Are Strawberry’s Troubles Shrinking?

We read your letters last week regarding Darryl Strawberry. As practicing psychotherapists, we would like to add something that’s being overlooked.

Mr. Strawberry has had a history of violent behavior; it is no wonder he has found peace in a belief system that helps him overcome it. But there’s a fallacy in his thinking. The aggressive behavior needed to be a pro athlete needn’t reawaken violent impulses in his personal life. Mr. Strawberry should recognize the difference between untempered violence off the field and sanctioned aggressiveness on it.

True growth is measured not by one’s ability to completely suppress those urges, but by learning how and where to rechannel them. In whacking a baseball, Darryl has already found a healthy place to do that. And he gives thousand of fans every night a chance to do the same.

ROSE NINBERG and MORRIS SCHWARTZ

Los Angeles