News-Pilot from San Pedro, California • 11

Names named to protect the innocent By Jack Murphy Copley News Service SAN DIEGO Pete Rozelle fined eight of the San Diego Chargers and placed them on probation for violating the National Football drug policies it was partly a case of identifying the guilty to protect the innocent The commissioner was under strong pressure from tiie accused and from the Association not to reveal names But Rozelle determined that the secret keep and that it would be unfair to the blameless on the squad Thus he identified Deacon Jones Tim Rossov-ich Coy Bacon Dave Costa Jerry Levias Rick Redman Walt Sweeney and Bob Thomas as the people who were punished for drug-related violations Further he fined General Manager Harland Svare $5000 for negligence in supervising the behavior and fined the club (meaning President Gene Klein) $20000 for the same offense It was a courageous forthright stand by Rozelle and hopefully it comes as a strong signal not only to the Chargers but to others in the NFL ho are attracted to drugs Rozelle refused to go beyond his formal statement perhaps hoping to soften the effect of his startling announcement But the public have to guess course everybody knows we're talking about marijuana" said Svare last night from his birthplace Clarkfield Minn where he was to address a high school banquet It remained only for Rozelle to confirm the list of suspects Of those involved among management and the athletes nobody was really surprised Klein knew the club might be fined Svare was prepared for the lash and the ballplayers and their attorneys had been put on notice told the commissioner to do whatever he felt was said Klein we had done a bad job I was willing to take my Svare reacted in the same spirit He had been the head coach when the Charger drug scene was revealed and somehow he had failed accept my said Svare Tommy Prothro the incumbent head coach was forewarned you know this was Prothro was asked you bracing yourself?" guess so "Did you know the list of suspects?" of them There was one surprise: Coy When Prothro was head coach of the Los Angeles Rams he dealt Jones Bacon and Bob Thomas to the Chargers Now he comes to a tarnished team a loser and he had some ideas about avoiding the trouble that resulted in a B5 Harland Svare rj i I "i Tv NFL slaps eight Chargers with fines for drug use Rozelle puts club Svare on probationary status Sports Bernie Evans ft i Editor Sat April 27 1974 Andretti plans to hit the road fit yV vV 1 4 '4 Sum tkX cl Lee Elder blasts from the rough at second hole in the Tournament of Champions at Rancho LaCosta Little UPI telephoto Buddy Allin holds five-stroke lead in the event which continues today NEW YORK (AP)- The San Diego Chargers general manager Harland Svare and eight players have been fined a total of $40000 and the individuals involved placed on probation by the National Football League for violation of NFL drug policies Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced Friday Details as to what specific drug violations were involved were not announced This is the first action announced by the NFL since the league strengthened its drug policies last June The players fined were Deacon Jones and Tim Rossovich $3000 each Coy Bacon Dave Costa and Jerry LeVias $2000 each and Rick Redman Walt Sweeney and Bob Thomas $1000 each Sweeney was traded to Washington in the offseason The players were disciplined violations occurring at the training camp site and in some cases during the regular season as according to Rozelle The San Diego Charger Football Club was fined $20000 a sum equal to the total amount of the individual fines for omissions by its administrative Rozelle said Svare was fined $5000 and placed on probation failure to exercise proper supervisory controls over activities of the players and others having entree to the football And Tommy Prothro hired to coach the Chargers in the upcoming season said he say much about what has happened because I was in Europe when the events seemed to have taken place can discuss the future he added have discussed my position with management and they concur All of these players are not with us now and others will be gone before we start the season "Those that we feel are rehabilitated and are still with us this summer will be replaced if they show signs of continuing their bad Prothro said disregard for NFL drug policies was first brought to our attention by reports that some Charger players felt the situation was having an extremely adverse effect on the football Rozelle said Friday The action was taken after a lengthy investigation which included interviews with approximately 50 individuals According to the NFL announcement player fines were based on degree of individual involvement and on their subsequent awareness of the detrimental effects such actions have on professional football Rozelle added that the levels of discipline imposed on players and management should not be considered as standards for future misconduct of this nature In Los Angeles Charger owner Eugene Klein had no argument with Rozelle action think obviously the commissioner had enough information and did what he thought was correct There has to be strong discipline in all sports today or it will run away If you have discipline sports as we know them today in this country will Klein said he had not talked with any of the players fined but that Rozelle with me yesterday about it He discussed with me the evidence he had and I told him it was his prerogative to do as he saw fit to uphold the rules and regulations of the Although the team has policy of fining players for drug violations Klein said the Chargers had never acted against a player Chargers have no evidence of any drug activity but obviously the commissioner said Klein He said the Chargers would take no further action against the players think the commissioner has taken the necessary Klein also said he no idea what drugs were involved" Sweeney reacted sharply saying appalled I done anything illegal Happily no longer with them (the Last November a secret state report in California said drug use on the Chargers team was worse than in 1969 when a player contended that teammates had performed under the influence of drugs Last May after filing a lawsuit against the club Houston Ridge was awarded $300000 in a court-ordered settlement In depositions taken in the trial Charger officials were accused of passing out as many as 10000 high-powered pep pills tranquilizers and other drugs during a one-year period The new investigation made by the California Board of Medical Examiners the state Pharmacy Board and the San Diego District office said in part basic problem exists the condition regarding drugs is worse today than it was in October 1969 when Mr Ridge was Svare reportedly visiting relatives in Minnesota when the action was announced said last November that his management had never permitted use of amphetamines or other illicit drugs tolerate it we condone he said Klein said it was ironclad that any player caught using any such drug would be fined $1000 and suspended There was no indication that any players were ever fined or suspended by the club Dodgers returning to days of glory? By BOB COX The only time in the two decades of Walt leadership that the Dodgers have led them National League in run production was 1955 That was a team some may recall that also wound up winning a World Series while averaging 55 runs per game and leading the league in team hitting with a 271 averge Nineteen seasons later Alston has a team capable of threatening those marks His 1974 version in fact is sprinting out of the gates under the power of more run-scoring horsepower than even that club This Dodgers stepped on home plate five times in have We hit some shots that were caught too A lot of hits always make a big difference unless you can bunch them The Dodgers got four hits in the fust to chase Montreal starter Steve Renko Willie Crawford the old man of the starters with 10 experience singled to drive in a run in the first then beat out a roller for a two-for-four night That raised his average to 323 runs will keep coming for this said Crawford team knows it can hit we proved that last year by leading the National League before we stopped is a team that knows it can keep hitting an individual thing with each hitter working on what it takes for him to do the job a thing where everybody has to work on his own mental awareness every day Each hitter knows what it takes 4 the first inning Friday night to support Andy three-hit pitching with a 7-1 victory over NL East leader Montreal And the hitting was of a timeliness and explosiveness that would kindle early thoughts of pennants The Dodgers now 14-5 have tied their all-time record for most victories in April And averaging 59 runs per game scored three runs in all but one game and they won that one 1-0 Thursday night) Six of the nine starters combined for nine hits off three Expos pitchers Friday night with Messersmith singling and doubling to raise his personal batting average to 500 (six-for-12) we have to be pretty pleased with our run understated Alston still early 18 or 19 games prove anything thought we hit the ball as well in the first inning as we Mario Andretti road racer again And the way mainly going to be from now on for the popular driver of Viceroy Specials for Jones Racing of Torrance The big change in racing activities will occur shortly after the 1974 Indianapolis 500 on May 26 A week later Andretti will unveil his Viceroy-Lola in the Formula 5000 series opener at Mid-Ohio in Lexington Ohio June 2 that point onward I intend to do most of my racing on road courses with fewer and fewer oval says the Italian-born superstar Andretti has been away from road racing for nearly two years concentrating his efforts in oval-track racing on the US Auto Club championship car trail He prefers being busier can easily get bored and fall into a slump doing just one kind of he explains (road racing) perks me up Now I can look forward to things record is spiced with variety It also marks him as one of most versatile drivers of all time He has won the Indianapolis 500 (1969) the Daytona 500 for stock cars (1967) the Sebring 12 hour for sports cars three times and the Formula 1 Grand Prix of South Africa (1971) amQng many other achievements The goal of Andretti of course is a full-scale assault in the Formula 1 championship That comes next year The Formula 5000 series is step No 1 in that direction program gives our full team an opportunity first to work together for a year and to get to know each philosophy in preparing for a Maurice Phillippe who has designed last three Indianapolis race cars is now creating a Formula 1 machine which will be ready for testing by August It will go to the races in the fall when the Grand Prix circuit moves to North America for season-ending races in Canada and Watkins GlenNY Next year with the support of Firestone Tire Rubber Co Andretti will earnestly launch a three-year Formula 1 campaign In the meantime Andretti crew chief Jim Chapman and engineer George Woodward are preparing the Viceroy-Lola for the Sports Car Club of seven-race Formula 5000 series an imposing lineup of manpower Chapman and have been closely identified with Lola racing for many years in England and the US and except for last year they have worked together for more than a decade Hundreds of miles of testing at Riverside International Raceway in-i dicate the team is well prepared Andretti has consistently run laps a full second under the course record with the Chevrolet-powered Lola Andretti who is 34 confesses that one of the reasons glad to be back in road racing is that cars seem more He was comparing B4 iT -v 1 -I Ryan kayoed by Indians 4-3 sman Tom Timmerman 1-1 came on to put down the outburst and picked up the victory Milt Wilcox took over for Timmerman in the eighth blanked the Angels the rest of the way Both teams blew early opportunities to score the Indians loading the bases with one out in the second on a single and two walks Ryan walked two more in the fifth but the Indians capitalize on them Before the Angels broke the ice they loaded the bases in the third when with two out Doyle singled and Joe Lahoud doubled Frank Robinson was intentionally wlaked but Johnson retired Bob Oliver on a foul to Chambliss CLEVELAND (AP) Chris three-run double capped a four-run seventh-inning uprising that carried the Cleveland Indians to a 4-3 victory over the Angels Friday night hit kayoed Nolan Ryan who had taken a two-hit 3-0 lead into the seventh and handed the fireballer his third loss in five decisions Ryan worked himself into the jam by issuing two walks at the start of the seventh With one out John Lowenstein and Jack Brohamer singled for one Cleveland run then Chambliss unloaded his bases-loaded double into the left field comer Hie Angels scored three times in the fourth off Bob Johnson on Ellie run-scoring single Denny sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded hit bat UPI telephoto Shea Stadium Yankees scored 4-3 win then were involved in multi-player trade with Cleveland Dave Nelson of Texas slips in under the tag of Yankees' Mike Hegan after pick-off attempt in game played Friday at I.