STRAWBERRY SENTENCED TO PRISON

Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for violating
probation, a punishment he calmly accepted by insisting, "My life is going
in the right direction."

Dressed in an orange jail-issued uniform, the former major league star said
he would "just like to get this behind me."

"I would like to do my 18 months and move on," Strawberry said in Tampa,
Fla. "I don't want to have this over my head."

In the latest in a long list of his legal problems, the 40-year-old
Strawberry was ordered behind bars for violating probation for the sixth
time following his 1999 conviction on drug and solicitation of prostitution
charges.

The latest violation involved breaking the rules of a drug treatment center
by smoking, having sex with a resident and trading baseballs for cigarettes.

Again on Monday, Strawberry's lawyer suggested a treatment center. But
Judge Florence Foster, who repeatedly decided treatment was better than
prison for Strawberry, is no longer presiding over his case.

Retired Judge Ralph Steinberg was brought back into service to replace
Foster while she is on medical leave. While handing out the sentence,
Steinberg said he hoped Strawberry will return to baseball one day, drawing
a smile from the player who has three World Series rings.

Strawberry's lawyer, Darryl Rouson, said he expects his client will serve
fewer than 13 months and will get credit for time already spent in jail -
nearly two months in 2001 and more than a month this year.