Ueberroth Announces Drug Test Plans

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth announced plans Tuesday to institute mandatory drug testing for all baseball personnel except major league players, whose participation must be approved by their union.

But Ueberroth, who did not give the details of his plan, said he is appealing to the players’ union to approve it.

“We will include everyone from the owners on down,” Ueberroth said in a prepared statement. “This means it will include more than 3,000 minor league players, the American and National leagues, scouts, the major league front office personnel . . . everyone.”

Ueberroth, who said he wants baseball to be a leader in eradicating drugs from society, said he will ask that testing for major league players be included as part of the joint drug program administered by management’s Player Relations Committee and the Major League Baseball Players Assn. If approved, it would make baseball the only sport with mandatory drug testing.

Don Fehr, acting executive director of the Players Assn., called Ueberroth’s plan “grandstanding,” and said it apparently was an attempt to pressure the association to agree to mandatory drug testing.

“We already have a joint drug program, and it’s working,” Fehr said. “We’ve always felt that mandatory testing was demeaning.”

In Boston, Angel General Manager Mike Port came out in favor of Ueberroth’s plan.

“Personally, I have no problem with what the commissioner has directed and I don’t know anyone who does,” Port said.

“Overall, it’s a very progressive and innovative program. If we expect the players to do this, why shouldn’t we be expected to set the example?

“Management in general has tended to come off a little high and mighty . . . (saying to the players) ‘You should do this,’ when we should be saying, ‘Look, we should be doing this together.’ ”

No Dodger spokesman was available to comment on the issue, and Angel Manager Gene Mauch declined comment.

“I can’t talk about anything I don’t understand,” Mauch said. “If you want to talk baseball, I’ll talk for hours. Substance abuse? It’s clear beyond me.”

Angel second baseman Bobby Grich, however, agreed with Ueberroth’s stance.

“I’m a single person who enjoys a lively social life, but I’m not a hedonist,” he said. “I believe in working hard for a goal and I believe cocaine is turning our young people soft.

“I guess the majority of players would not want testing done, but personally I’m in favor of President Reagan’s war on cocaine and the position Ueberroth has taken.

“I’d be in favor of mandatory testing for players. I think cocaine is undermining the strength of America, and I’d be proud if baseball moved to the forefront of eradicating it from our society.”

Like other sports, baseball has had players involved with drugs in the past few years.

In 1983, four Kansas City Royal players were sentenced to jail terms after having been convicted on drug charges. The four--Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, Jerry Martin and Vida Blue--were suspended by Ueberroth’s predecessor, Bowie Kuhn, although the suspensions were eventually cut short by an arbitrator.

Kuhn also suspended Steve Howe of the Dodgers, although Howe was never convicted of any offense.

In addition, a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh is investigating cocaine trafficking among National League players. A dozen players from nine National League teams have testified under immunity from prosecution.

An NBC News report Tuesday night said that the federal investigation was being expanded to other cities, among them Atlanta and St. Louis.

Ueberroth said he will announce the details of his plan “in the very near future.”

Bill Madlock, player representative of the Pittsburgh Pirates, said he expects there will have to be some sort of a drug-testing program eventually.

“I think the majority of players want it because the majority of players aren’t drug users,” Madlock said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the players’ association agree to the tests, but I don’t think it will be (in current negotiations) because some players don’t want them.

“I know guys who are scared to death to have a bad year because they will be suspected of using drugs. That creates a lot of pressure on guys, pressure the public doesn’t understand.”