or something serious had Lupul hit his intended target. The refs are not doing enough to protect the players, this went uncalled! Thanks,Adrian Wong --- Hi Kerry, Been wondering about Joffrey Lupuls attempted elbow to the head of Henrik Sedin in the Canucks win over the Maple Leafs. Lupul clearly attempts to use his elbow to hit Sedin as he is flying by him. Sedin dodges it, and it takes a bad turn for the Leafs as he hits Kadri instead. With this, I have two questions: 1. Does Lupuls failure to hit Sedin clear him of everything, or does his obvious attempt to injure stay with him? 2. If it doesnt clear him, why is this hit not being looked at by the league, especially with Lupul having a previous suspension? Thanks,Ben Arends --- Hi Kerry,I was watching the Leafs-Canucks game and completely missed this occurrence. I couldnt believe that this attempt at Sedin was not even brought up by most news operations. Even though Lupul didnt connect, should this attempt to elbow Sedins head not be a suspension or at least be reviewed? To me, it clearly looks like Lupul was attempting to head Sedin in the head. Yes, he didnt connect, but the attempt to connect was there. I would be interested in your thoughts. Jay --- Hi Kerry, In the Toronto/Vancouver game Saturday, Lupul extends his elbow with the intent of hitting Henrik Sedin. Henrik luckily ducks out of the way and Lupul ends up elbowing Kadri instead. Yes, it was a very amusing outcome (perhaps not for Kadri), but this makes me question why the NHL does not use rule 21.1 (Match Penalty) to punish these types of plays when it is clear that Lupuls intent was to strike Henrik Sedin in the head and only because Hank saw it coming, was it avoided. Seems to me like the NHL waits for a significant injury instead of ever punishing the intent. Can you explain this to me? Can you explain why we have a rule that allows refs to punish intent, but it never gets used? Thanks,Steve Platt Adrian, Ben, Jay and Steve: We have another full mail bag today on a potentially very dangerous play. This time we examine Joffrey Lupuls deliberate flying elbow intended for Henrik Sedins head. The forceful elbow narrowly missed the mark but instead caught Lupuls teammate Nazem Kadri flush in the kisser. No call was made on the ice. First, let me offer my perspective concerning the lack of a penalty being assessed on the play (video link). In most cases there needs to be some form of contact for the Referee to assess a penalty. I can therefore understand why one wasnt forthcoming on this play. Elbowing, kneeing and most other fouls come to mind where a narrow miss becomes a non-event and therefore not worthy of a penalty. Slashing on the other hand is the act of a player swinging his stick at an opponent, whether contact is made or not. Other exceptions to this standard of contact are when a player attempts to butt-end or spear his opponent. In these cases a double minor is assessed when no contact is made and a major plus game misconduct results from contact. In the previous two fouls a match penalty is assessed when injury results. The reasson for these applications is the inherent danger to a players safety when struck with a stick.dddddddddddd We also now recognize the potential for serious injury when an elbow cap is forcefully delivered to the head of an opponent. A number of suspensions have resulted from these types of illegal hits. In all cases the parameters and criteria change when an infraction is deemed to be an attempt to injure an opponent. In this particular situation, even with the absence of contact but given the deliberation and severity of the attempt Joffrey Lupul made to elbow Henrik Sedin in the head a different standard must apply. I want to specifically reference rule 45.4 which I believe should have been applied by the Officials at ice level; "The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent by elbowing." The decision Joffrey Lupul made to leave his feet and fully extend his elbow at his opponents head was beyond just tremendously irresponsible but one he should know would result in some degree of injury to Sedin. Just because Sedin veered from his original path behind the goal and cut hard toward the front of the net does not excuse Lupuls subsequent actions with some separation as an attempt to simply make a check. The evidence here clearly demonstrates that Henrik Sedin narrowly avoided the intended contact to his head by looking down at the puck in his skates and thereby altering his head position. Lupul did not let up after missing Sedin and accidentally planted the elbow in the face of Nazem Kadri. Striking Henrik Sedin would have been no accident! I look at this play similarly to a player swinging a stick at the head of his opponent from close range but where no contact was made. Without question I would assess a match penalty for "attempt to injure." I would hope every Referee would do the same. I recall giving Chris Knuckles Nilan a match penalty after assuming his position in the penalty box following a fight, then grabbing a puck out of the bucket and throwing it at his opponent seated in the visitors penalty box. The puck missed Knucks intended target but it was still an attempt to injure! The Player Safety Committee on the other hand has a more challenging task to suspend a player where no contact or adverse result occurred given the standard they have set to this point in their deliberations. I can only imagine the fallout from a team and the NHLPA if a player was suspended without physical evidence of contact—the smoking gun. The primary objectives of supplemental discipline are to hold players accountable for poor and dangerous decisions in an effort to provide player safety and ultimately prevent future injuries. While proving "intent" can be a very difficult task, the overwhelming evidence on this play can only lead a reasonable thinking person to conclude that Joffrey Lupul fully intended on elbowing Henrik Sedin in the head. There have been many times that the Player Safety Committee has suspended a player where no injury resulted. I cant think of one situation where a player was suspended where contact with his opponent did not actually occur. The reality is that this play was likely judged in the same consistent fashion given the absence of physical contact. Any lack of supplemental discipline in cases such as this not only sends the wrong message but misses the intended target completely; namely to provide a future deterrent to a player committing an illegal and dangerous act where injury is likely to result. ' ' '