Darryl Strawberry Biography

1962-

American baseball player

When Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to an eighteen-month prison term in April 2002 for violating the terms of his court-ordered drug treatment, it marked the lowest point in a decline that had stared two decades earlier. Signed to the New York Mets in 1980 right after he had finished high school, Strawberry's career as a baseball player got off to a promising start. He was named the Rookie of the Year in 1983 and helped the Mets win a World Series championship in 1986. Yet

Darryl Strawberry

he had begun abusing amphetamines to enhance his performance in the majors and fell into the habit of easing his pressures through the consumption of alcohol.

The habits first derailed him in 1990 when he entered a treatment center for substance abuse. The next decade was marked by repeated brushes with the law for domestic violence, weapons charges, and drug abuse. Meanwhile, Strawberry moved to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three seasons, followed by a twenty-nine game stint with the San Francisco Giants that was curtailed when he tested positive for cocaine use. Going back to the minor leagues in 1995, Strawberry was signed by the New York Yankees and claimed to have turned his professional and personal lives around. A diagnosis of colon cancer in 1998 generated public sympathy for Strawberry's struggles, but he continued to abuse drugs during his recovery and ended up back in court on drug charges in 1999. After violating his parole in 2000, Strawberry was placed under house arrest to force him to complete another drug-treatment program. After violating his parole for a sixth time in April 2002, he was sentenced to an eighteen-month term in the Florida prison system.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY STRAWBERRY:

(With Art Rust, Jr.) Darryl, Bantam Books, 1992.