Piazza’s Situation Redefined : Ownership: Lasorda’s friend did not fail security check, as baseball executive said. He is still in Giants’ purchasing group.

Vince Piazza, longtime friend of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, is again pursuing ownership of the San Francisco Giants after the chairman of the major league baseball ownership committee said Piazza passed a security check.

Retracting a statement he made Thursday, Fred Kuhlmann, vice chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals, said major league baseball does not have a problem with Piazza’s background.

He said his committee is withholding approval of the ownership group, which hopes to move the Giants to Tampa Bay, because Piazza and partner Vince Tirendi own 50%, but are not based in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

“There was no problem with the security check,” Kuhlmann said Friday. “The principal problem was the side of the out-of-state investments. The understanding of the ownership committee is that the principal owner should be from the involved city.”

Piazza, contacted Friday night at his Norristown, Pa. home, said he has no problems reducing his ownership share as long as he can retain baseball input.

“Let’s just say that with this background thing finally cleared up, everything is moving ahead,” Piazza said.

If Piazza retains a position of baseball authority with the group, and the group is approved, Lasorda would probably join him next season as a manager/general manager of the Tampa Bay Giants.

Piazza hopes his reputation has not suffered because of Kuhlmann’s admitted misstatements.

“How do you unring the bell?” Piazza asked. Bob Lurie, who is selling the Giants, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he expects the team to remain in San Francisco if a local investor group can match the reported $90 million price being offered by the Tampa Bay group.

Lurie said he felt baseball’s owners would approve such a deal over the Tampa Bay deal, although specifics of a local ownership group have not been released.