Spring Training / Dodgers : Sax Denies He Took a Drug Test Last Season

A report in Wednesday’s Los Angeles Herald Examiner that Steve Sax took a voluntary drug test last season was erroneous, the Dodger second baseman said Thursday.

He did take a drug test, he said, but it was in 1983, and he did so only after “the organization confronted me.”

The whole subject distresses Sax, who said: “I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m a spokesman for the committee on drug and alcohol abuse, and I just feel very strongly about it. I’ve never been involved with drugs, never have, and never will be.”

Sax said he doesn’t know for sure, but suspects that he wasn’t the only Dodger asked to submit to a test. Responding to the suggestion that he had done so voluntarily, Sax said:

“What do you think I did, walked in there and said, ‘Let me take a test?’ ”

He said that he did not like having been asked to take the test but at the same time defended the Dodgers’ right to ask at the time. He said that he consulted his agent, Jerry Kapstein, before submitting to the test. Under provisions of baseball’s new drug agreement, teams can no longer require drug tests.

“They’ve invested their money in me. They had a right to make sure I wasn’t doing anything that would hurt their investment in me. I think they care about me, too. They wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing anything to hurt Steve Sax, too.”

Dodger Notes Right fielder Mike Marshall was hit in the left elbow by a pitch by Larry White in Thursday’s intrasquad game. X-rays were negative and the injury was diagnosed as a bruise. . . .Orel Hershiser, who had been scheduled to pitch in the game, was a no-show because of an upset stomach. . . .The Basgalls defeated the Amalfitanos, 6-1, with Ken Landreaux collecting four hits. Sid Bream and R.J. Reynolds had three hits apiece. . . . Jerry Reuss will start Saturday’s exhibition game against the Samsung Lions, which will be broadcast in Los Angeles on KABC.