BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Inside Job: Bat Apparently Back

A bat confiscated from Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians that had been switched during a break-in at an umpire’s dressing room has been returned--apparently--and will be X-rayed to see if it was corked.

No one would say who was responsible for slipping through a ceiling into the umpires’ dressing room at Comiskey Park during Friday’s game and making the bat switch. And no one could say for certain whether the bat that showed up Sunday was the same one originally taken.

Indian General Manager John Hart would not reveal the name of the person involved in the break-in, nor would he say if it was an Indian player. But he left little doubt that the person was affiliated with the team.

“Obviously, it was someone internally with the Indians,” Hart said.

“There will be disciplinary action taken at some point, I’m sure, and that will be determined with the Indians, the commissioner’s office and the league office.”

Umpire crew chief Dave Phillips said he couldn’t be 100% positive that the returned bat was the one he confiscated.

“It is very difficult for me to say that it is unequivocally the same bat because I don’t know,” Phillips said. “It appears to be the same bat that I took off the field.”

General Manager Ron Schueler of the Chicago White Sox said he would wait until the investigation was completed to determine the next course of action. He said the break-in, in his opinion, shows that Belle’s bat was indeed corked.

“By switching it, it almost shows me guilt,” Schueler said. “Maybe I’m presuming too much. Why would somebody bother to go in there if they didn’t think anything was tampered with?

“It won’t be pushed under the carpet. . . . It’s serious to break into a locked room.”