New York Mets general manager denies reported marijuana use by baseball players
NEW YORK (AP) _ At least seven New York Mets players have been suspected of using marijuana this season, a newspaper reported Friday, and the team manager acknowledged he was worried about drug problems
Friday, September 20th 2002, 12:00 am
By: News On 6
NEW YORK (AP) _ At least seven New York Mets players have been suspected of using marijuana this season, a newspaper reported Friday, and the team manager acknowledged he was worried about drug problems as far back as spring training.
``I've seen signals, but nothing definitive,'' manager Bobby Valentine told Newsday.
General manager Steve Phillips denied there was a ``rampant'' drug problem on the team.
``We have no indication that there is widespread drug use at any level of our organization,'' Phillips said in a statement Friday. ``The Newsday report is based solely on anonymous sources. We urge these sources to come to us with proof of their accusations so that we can investigate them.''
He also denied a report by Newsday that minor leaguers were tipped off about supposedly random drug tests.
``The charge that we warn star prospects in advance of random testing is ridiculous,'' Phillips said.
Former Mets reliever Mark Corey, traded to the Colorado Rockies in July, told Newsday he smoked marijuana just before having a seizure in a parking lot outside a hotel near Shea Stadium in June.
He is one of at least seven baseball players Newsday referred to in Friday's article, which cited unnamed sources close to the team.
``After the one incident we had, I addressed the team about this stuff specifically, about how foolish it was, how it was illegal and how embarrassing it could be for it to continue,'' Valentine said.
Major league players are not subjected to testing for marijuana. Last month, for the first time, players agreed to mandatory testing for steroids as part of a new labor agreement. The testing will start next year.
``We're committed to doing everything we can to let our players, on both the minor league and major league levels, know of the danger to their careers of using drugs,'' Phillips said Friday.
All-Star Mets catcher Mike Piazza said the reported drug use would be ``kind of disturbing'' if true.
``You'd think guys at this level would be completely focused on their careers,'' Piazza said.
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