Dodger Apologizes to S.D. Businessmen : Baseball: But the two who were thrown out of a game because of an alleged racial slur want an apology from the Padres or they may seek legal action.

A local businessman, ejected from a San Diego Padres’ game after a controversial incident in June, said Tuesday that he has received a written apology from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder who initially accused him of making a racial slur.

Nevertheless, Michael Alessio, who, with fellow businessman Phil Palisoul, was ejected from San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium after Dodgers’ Manager Tom Lasorda complained to security guards, said the matter is far from closed.

Alessio said he may still take legal action against the Padres for their handling of the incident, which he said left him publicly humiliated.

“I still have my legal options, which include a possible suit against the Padres,” he said. “However, I won’t be suing Hubie Brooks (the Dodgers’ outfielder involved in the controversy). He was very nice in that apology.”

Alessio, as well as his attorney, Lionel P. (Chip) Hernholm, said they won’t be satisfied until the Padres issue a public apology.

Padres’ President Dick Freeman said Tuesday that he was “sorry the incident occurred,” but beyond that, declined comment. Freeman said he had written a letter to Alessio outlining his position, which Hernholm called unacceptable.

The incident in question occurred in the eighth inning of a 2-1 Padres’ victory on June 10. Brooks told Lasorda and a security guard on duty in the Dodgers’ dugout that among the derisive taunts yelled at him throughout the game was a racial slur--which Alessio and Palisoul have heatedly denied.

Shortly after Brooks and Lasorda yelled back an angry retort, Alessio said that he and Palisoul were taken to a “cage” beneath the stadium. One cage was labeled “ejection,” Alessio said, and the other “detox.”

He said they were escorted by guards for the Chula Vista firm of Pro-Tect Professional Services, which handles security for the Padres.

“They kept us in there about five minutes,” Palisoul said, “and then escorted us out of the stadium. He (the security guard) said if we came back in we would be in violation of municipal law. So, we waited outside . . . for our boys.”

Alessio said the most embarrassing aspect of the incident to both him and Palisoul was having been separated from their 11- and 12-year-old sons, who remained in the stands with a friend--attorney Hernholm--until the game was over.

Palisoul said the boys play on Little League teams, and throughout the game, they and their fathers were surprised by the crude language and gestures exhibited by the Dodgers.

“All during the game, we engaged in what I would call harmless chiding or heckling of the players,” Palisoul said. “But it was not obscene or anything. You know, it was just stuff you would do to the opposing team. There was nothing that you could even remotely construe as a racial slur. That was the furthest thing from anything that was said.

“The final thing that caused the blowup--that caused Lasorda to blow up--was that, after Brooks popped up (in the 8th inning), I said, ‘Nice hit, Hubie,’ and then he said something to me. Well, then, Lasorda jumped out and started screaming at me, and it was very profane stuff.

“I said, ‘Geez, you’re a little tense, aren’t you?,’ and then he got the guard and came out and pointed at me and Mike Alessio. But racial slur? That was patently untrue.”

City Councilman Ron Roberts, who was sitting with Alessio and Palisoul behind the Dodgers’ dugout when the incident occurred, said afterward: “Those men did absolutely nothing wrong, and I say that without qualification.”

Roberts said that “nothing even remotely resembling a racial slur” was said to Brooks, who, three days later in an interview with The Times, stopped short of saying that he had been the object of a racist remark.

“The guy (Palisoul) was saying a whole bunch of stuff,” Brooks said at the time. “He was hassling everybody the whole game. I may have heard a racial slur in there, but it was a lot of other things. He was getting on everybody. I just wanted him to stop bothering me.”

“Hubie said this guy was getting on him, so I just told the guard to tell this guy to stop bothering my player,” Lasorda said at the time. “All I did was ask the guard to tell him to lay off my guy.”

But in his letter, copies of which were made available Tuesday, Brooks said that he “cannot conclusively state” that he “either observed or heard” Alessio or anyone in his party “make comments of a racially disparaging or ‘racial slur type’ nature.”

“Please be advised that I apologize for any embarrassment or inconvenience either of you may have incurred by reason of the unfortunate incident . . . ,” the letter reads. “I regret and apologize for the fact that as a result of my accusations against you and those in your party, the two of you were ejected from the . . . game. I regret any emotional injury or injury to reputation and good standing sustained by either of you as a result of this incident.”

Attorney Hernholm said the most striking aspect of the story to him was the “quickness and sensitivity” with which the Dodgers’ management responded to his complaint, as opposed to the Padres’ “overwhelming lack of concern and consideration for Mr. Alessio as a fan.”

Hernholm said he was contacted by the Dodgers’ in-house attorney, who “explored” the matter with Brooks’ agent and attorney, the outcome being the written apology.

“They said that Mr. Brooks was fully prepared to sign any retraction, any apology, and above all, did not want the matter to go to trial,” Hernholm said. “Whereas, the Padres’ response, or non-response, was exaggerated or further demonstrated by the quick response made by the Dodgers. The Dodgers jumped right on it, but the Padres have done nothing more than issue self-serving statements that don’t come close to matching an apology.”

Hernholm said that it was “even more unusual” that a “prominent citizen” such as Alessio, a GOP contributor and delegate to the 1988 Republican Convention, “would be treated in such a shoddy and disrespectful manner.”

Hernholm said that Alessio owns Padres’ season tickets, behind the visiting team’s dugout, as well as a stadium sky box, which he uses for both baseball and football games.

Hernholm said the Padres’ recent change in ownership had not made a difference in Alessio’s case, since the Tom Werner group that bought the franchise from Joan Kroc had investigated the incident “as a board matter” and decided that no apology was necessary.

Hernholm said Dick Freeman’s position is “that we’re not going to get an apology or any admission that anything done was wrong. They said they were willing to tell Mike they were sorry the incident happened--which they have done--and to invite him to lunch, but other than that, nothing. It’s ridiculous, and it isn’t over.”