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Sunday, May 28 | |||||
Strawberry: 'I need to get myself better this time' | |||||
NEW YORK -- Darryl Strawberry won't appeal his one-year ban
from baseball, saying he wants to concentrate on rehabilitation.
A third strike for cocaine got Strawberry the suspension Feb.
28, and commissioner Bud Selig did not make any provision for the
slugger to return early for good behavior.
"No, I wouldn't want to appeal," Strawberry told the New York
Post in a story published Saturday. "At this time, I just want to
take care of myself."
Strawberry, who failed a drug test in January, is in treatment
for the third time in 10 years instead of trying to help the New
York Yankees win a third straight World Series. The Yankees had
hoped Strawberry, 38, would be their main designated hitter.
He is a career .259 hitter with 335 home runs and 1,000 RBIs.
"I feel like I let everybody down," Strawberry told the Post.
"There was no question about it, I was depressed about things, but
what I have to do is get this thing right so I don't have to do it
all over again.
"What was most disappointing to me was that I let people down.
I miss everybody, I miss Joe (Torre) and the coaches, the players,
everybody and everything. But the most important thing is I need to
get myself better this time."
In 1990, Strawberry entered the Smithers Center in New York for
alcohol rehabilitation. Four years later, he spent 28 days at the
Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for treatment of a
substance-abuse problem. Now, he is in a facility in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.
| ALSO SEE Strawberry tested positive for cocaine in January Torre says Straw sounds OK, but unsure about future Darryl Strawberry chronology Last straw? Selig suspends Yankees' Strawberry for year Strawberry's troubles sadden Gooden Strawberry starts rehab, wants to 'take control' |