
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993                   TAG: 9303280071
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: D8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CLEVELAND                                LENGTH: Medium

PITCHER OLIN NOT DRUNK AT TIME OF ACCIDENT, NEWSPAPER REPORTS

Authorities told officials of the Cleveland Indians that pitcher Steve Olin was not drunk at the time of the boating accident that killed him and teammate Tim Crews, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Team management was told Olin's blood-alcohol level was 0.02 percent, The Plain Dealer said. The legal threshold for intoxication in Florida is 0.10 percent. The newspaper did not identify its sources.

Indians spokesman John Maroon said he could not confirm the report but would not be surprised if it were true.

The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission had not released any accident findings to the team, Maroon said from the training camp offices in Winter Haven, Fla.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the level was significantly lower than the legal limit because everyone who knows Steve knows he didn't drink," Maroon said. "I think you'll find that none of the guys was legally intoxicated."

No one was available to comment from the team office in Cleveland. A telephone recording said the office was closed for the weekend.

The crash on Little Lake Nellie in Winter Haven on Monday night killed Olin, 27, and Crews, 31, and injured Bob Ojeda, 35.

Unopened beer cans, a nearly full bottle of vodka and one empty beer can were found on the boat.

Ojeda's doctor, Allan Zubkin, told The Plain Dealer that Ojeda's blood tested negative for alcohol.

A commission spokesman, Lt. Vinard Hitt, would not comment on the blood-alcohol results for any of the pitchers pending completion of the accident investigation.

He said results of the probe probably would be announced by the beginning of this week.

Keywords:
FATALITY BASEBALL

by CNB