Deal for Strawberry Seems to Make Fans of Both Sides Happy

Daaaaaaryl. Daaaaaaryl. The hometown kid is coming home. Thanks to Dodgers’ Vice President Fred Claire (and $20 million), Crenshaw High’s Darryl Strawberry will be a Dodger for at least the next five years.

This is the best thing Claire or the Dodgers have ever done. Without hesitation, Claire went after and got baseball’s premier power hitter. The die-hard Dodger fans are all well aware of the Dodgers’ bad luck with free agency (with the exception of one swing by Kirk Gibson), and so, we all held our breath, praying that Claire and the Dodgers didn’t let Strawberry get away like a certain slugging free agent did in 1977. That slugger, Reggie Jackson, of course, proceeded to then help the Yankees to two straight World Series victories over the Dodgers.

Those of you who bleed blue blood became instant fortune tellers as soon as Strawberry filed for free agency, sure that the Dodgers wouldn’t sign him and have the Mets beat up on the Dodgers for the rest of Strawberry’s long and fruitful career. But unlike past disappointments, Claire came through, so let the championships start flowing in.

MATT ALBERT

San Diego