Howe Says No to Drug Talk : Baseball: Yankee pitcher says he will resume speaking with reporters, as long as the subject is baseball.

As is Steve Howe’s way, he made news about an hour after ambling into the New York Yankees’ spring training camp Wednesday. With the team’s blessing, Howe imposed media ground rules for his eighth foray into major league baseball.

The Yankees announced that Howe will resume talking to the reporters he blamed for treating him harshly and unfairly last season, but he will not discuss the subject of drugs.

Howe, who usually loves to converse almost as much as pitch, found that this limitation tends to shorten conversations considerably. After a brief interview, he concluded happily, “There’s not much to talk about when we’re only talking baseball. It’s a beautiful thing, silence is.”

Howe, otherwise as chipper and hyper as ever, is seeking to avoid last year’s talkfest. The locker room became a courtroom, as he continually pleaded his side of the drug case that ended his season early. He was banned for life June 8 after pleading guilty in federal court in Montana to attempted possession of cocaine, his seventh drug-related suspension. It was a sad case that threatened to end a sometimes-brilliant career, but his ban was overturned Nov. 12 by arbitrator George Nicolau.

Howe’s re-entry Wednesday into the baseball world--he arrived a day early--was abnormally quiet. The left-handed reliever said little, and threw less. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, Howe tossed the ball around with 5-year-old son, Brian, and threw lightly in the outfield before he met with Manager Buck Showalter and General Manager Gene Michael.

Showalter apparently convinced Howe to end his feud with the media, which he had skillfully avoided since his ban. In making the announcement that Howe would not discuss the subject that makes him interesting (and the topic he wrote a book about), Michael said, “He wants to concentrate on baseball. As long as he thinks they’re fair, he’ll talk to anybody about anything other than his drug history.”

Howe wants to enjoy this season, unlike last year, when he never felt completely safe in his usual baseball haven. His problems did not appear to hurt his performance, though, as he went 3-0 with a 2.45 earned-run average in 22 innings despite being as focused on prosecutors, lawyers and reporters as he was on hitters.

This year it’s going to be different, he said. “The baseball field always has been a sanctuary for me,” Howe said. “Regardless of what my problems were, it’s something I love to do. When I step onto the field, something special happens.”

That’s one reason the Yankees continue to stick by him, and why they gave him a two-year, $4.2-million contract. Michael, who said he would consider taking Pascual Perez back, too, if he were reinstated, nonetheless admitted concern about possible damage to the Yankees’ image.

However, Michael asserted, “When I was younger I was a One-Way Corrigan. I’d say if you screwed up twice, that’s enough. Now, I don’t know the right number of times.”

Despite numerous attempts, the usually talkative Howe could not be coaxed into talking about anything other than baseball. He preferred talking about his team or his arm, both of which he feels upbeat about. He even put a positive spin on his lack of innings last season, saying, “This could mean another three-year contract. My arm didn’t get worked over.”

He didn’t even wish to talk about his unwanted extended vacation, saying he did “normal stuff.” He did, however, admit his absence was “very frustrating.”

Howe regularly would make pregame calls to Showalter last year, venting that frustration. Now, however, he doesn’t wish to talk about his past problems.