STRAWBERRY RECEIVES 18-MONTH PRISON TERM

TAMPA, Fla., April 29 - Darryl Strawberry looked on without emotion today
as a state judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison for the latest of six
probation violations.

Strawberry will receive about three months' credit for time served in
several jails. His lawyer, Darryl Rouson, said Strawberry might be released
from prison in 13 months because of time served and a Florida law
permitting inmates to be released after serving at least 85 percent of
their sentences.

Strawberry, a former outfielder for the Yankees and the Mets, among other
teams, and an eight-time All-Star, probably could have had his sentencing
deferred until the Hillsborough Circuit Court judge familiar with his case,
Florence Foster, returned from an extended medical leave.

But Strawberry told Ron Dock, a drug counselor for the Yankees at their
minor league base here, that he was through being evasive and adversarial.

"He told me, 'On Monday I want to go in one door and out the other,' " Dock
said. "He said he wasn't going to waste anyone's time anymore, that he
wanted to go ahead and serve his time and move on."

Ralph Steinberg, a retired Circuit Court judge substituting for Foster,
obliged by turning over Strawberry to the Florida Department of
Corrections, which will determine where he will serve his sentence.

The Zephyrhills Correctional Institution, near Strawberry's home in Tampa,
is favored by Rouson because it offers both substance abuse and
psychological counseling.

Rouson said the location should be determined within a week and a half.

Steinberg, the replacement judge, told Strawberry, "I will recommend - and
I think that's all I can do - that they place you in a facility that will
best serve your needs for rehabilitation." When the judge said he hoped
Strawberry could return to baseball one day, Strawberry smiled wanly.

Strawberry told the judge: "I'd just like to get this behind me. My life is
going in the right direction. I've made some mistakes and I'm willing to
pay the price for it. It's time for me to move on with my life. And I don't
want to have this over my head."

Strawberry, 40, received probation for a 1999 conviction on drug and
prostitution solicitation charges; he violated the terms of his probation
when he was thrown out of Phoenix House, a substance-abuse rehabilitation
center in Citra, Fla., on March 12.

Steinberg gave an early hint of his decision when he told the crowded
courtroom, which included Strawberry's wife, Charisse: "The primary purpose
of this drug division is treatment, not punishment. So if there is any way
that anyone can be treated, the decision is made. But sometimes there comes
a time when there's an end to the road."

An assistant state attorney, Darrell Dirks, made a forceful argument for
incarceration. Rouson talked of the possibility of sending Strawberry to
Pinellas Bridge, a drug treatment program for inmates in St. Petersburg, Fla.

There was only one problem, Dirks said. It is a nonsecured facility,
meaning Strawberry could simply choose to leave if he wanted.

"His problem at this point is not that he's using drugs," Dirks said. "He
just won't follow the rules. He didn't like someone telling him what to do.
At some point the defendant needs to be punished for that, and we think now
is the time."

Rouson said he had seen a change in Strawberry. "The big positive for him
is sobriety," Rouson said. "He's someplace where he hasn't been in a long
time. This is not a tunnel that's dark and you can't see any way out.
There's no reason for him to be sad today."

Strawberry said, "Hopefully, there'll be no more paperwork, no more
probation, no more problems."