A Philadelphia caterer, one of seven men...

A Philadelphia caterer, one of seven men indicted in a federal investigation of drug trafficking in major league baseball, pleaded not guilty Monday to 16 counts of cocaine distribution and his attorney demanded that authorities turn over “any tape recordings made with ballplayers.”

U.S. Magistrate Ila Jeanne Sensenich ordered Curtis Strong, 38, to stand trial July 17. Strong and six other Pennsylvania men were indicted May 30 after a 15-month federal grand jury probe.

Strong’s attorney, Adam O. Renfroe Jr., has said he plans to call ballplayers to the stand during Strong’s trial. At least 11 players testified before the grand jury, but none were indicted.

A harness race driver suffered a possible broken back in a a five-horse collision that injured two other drivers and brought down five horses at the Meadows Race Track in Meadowland, Pa., Sunday night.

Drivers Dave Palone, John Green and Joseph W. Miller were hospitalized after the accident in the last race of the night. Palone, 23, of Washington, Pa., had the back injury.

Doctors from six states are urging the American Medical Assn. to take a stand against blood doping, the practice of drawing blood, either an athlete’s or someone else’s, and later injecting it into an athlete to increase his oxygen-carrying capacity and boost his performance.

“The issue we’re considering is not whether it’s scientifically effective, but whether it’s ethical for physicians to treat a person with a procedure that has (medical) risks and the benefits are only for athletic performance,” said Dr. Brinton T. Darlington, the Maine delegate to the AMA’s annual meeting this week.

Names in the News

West German tennis star Claudia Kohde--Kilsch is a doubtful participant in next week’s Wimbledon tournament after being taken to a hospital with appendicitis hours before she was due to play in the $150,000 Eastburne women’s grass court tennis championships. She’s seeded sixth at Wimbledon.