Ueberroth Hands Down Clubhouse Restrictions : Managers’ Offices, Lasorda’s Included, Are Put Off-Limits to Casual Visitors

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth released his guidelines for clubhouse access Wednesday, and it would appear that the office of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda will never be the same.

Ueberroth, who had warned last month that the “days of jewelry salesmen and friends and agents are over” when he handed down penalties to players involved in the Pittsburgh drug trial, denied access to “playing fields, dugouts, clubhouses and related facilities and areas” to “all but essential personnel.”

By Ueberroth’s definition, those personnel include:

--Players, managers, coaches, umpires, trainers and team physicians.

--Officials from the team, league and commissioner’s office.

--Representatives from the players’ and umpires’ unions.

--Accredited media “and those persons necessary for the normal conduct of club operations.”

The commissioner also said that members of the players’ immediate families would be permitted clubhouse access, as approved by the club.

He was just as explicit in saying who would not be allowed on the premises: “All other individuals, including friends, business associates, agents, attorneys, equipment salesmen or other vendors, unauthorized doctors or therapists, etc.”

In the past, the Dodgers have had a “father, son, brother” rule regarding clubhouse visitors. But Lasorda always has made his office an exception, entertaining a variety of people--including friends, celebrities, politicians, restaurant owners and player relatives--before and after a game.

One guest who frequented Lasorda’s office was Joe DeCarlo, whose friendship with Lasorda--and his past association with organized crime figure Mickey Cohen--was publicized by Sports Illustrated in its special report on gambling. Lasorda, deeply disturbed by the resultant publicity, denied knowledge of the DeCarlo-Cohen connection and also said he never had gambled.

Lasorda also said he never considered his office part of the clubhouse, but the commissioner’s directive specifically listed managers’ offices as off-limits.

Lasorda, in Boca Raton, Fla., for a speaking engagement Wednesday night, was unavailable for comment. He had said, however, that if the commissioner said his office was off-limits, he would comply with that decision.

In his statement, Ueberroth said: “By barring all but essential personnel from the clubhouse and its immediate environs, we will succeed in creating more professional working areas for the players and accredited members of the media and remove distracting elements from the game.”

However, Ueberroth appeared to include a potential loophole when he said that “other groups, where appropriate and with the approval of the club, will be granted access . . . on a limited basis.”

In addition to his directive, Ueberroth released a statement praising the players who had accepted the terms of his disciplinary action regarding the Pittsburgh drug case.

He also said: “In response to certain press reports, I want to clarify that it was not my intention to suggest to anyone nor should anyone have concluded from my decision that Keith Hernandez or any of the other following players . . . Joaquin Andujar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Jeff Leonard, Dave Parker and Lonnie Smith--was in any sense a drug dealer, pusher or otherwise engaged in any sort of drug trafficking.”

The players named above were given the choice of being suspended for the 1986 season or agreeing to donate 10% of their 1986 salary and 200 hours of community service.