The Philadelphia Phillies and Major League Baseball talked to Len Dykstra last summer about his gambling, club president Bill Giles said yesterday.
Giles, however, said he did not anticipate any disciplinary against the All-Star center fielder, adding, "As far as we know, he's been completely cleared by the commissioner's office."
Dykstra returned to the Phillies yesterday, a day after testifying in Oxford, Miss., at the trial of a man charged with operating an illegal poker game. Dykstra admitted writing checks for $78,000 in losses, incurred and paid off more than a year ago.
The man, Herbert Kelso of Ridgeland, Miss., was acquitted yesterday of one count of running an illegal casino, one count of conspiracy, one count of money laundering and three counts of perjury.
Giles said: "We're aware of [Dykstra's gambling]. And it was a problem. The commissioner and his security people met with Lenny in the middle of last year, as I remember."
Commissioner Fay Vincent would not say whether Dykstra has been reprimanded for gambling, whether he has been cleared or whether baseball officials suggested Dykstra's move from Jackson, Miss., to a Philadelphia suburb last year.
Vincent made it clear that Giles does not speak for him on the issue.
"I don't know where Bill Giles got his information [that Dykstra has been cleared]," Vincent said. "We're handling this on a confidential basis."