Howe Is a No-Show; Dodgers in the Dark

For the second straight Sunday, Dodger pitcher Steve Howe failed to show up at Dodger Stadium when he was supposed to, which raised concern among Dodger officials and Howe’s teammates that his absence was related to his drug problems of the past.

Unlike a week ago, when he arrived just before the seventh inning, Howe never made an appearance at the ballpark Sunday. The Dodgers say they don’t know where he is. Howe never called, they said.

Howe’s wife, Cyndy, according to Dodger officials, said she did not know his whereabouts. Nor did Howe’s attorney, Jim Hawkins, who spoke to Dodger officials upon arriving at Howe’s home in Agoura early Sunday afternoon.

The Dodgers announced that Howe was a no-show about 20 minutes before Sunday’s game. After the game, team publicist Steve Brener distributed a press release announcing that Howe had been placed on baseball’s “restricted list,” pending “further information as to his condition and whereabouts.”

A player can be placed on the restricted list in any instance in which the league president--in this case, Chub Feeney, president of the National League--certifies that “unusual circumstances” exist which would justify such an action. A player on the restricted list can be reinstated immediately by base ball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth after he receives written notification from the club requesting the reinstatement.

Fred Claire, the Dodgers’ executive vice president, was in contact with both Cyndy Howe and Hawkins, but refused comment beyond what was included in the team’s release.

“Our primary concern at this time is Steve’s well-being,” Claire said in the statement. “We are taking all measures in an attempt to learn of Steve’s whereabouts.”

A spokesman for the L.A. County sheriff’s substation in Malibu, which serves Agoura, said that officials there had not been asked for assistance in finding Howe.

“It stuns me,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “I thought the young man was doing well. To see that happen is terrible.

“I’m very disappointed in Steve Howe being absent from the ballpark. He did not call us to let us know what’s wrong. We do not know where he is. I’m very disappointed. He let the team down by not being here.

“Last week, at least he called and told us what was happening. Whether it was true or not, I don’t know.”

A week ago, Howe said he was stranded at home when his wife went on a family outing to the Magic Mountain amusement park and left him without car keys and his wallet. Eventually, Howe arrived at the ballpark by cab, more than five hours after he allegedly told Lasorda of his problem.

Lasorda fined him $300 for his tardiness last week. Asked if Howe would be fined or suspended this time, Lasorda said: “That will have to come from the front office. We’ll have to discuss it and decide what will happen.”

Saturday night, Howe had failed to appear at a Boy Scout dinner at the Bonaventure Hotel which was attended by 14 players, Lasorda and other team officials, even though Howe was a chairman of the event.

“I left here with Bill Russell to go home and change,” Lasorda said. “Steve said he had to go home to pick up Cyndy and would meet us at the dinner. What happened to the guy, no one knows.”

Lasorda said he didn’t call Howe that night to find out why he hadn’t appeared.

“After the dinner it was kind of late when we got home,” Lasorda said.

Howe, who in the past has acknowledged a cocaine dependency, has been suspended three times because of drug-related problems. He was suspended by then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn for the entire 1984 season for violations of baseball’s drug rules. That suspension later was lifted when Howe dropped his grievance against the commissioner’s ruling and decided not to press for reinstatement in 1984, agreeing instead to continue his rehabilitation program.

But despite his history, in the event of further drug violations, Howe would be considered a first-time offender under the terms of baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement, which was adopted last summer.

Under the terms of that agreement, any player who voluntarily seeks help for a drug-related problem will receive full pay for the first 30 days of treatment and half-pay for the next 30 days. For treatment beyond 60 days, a player would receive the minimum salary of $40,000 annually.

As part of the terms negotiated for Howe’s return to the Dodgers last summer, Howe agreed to submit to two urine tests weekly. But it is not known whether there is a “no-pay, no-play” provision in Howe’s contract, or whether it would be allowable under the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement.

“If the Dodgers have something which extracts a penalty from Steve Howe that is greater than what the Joint Drug Agreement allows, they would have had to obtain a waiver from the players’ association,” Eugene Orza, general counsel for the Major League Players Assn., said late Sunday afternoon.

“If they haven’t got that waiver, then it doesn’t matter what’s in the contract.”

Lee MacPhail, president of the owners’ Player Relations Committee, confirmed that Howe would be considered a first-time offender in the event of a violation. As to whether the Dodgers had a no-pay, no-play clause in Howe’s contract, MacPhail said: “I don’t believe so, but I wouldn’t want to comment on that right now.”

Reaction among Dodger players ranged from disappointment to concern.

“The main thing is everybody is disappointed he didn’t call to tell us if he were alive or not,” Russell said. “I feel for him, I hope he’s all right, but he let a lot of people down this time, more than any other time.

“Obviously, it’s something I don’t understand, and he doesn’t understand himself, to do something like this.

“You have to have a pretty good excuse for not calling. A real good excuse--like he was kidnaped or something.”

In each of his last two relief appearances, Howe had given up three-run home runs, which raised his earned-run average to 4.91, second-highest on the team.

Said catcher Mike Scioscia: “I know he’s very, very disappointed in the way he’s been pitching and he’s very frustrated. He had to go from being one of the best relievers in the league through all the problems he had, which was complicated by arm surgery. Maybe things aren’t happening quickly enough.

“Steve has been through more in 27 years than most people go through in a lifetime. It’s tough to comment when you haven’t been in his shoes.

“But it’s not up to us to judge Steve Howe. We’re behind him 100%.”

Pitching coach Ron Perranoski, a close friend of Howe’s, said he thought that Howe might try to contact him Sunday night.

“But he doesn’t have my phone number,” said Perranoski, who recently moved from Agoura to Glendale. “The only way he can get me is through the stadium.”