Arrest Clouds Hoyt’s Future With the Padres : Pitcher Charged With Taking Drugs Across Mexico Border

Pitcher LaMarr Hoyt was released from jail Wednesday night, and now it’s possible the San Diego Padres will release him, too.

Hoyt was arrested Tuesday night while attempting to import about 490 pills while walking across the San Ysidro border, 322 of which were ruled to be Valium tablets and 138 of which are suspected of being Quaalude tablets. He spent the night in Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego and showed up at a federal court arraignment Wednesday afternoon in a white prison jump suit. He also sported a new beard. He talked softly and showed little emotion.

He was charged with attempting to import the Valium, which if convicted would bring a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine. And if some of those pills are Quaaludes (a chemical analysis is being conducted), that would carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In addition, the prosecuting attorney, Pat Swan, told Judge Roger Curtis McKee: “There appears to be the potential of substance abuse here.” And Swan asked McKee to order Hoyt to undergo random drug testing until the case is concluded.

In February, Hoyt, 31, had been detained at the San Ysidro border for trying to carry across three grams of marijuana, 79 Valium tablets and 46 Quaaludes. The next week, he was arrested in San Diego for carrying a switch-blade knife and marijuana cigarettes. Eventually, he was put on three-year probation and fined $620 for both incidents, as he had plea-bargained and reduced all charges to simple public nuisance charges.

Still, the Padres, in late February, persuaded Hoyt to enter the Hazelden (Minn.) Foundation, a drug-treatment center. He didn’t want to go at first but stayed there for 30 days. He was allegedly diagnosed as having an alcohol problem. He denied it.

Before Hoyt--a former Cy Young Award winner who earns $1 million annually--rejoined the team last year, Ballard Smith, the team president, told him about team policy.

Smith said to Hoyt: “It might be OK to have this happen once, but not twice.”

And now this. The Padres got rid of Alan Wiggins in 1985 when he broke club policy and used cocaine. There is precedent here.

“I don’t know the facts,” Smith said Wednesday. “Until I talk to his lawyer, talk to somebody from the prosecutor’s office or the police or whatever, I’d prefer not to comment.

“We have all kinds of policies on the ballclub. Obviously, I don’t know what happened in this case. As soon as I know the facts, then we’ll deal with the situation. I’ve been trying to get ahold of his agent (Ron Shapiro, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday). I talked to the commissioner’s office, but I’ve not talked to the commissioner. I have not talked to LaMarr yet. And I need to accomplish all those things. And then we’ll determine what is the appropriate thing to do.

“But if you’re asking me if any of our policies have changed, no, none of our policies have changed.”

Hoyt has said on many occasions that he is not an alcoholic and does not use drugs. Last February, he and his wife Sylvia were separated, and she hired Marvin Mitchelson, a well-known divorce attorney. Hoyt said that was the reason for his actions last year.

By season’s end, he and Sylvia were back together again.

But he said and did strange things during the course of the season.

--One day at home, he said: “I think the best thing would be for them to trade me. Everything has gone wrong since I got here. I think a change of scenery would do me good.”

--Before a game in New York, in which he was starting opposite Dwight Gooden, he said: “I think I might just win this game and walk away from the game. Beat Gooden and leave. Wouldn’t that be a great ending?”

Later, he said he was joking.

--A day before one of his court hearings, after he had been warned by his attorneys not to talk to reporters, he went public with the claim: “I am not an alcoholic.” His attorney in San Diego, Howard Frank, was upset about it.

So Frank, after this latest arrest, has ordered Hoyt to keep quiet.

“I begged him to please keep his mouth shut,” Frank said. “But I don’t know what he’s going to do. I can tell him to keep quiet, but that doesn’t mean he will. I think he will. . . . He promised he will.”

Hoyt was unavailable for comment Wednesday night, but a statement released by the court Wednesday gave further insight into Tuesday’s arrest.

Hoyt entered the United States afoot from Mexico and tried crossing the pedestrian entry at San Ysidro. He was met by Gus Rodriguez, a U.S. Customs Service agent, who questioned Hoyt about his citizenship and what he had acquired in Mexico.

Hoyt said he spent $200 on some clothes while in Mexico and placed them in front of Rodriguez. The clothes were in a bag, and Rodriguez noticed that Hoyt’s hands were visibly shaking. Looking closer, he noticed “an abnormally large bulge” in Hoyt’s pants.

He escorted Hoyt to a secondary inspection area, told him to take off his pants and found two packages of pills in Hoyt’s crotch. Hoyt then signed a post-arrest statement, saying he bought the pills in Tijuana from a taxi driver named “Javier,” who had then driven him to the border.

“I think there’s a real potential (for serious trouble),” Frank said. “It’s a very serious case. A very serious case, in my opinion. Because of what happened last year, that’s why.”

Another hearing has been set for Nov. 10, at which time several things could happen--(a) a settlement could be reached, (b), the case could continue to be litigated if the government believes there’s enough evidence and (c) a federal grand jury indictment could be sought.

Hoyt had a troubled childhood. His parents were divorced in Columbia, S.C., before he was a year old, and his mother--who wasn’t granted custody--kidnapped LaMarr and took him with her to California. The father went to California, but his wife hid LaMarr in a back bedroom. The father, Dewey Hoyt, returned to South Carolina, quit his job, went back to California and kidnapped LaMarr back. He brought LaMarr to his sister, Margaret Hiller, who raised LaMarr as her own. Dewey became an alcoholic.

When LaMarr was in high school, one of his cousins was killed in a gun accident. Then, his uncle died. He eventually was signed by the Yankees out of high school and won the Cy Young Award as a member of the Chicago White Sox.

Jack McKeon, the Padre general manager, said Wednesday: “Now you see why clubs don’t want to talk about multiyear, guaranteed contracts. . . . This is just a perfect example of why you need (drug) testing if you give multiyear, guaranteed contracts. Only the player is guaranteed, not the team. We thought he’d pitch here four years. Last year was a wasted season (Hoyt won only eight games), and next year could be the same thing.”