Ueberroth to Begin Meetings on Drugs

Will it prove to be an inquisition or an informal inquiry?

Is the commissioner of baseball prepared to prosecute or is he merely pursuing additional information regarding the impact and scope of drugs in his sport?

There are no definitive answers--and probably won’t be until Peter Ueberroth has finished a series of meetings with 24 players who have either undergone drug rehabilitation or who were involved in last summer’s Pittsburgh drug trials.

The initial meeting, involving Ueberroth and Dave Parker of the Cincinnati Reds, is scheduled for an undisclosed New York City site today. The meetings are expected to span more than a month, with the players accompanied by their attorneys and Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn.

Parker was among seven players who testified with immunity in last summer’s trial of Curtis Strong, a former clubhouse caterer for the Philadelphia Phillies. Strong was convicted of selling cocaine and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Strong was one of seven men indicted for selling drugs to ballplayers.

Other players who testified were Keith Hernandez, Lonnie Smith, Jeff Leonard, John Milner, Dale Berra and Enos Cabell of the Dodgers.

Each was notified by letter in late November that the commissioner would meet with him in January.

Also notified were the following 19 players whose names surfaced during testimony: Joaquin Andujar, Rod Scurry, Dusty Baker, Lary Sorensen, Derrell Thomas, Dickie Noles, Manny Sarmiento, Gary Matthews, Lee Lacy, Tim Raines, Al Holland and the Dodgers’ Bill Madlock.

Ueberroth also summoned five players who have undergone some form of drug rehabilitation. They are Alan Wiggins, Claudell Washington, Mike Norris, Vida Blue and Daryl Sconiers, the first baseman who was recently released by the Angels.

Parker, the leadoff hitter, testified that he used cocaine while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates but stopped using it before his acquisition by the Reds as a free agent in 1983.

Ueberroth has refused to comment on the meetings or to discuss possible disciplinary action, but he has repeatedly said that the trials of last summer were an embarrassment to baseball and that drugs remain the game’s and the nation’s No. 1 problem.

Speaking at the December baseball meetings in San Diego, Ueberroth called for employment of the AWACs surveillance system as part of a full-scale assault on border drug trafficking. He is also believed to have told club owners that he would not demur from displaying an iron fist if he believed a suspension and/or fine was called for after his meetings with the players.

The commissioner is judge and jury in this matter, although any player who believes he has been punished unjustly can seek arbitration through the grievance procedure.

There is also a question of Constitutionality. Can Ueberroth punish a player who testified to drug use under immunity? Is that a violation of the Fifth Amendment?

On the other hand, how can he issue a 10-day, $60,000 suspension to Andujar for his World Series run-in with an umpire and then not suspend players for admitted drug use?

Also: Is there any real justification in punishing a player for an indiscretion that may have occurred several years ago and, in most cases, has not been repeated?

Phone calls to a variety of sources who would speculate Tuesday left the impression that if Ueberroth takes action, it will be to enforce a long-term probation but an actual suspension of only 20 to 30 days.

An attorney who works with Ueberroth and who requested anonymity said he is convinced that the commissioner has an open mind, that he isn’t going into the meetings with preconceived ideas as to possible punishment, if any.

“Anyone who makes a guess as to what the commissioner might do is expressing his own opinion and has no insight into what the commissioner is thinking,” he said. “The truth of the matter is that the commissioner doesn’t know what he’s going to do and won’t until he’s finished with the meetings.”

Said an official of the players’ association: “We would be surprised if there’s any discipline. The commissioner has said that he’s determined to stamp out drugs but not punish players in the process. We expect him to be consistent with his public statements.”

The Times learned Tuesday that Ueberroth has already met with one of the 24 players, having talked with Wiggins and attorney Tony Attanasio for almost two hours during the winter meetings in San Diego.

Attanasio, when contacted Tuesday, was hesitant to talk about the meeting.

“All I’ll say is that it was pleasant,” he said. “There was no threat or intimidation. The commissioner only seemed to be doing some fact finding.”