Pro athletes warned about handling mail

Concerned by the wave of anthrax cases surfacing around the country, wary professional sports teams and leagues are warning players to handle mail with care, if they handle it at all.

And many athletes are being extra cautious about what once was a routine matter of answering correspondence from fans.

Each week, Tiger Woods gets stacks of mail sent either through the PGA Tour or to his agent's offices. They eventually work their way down to a business office he has in Orlando, Fla., and are now handled more carefully than ever.

"My assistant has definitely talked about using gloves," Woods said. "It is a danger right now, the way things are going. But it's one of those things where a lot of fans write in, and you have to answer."

Jackie Sutherland, the mailroom manager for the PGA Tour, said a couple of players have called and said they don't want their mail and to stamp it return to sender.

Effective Monday, mailroom workers began wearing surgical gloves. If mail has no return address and looks suspicious, Sutherland said he sends the worker out of the room, closes the door, shuts off the air conditioning and opens it himself or calls the head of PGA Tour security, Joe Corless, a retired FBI agent.

"We're really been watching Tiger's stuff lately, because he's the big dog," Sutherland said.

Golfer Davis Love III gets a postal bin full of mail every week.

"We just talked to our local postmaster and said that for things that we don't know where it comes from, we're going to stamp it refuse or return to sender," he said. "If I get a name I don't know that is not a bill, we're just going to send it back."

Leagues alert teams

The NFL, NBA, NHL and major league baseball all alerted teams to the danger.

"So much is sent to athletes, we want them to be on alert," said Kevin Hallinan, baseball's head of security. "There's a list of precautions to take, some instructions and recommendations for dealing with suspicious items."

Pitcher Steve Reed of the Atlanta Braves said team officials and security examine all mail before it is distributed to players.

"It's definitely a concern," he said. "Someone could open a letter, and the whole team's infected. You don't want to open some crazy guy's mail who's trying to get the Atlanta Braves sick."

Reed said the usual clubhouse humor prevailed before the anthrax issue came up.

"We used to kid around all the time -- hold up a package to our ear and say, 'Is this ticking?' But now, it's nothing to joke about," he said. "If it can happen at ABC and NBC, it can happen here.

"I think we'd be foolish not to be aware of it. Even when I'm opening my mail at home, I'm kind of thinking about it."

Seattle manager Lou Piniella said his mail is routinely examined when it arrives.

"I don't get letters, per se," he said. "Mine get answered. I mean, they get screened.

"But the players, I mean, it's something to start considering. You see what's happened in New York and Florida ... it's a little scary."

The NBA has been reviewing all security procedures, but would not be specific about what measures are being taken regarding fan mail or suspicious packages.

The NHL advised all clubs last week of the procedures to follow when receiving mail and packages, complying with an advisory that was distributed by the FBI. In it, teams were alerted to watch for mail with excess postage and no return addresses.

The NFL has issued a similar warning to its teams and players.