JUDGE TO STRAWBERRY: NO MORE BREAKS

Ex-Ballplayer Goes To Prison

TAMPA - The judge, a former minor-league pitcher who dreamed of the majors,
looked down from the bench upon the shackled defendant, a major-league
slugger who plummeted from grace.

"You've been given several opportunities ... to avoid incarceration,"
Senior Judge Ralph Steinberg told Darryl Strawberry in Hillsborough Circuit
Court. "And you've squandered those opportunities."

There would be no more breaks, Steinberg said, sending the former New York
Yankees and Mets star to prison for 18 months for again violating
probation. With credit for time served, Strawberry could be free in 13 months.

Steinberg will recommend Strawberry be placed in a prison that offers drug
addiction treatment. Among the possibilities: Zephyrhills Correctional
Institution.

"I'd just like to get this behind me," Strawberry, 40, said of the legal
saga sparked by his 1999 arrest on drug and prostitution charges. "My life
is going in the right direction."

Steinberg said he hoped Strawberry was sincere, "for your sake and for the
sake of your friends and relatives."

"Good luck to you," he said before Strawberry, wearing orange jail clothes,
was fingerprinted and led away by bailiffs.

Strawberry's wife, Charisse, attended the sentencing. Accompanied by
representatives of Without Walls Church, she avoided reporters outside the
courthouse and was driven away in a Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle
that bore the words "Big Daddy" and a reference to a Bible passage.

Strawberry's Trouble Begins

Her husband's troubles began in April 1999 when Tampa police pulled him
over on Kennedy Boulevard. The eight-time all-star had offered a female
undercover officer $50 for sex. Inside his wallet was 0.3 grams of cocaine
wrapped in a $20 bill.

At the time, Strawberry was working out at the Yankees' minor-league
complex, trying to get back in shape after surgery for colon cancer six
months before.

Strawberry, who has had three drug-related suspensions from baseball, was
charged with solicitation to commit prostitution and possession of cocaine.
He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 18 months of probation.

But he tested positive for cocaine use in January 2000 and was involved in
a hit-and-run accident later that year while taking prescription drugs. He
was sentenced to two years of community control for violating probation.

Attempts At Treatment Fail

In October 2000, Strawberry again violated probation by leaving a Tampa
residential drug treatment center to smoke crack cocaine and pop
antidepressants. Prosecutors asked for prison time, but Circuit Judge
Florence Foster sent Strawberry back into treatment, this time ordering him
to wear an electronic monitor.

In March 2001, Strawberry disappeared from the treatment center for four
days. Friends tracked him down after unsubstantiated reports, apparently
generated by Strawberry, that he had been kidnapped and was being held for
$50,000 ransom. Upon his arrest, Strawberry tested positive for cocaine.

Again over prosecutors' objections, Foster sent Strawberry to another
treatment facility, this one near Ocala. She also gave him an 18-month
suspended prison term.

But in March, Strawberry was kicked out of the Phoenix House treatment
center for sneaking cigarettes, not taking his medication and having sex
with a female patient.

Foster was to sentence Strawberry on April 19 for his sixth probation
violation, but she was sick. Foster last week announced she won't return to
the bench due to complications from multiple sclerosis.

Repeat Offender Before New Judge

Strawberry's sentencing fell to Steinberg, who in the 1950s was a
hard-throwing southpaw pitcher with the Lafayette (La.) Bulls and Hot
Springs (Ark.) Bathers.

Strawberry's attorney, Darryl Rouson, asked Steinberg to consider sending
his client to a St. Petersburg treatment facility. Rouson called the
incidents at Phoenix House a "blip," saying Strawberry has been drug-free
for a year.

But Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks said Strawberry deserved
punishment for persisting in breaking rules.

Steinberg agreed.

"The principal purpose of this drug [court] is treatment, not punishment,"
he said. "But sometimes there comes a time when there's an end to the road."

Afterward, Rouson said Strawberry is "concentrating on the positive": his
avoidance of drugs and his colon cancer being in remission.

"There's no reason for him to be sad," said Rouson, a recovering addict.

Ron Dock, a drug counselor with the Yankees organization, said Strawberry
"wants to move on."

"Baseball's in the past," said Dock, also a recovering addict. "He's at peace."

(Sidebar, page 5)

Following An All Too Familiar Path

A Look at Darryl Strawberry's troubles since being diagnosed with cancer
while playing with the New York Yankees:

1998

Oct. 1 Diagnosed with colon cancer.

Oct. 3 Undergoes surgery to remove a tumor that nearly obstructed his
intestine.

Oct. 9 Doctors announce Strawberry will undergo chemotherapy; cancer had
spread to a lymph node.

1999

Jan. 9 Has surgery to relieve pain caused by scar tissue from his cancer
operation.

Feb. 9 Makes debut as spokesman for the National Council on Alcoholism and
Drug Dependence.

March 10 Still undergoing chemotherapy, he goes 1-for-4 in an exhibition
game, his first game appearance since surgery.

March 29 Yankees announce that Strawberry will remain at extended spring
training instead of joining the club on the opening-day roster.

April 14 Charged with possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute.
Placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball 10 days later.

May 26 Enters a no-contest plea to charges. Sentenced to 18 months of
probation and 100 hours of community service

June 18 Bud Selig announces that Strawberry can return to baseball after a
120-day suspension ends on Aug.11.

Aug. 2 Selig reduces Strawberry's suspension by one week; Yankees announce
Strawberry will join Columbus of the International League on Aug. 4.

Sept. 1 Yankees purchase Strawberry's contract from Columbus. He finishes
the season with a .327 batting average, three homers and six RBis. In the
postseason, he hits.333 (5-for-15) with two homers and four RBis as the
Yankees win their second straight world championship.

2000

Feb. 22 A Florida Department of Corrections report says Strawberry tested
positive for cocaine on Jan. 19.

Feb. 28 Suspended for one year, his third cocaine-related suspension from
baseball in five years.

March 1 For the third time in 10 years, he checks himself into a drug
rehabilitation clinic.

July 28 A CT scan suggests his colon cancer has spread to lymph nodes near
his original tumor.

August 7 Undergoes surgery to remove stomach tumor.

Sept. 11 Arrested in Tampa after car crash.

Oct. 25 Arrested in Tampa for violating probation after testing positive
for cocaine.

Nov. 3 Tells a judge he has lost his will to live; stops chemotherapy while
in jail.

Nov. 9 Sentenced to 30 days in jail. After release must return to the
substance- abuse treatment center under house arrest.

Nov. 21 Sentenced to a year's probation and 50 hours of community service
for causing a traffic accident while under the influence of painkillers in
September. Serves the sentence concurrently with his house arrest at a
Tampa drug treatment center.

2001

March 30 Arrest warrant is issued for leaving the drug treatment center
where he had been serving two years' house arrest.

April 2 Arrested at a hospital and charged with violating a probation
warrant after a four-day disappearance from a drug treatment center.

2002

March 12 On his 40th birthday, arrested and kicked out of the drug
treatment at Phoenix for breaking rules.

April 29 Sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating probation.