Ueberroth to Act on Trial Testimony

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth promised that he will punish players implicated in the recent Pittsburgh cocaine trials who bought or sold drugs on ballpark grounds, it was reported Saturday.

“The players have an agreement with the owners that protects them against punishment for drug use unless they either bought or sold drugs on the premises of the ballpark,” Ueberroth told U.S. News & World Report.

Ueberroth said: “There are about 20 players who have been implicated by testimony, and we will talk to each one of those. Then we will know a lot more.”

During the trials, one retired player and six current players testified about their drug habits, including Lonnie Smith of the Kansas City Royals, who is in this year’s World Series; two-time batting champion Dave Parker of the Cincinnati Reds, Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets and Dale Berra of the New York Yankees.

However, only retired outfielder John Milner, a former Pirate, Met and Montreal Expo, testified that he bought drugs on the premises of a ballpark. Milner said he bought cocaine in a restroom stall of the Pirate clubhouse at Three Rivers Stadium.

Ueberroth said that should he be able to determine if any of the players implicated in the baseball drug trials did buy or sell drugs on ballpark grounds, “some form” of punishment would be levied “during the off-season.”