STRAWBERRY AVOIDS PRISON

Tears welled in Darryl Strawberry's eyes today
after a judge ruled that yet another probation violation by Strawberry
would not result in a prison term. Judge Florence Foster of
Hillsborough Circuit Court said she was sending Strawberry to a
strict, privately run drug treatment program rather than agree to the
state's request that he serve 18 months in a prison treatment program.

Two hours later, in the same courthouse, Strawberry avoided prison
time again, for violating probation in September by crashing his car
while on prescribed medication and leaving the scene of the accident.
Judge James Dominguez of Circuit Court, who could have sentenced
Strawberry to a maximum of a year in prison, instead gave him credit
for the 43 days he spent under arrest in the psychiatric ward of St.
Joseph's Hospital and ended his probation.

Foster, who had threatened in November to incarcerate Strawberry
should he appear before her again, gave Strawberry an 18-month prison
sentence, then suspended it and said he would be under two years of
community control.

Strawberry has violated five times the terms of his release on a 1999
conviction for drug possession and solicitation of a prostitute. If he
violates his release again, he will face the 18-month prison sentence
that was suspended.

Foster said Strawberry must complete "every phase of the program" at
Phoenix House, a drug treatment center in Citra, Fla., that could take
a minimum of 18 months.

As part of the drug offender probation program, Strawberry will be
subjected to at least two random urine tests a month and must abstain
from alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs. He must attend three
Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous meetings a week and stay away
from high-crime areas. He must also perform 100 hours of community
service by speaking to young people.

"The preponderance of evidence suggests the defendant will be better
served at the present time in Phoenix House as opposed to Florida
state prison," Foster said.

Foster said her ruling reflects more enlightened information that drug
addiction is truly a disease. But she made it clear that she thought
it was high time for Strawberry to get his life together.

"If we were to analogize to a nine-inning baseball game, Darryl
Strawberry is at bat in the bottom of the ninth with two strikes
against him," Foster said. "He has proved he is a winner on the field.
Now he must prove he is a winner off the field."

Strawberry, 39, will soon be transferred from St. Joseph's, where he
has been under armed guard since April 2, when he turned himself in to
authorities after he violated his probation. He disappeared from a
Tampa drug treatment center and went on a four-day crack cocaine binge.

Strawberry, who also has colon cancer, huddled with his lawyer, Joseph
Ficarrotta, in a back room shortly after Foster's ruling. "He came to
tears, really," Ficarrotta said, "because he realizes he received a
very big opportunity."

Strawberry, looking much more alert and aware than at a May 4 hearing,
was not available to reporters after the sentencing, but he made one
last appeal to Foster before her ruling.

"This case is not about Darryl Strawberry the baseball star," he said.
"This case is about a person who's been very sick for a very long time
and needs a great deal of help. I just think that prison isn't the
right place to get the proper help. With the help of God that I
believe in, I just hope I can get to the right place to end this drug
abuse."

As Foster made her ruling, the packed gallery included the former
pitcher Dwight Gooden and Strawberry's wife, Charisse. Gooden left the
courthouse without comment.

Officials at Phoenix House said Charisse Strawberry should be able to
visit her husband in several months.

"I'm happy that he got another chance at treatment," she said as she
walked away from the courthouse. "People are understanding that this
is a disease and this is an ailment and people need continued
treatment despite failing."

Amid the shouts of an unidentified man who said he resented
Strawberry's avoiding prison time again "only because he can hit a
baseball," Ficarrotta stood outside the courthouse today and said he
believed this represented Strawberry's best chance yet to "beat the
demons of drug addiction."

"He's going to fight the good fight again," Ficarrotta said. "And
those of us who care about him, we all can only hope he's going to win
this time. This is his best chance."