Mandatory Drug Tests May Be Reconsidered

The head of the Major League Players Assn. said Wednesday that the issue of mandatory drug testing for major league baseball players could be reconsidered under an existing agreement.

Donald Fehr, acting executive director of the baseball players’ union, said that if Commissioner Peter Ueberroth wants major league players to join the testing program, he and the owners should ask that the issue be reconsidered under terms of a drug agreement reached last year.

“I’m not foreclosing the possibility of changes,” Fehr said at a news conference in New York. “This, of course, is a very sensitive issue. It’s an inflammatory one and it’s an emotional one.”

Fehr said that the question of mandatory testing was “an item of serious contention and dispute during the joint drug negotiations” last year.

He said that according to terms of that agreement, the players’ union will review the matter if the clubs and a three-member panel of experts agree that the current drug program is not functioning properly.

Fehr said if the owners want to change the agreement, they should request that the professionals evaluate the program and make a recommendation on mandatory testing.

“Once that is done, then we will look at it again,” Fehr said.

Ueberroth announced plans Tuesday for periodic drug testing on all baseball personnel from owners on down, except major league players, who are exempted from testing under terms of the joint agreement negotiated last year.

Ueberroth met with Fehr and other union officials Wednesday morning, but did not reveal details of the testing program.

Fehr said that the commissioner had advised him of the plan by letter Tuesday--the same day Ueberroth made the proposal.

“It contained no specifics of any kind, and I still do not know the specifics of the program,” Fehr said. “We had no advance knowledge, and that’s a problem. That’s not an appropriate way to do business. We need to be consulted, not to be informed. We’ve already discussed this with the commissioner and hope it will not be repeated. I don’t think it will be.”

Fehr said that the existing drug program agreed to last year by the union and baseball’s Player Relations Committee, the owners’ bargaining unit, does not include provisions for testing.

He said that as far as the union can tell, the existing agreement is working. “It’s not perfect and our experience is somewhat limited, but I think it is working,” he said.

“Our position is you don’t invade an individual’s privacy. You assume innocence. You prove guilt. The system we have is designed to encourage voluntary compliance. Testing is used frequently by the professionals we have employed. In every instance I know of since the agreement came in, testing has taken place. We’re committed to make it work. The agreement is not static. It is under constant review and analysis.”

Mike Scioscia, the Dodger player representative, contended that the existing drug agreement is “a much better way” of dealing with the problem of drug abuse than mandatory testing.

“A lot of people are of the opinion that we (the players) are trying to hide something, that there’s something fishy we’re trying to cover up,” he told Times’ reporter Gordon Edes. “But that’s not true at all. We’re not trying to hide anything.

“I know there’s a problem, but I think the program we have now is a much better way of dealing with it.

“The way the program is now, if management thinks you have a problem, they have a way of dealing with it. What can be more fair than that?”

Scioscia, asked if he thought Ueberroth’s plan may be a pressure tactic to get the players to agree to testing, said: “If they’re trying to put pressure on us, that’s not the way to do it.”

Dodger pitcher Steve Howe, who submits to drug testing every week as a condition of his return to the team after his suspension for drug-related offenses, expressed strong opposition to mandatory testing.

“They’ll never pass it--no way,” Howe said. “If they’re going to make it mandatory, they’re going to have to make it mandatory for everybody else in the country, everybody else who works, because this is our job.

“At this point, I don’t care what they do. I told them (the Dodgers) before they could test me five times a week. But that’s just me.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, asked if he thought testing was an invasion of his privacy, said: “It’s not an invasion of my privacy. I don’t know about anybody else, but if that’s what they want, I’m more than honored to do it.”

Fehr said that the players’ union is concerned for players who have had chemical dependency problems and has sought to protect and help them by emphasizing medical treatment. He declined to estimate the number of players who have had drug problems, saying, “It’s none of your business,” and “I don’t believe it can be done with any accuracy.”

In Wednesday morning television interviews, Ueberroth, acknowledging a drug problem in baseball, said that he expected bad news from a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh that is investigating drugs in baseball.

Players from 9 of 12 National League teams were questioned and given immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony. Indictments may be issued this week.

Asked on NBC’s “Today” show what he expecting from the Pittsburgh investigation, Ueberroth said: “I think it’s going to be bad. . . . I think they are going to be able to prove some things that are damaging to the game, but we can’t sit by.”

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Ueberroth said he was proposing drug testing to eliminate the possibility of gamblers taking advantage of drug-dependent players.

“We’re not going to have a Tulane in baseball,” the commissioner said, referring to the basketball point-shaving scandal involving drugs and money at Tulane University in New Orleans.

“As long as a gambler can find an inroad to the game through some youngster who is hooked on drugs, then I’m not doing my job,” he said.

Team owners’ reactions to Ueberroth’s order were generally favorable.

Said Peter O’Malley, owner of the Dodgers: “We enthusiastically support the position of the commissioner in terms of addressing drug prevention. We want to do everything in our power to prevent the illegal use of drugs. For several years, we have had in place an employees’ assistance program, and it is working.

“During the course of the past two years, we have had a successful testing program for our minor league players and staff, and we feel it is a most beneficial program for everyone involved.”

Marge Schott, owner of the Cincinnati Reds, said: “I think it’s fine. If you don’t have anything to be afraid of, why not submit to the test?”

Joan Kroc of the San Diego Padres said that her team has required drug testing of all minor league players and personnel, plus front-office staff, for two years.

“I’m optimistic the players’ union will encourage this to happen because there is nothing to fear,” Kroc said. “It’s for the good of society. Outside of a nuclear war, it’s the most deadly threat to our society.”