Angels Suspend Phillips

BALTIMORE — Tony Phillips has refused the Angels’ request to enter an inpatient drug-treatment center, so the team suspended the leadoff batter indefinitely with pay Monday night, a move that is expected to draw strong opposition from the Major League Baseball Players Assn.

Phillips, arrested in an Anaheim motel Aug. 10 on felony possession of cocaine charges, was cleared to play Saturday by doctors representing baseball and the union.

But the Walt Disney Co., which operates the Angels, wants Phillips to undergo more extensive treatment than the random drug testing and outpatient counseling for which he has volunteered.

An inpatient program would last from a week to four weeks and would require Phillips to go on the disabled list; an outpatient program would require weekly or bi-weekly meetings, which could be worked around the Angels’ schedule.

“We just wanted him to go to an inpatient treatment program, which is different than what Major League Baseball wants,” Angel President Tony Tavares said. “Our advice has been that the [inpatient program] is better than the [outpatient program].”

Phillips, who was on the Angels’ active 25-man roster until Monday night but has not been allowed to work out with the team since Thursday, entered the Angels’ Camden Yards clubhouse briefly after Monday night’s 2-1 loss to the Orioles but left without commenting for the record.

Union officials could not be reached late Monday night, but Gene Orza, associate general counsel for the players association, said over the weekend that Disney was “acting improperly” by not returning Phillips to the field and promised the union would make Disney “play by the rules.”

Tavares said he did not speak with union officials Monday, “but I’m not interested in anticipating what someone else will do,” he said. “We’re prepared for it. I think we have taken a step that is in the best interests of the ballclub and Tony.”

The union will likely file a grievance with the commissioner’s office today and will ask for an expedited hearing before an independent arbitrator, which could be arranged in as little as 24 hours.

Nicholas Zumas, the arbitrator who has heard such cases, was recently fired by the owners and the union, but another arbitrator can be obtained on an ad hoc basis.

Recent history favors Phillips in such a dispute. The Boston Red Sox tried to place outfielder Wilfredo Cordero on the restricted list in June after he was charged with spousal abuse, but the union successfully fought to have Cordero reinstated within a week after filing a grievance.

Tavares said the suspension will stand until Phillips agrees to enter an inpatient drug treatment center.

“We’re not trying to make an example of anyone,” Tavares said. “We’re trying to do what’s in the best interest of the club and the player.”

And the Walt Disney Co.

It is clearly evident, by its actions, that Disney is trying to hold itself to a higher standard than baseball in regards to drug use; that the entertainment giant feels compelled, as a promoter of wholesome family values, to take a stronger stance against drug use.

But Phillips is not cooperating, because in his mind, he has fulfilled baseball’s requirements under the sport’s drug policy and has been cleared by baseball’s doctors to play.

Does Tavares think Phillips, who is batting .279 with 77 runs, 47 RBIs and a .390 on-base percentage, will play for the Angels again? “I would not speculate on that,” he said.

Does he want him to play for the Angels again? “Yes,” Tavares said, “I do.”

Angel Manager Terry Collins, who probably will activate reliever Greg Cadaret to replace Phillips on the 25-man roster today, said players, who are in the thick of a division race, can’t afford to let the Phillips situation be a distraction.

“This team has to be centered on one thing, what’s going on on the field,” Collins said. “If everyone stopped talking about it, it wouldn’t be a distraction, but that’s not going to happen. No matter who they talk to, someone is going to ask about it . . . they just have to be able to separate things.”

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* ANGEL REPORT

Manager Terry Collins praised third baseman Dave Hollins for his endurance in recent games despite Hollins’ ongoing battle with diabetes. C5