Fans’ Rancor Toward Strawberry Unabated After His Departure

How nice. Fred Claire would have us believe that after the Dodgers dumped millions of dollars on Darryl Strawberry over the last four years and received exactly one-half a season of productive service, he is only concerned about this player’s well-being. That’s great, Fred, but how would you feel if the money was coming out of your own pocket?

Darryl is humiliated about letting the Dodgers and their fans down? I tend to doubt it. What he ought to be embarrassed about is his behavior as an employee of this ballclub, with an attitude that reeks of selfishness and a performance level over the past three years that would have had less-expensive ballplayers released outright.

Darryl Strawberry’s tenure with the Dodgers is an embarrassing chapter in this club’s history. I hope he gets his life straightened out, but I feel the same as most other Dodger fans: Good riddance.

MIKE GUINN

Santa Clarita

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What a great blessing it was for the Dodgers and baseball in general that Branch Rickey, in breaking major league baseball’s color barrier, had a Jackie Robinson to work with rather than a Darryl Strawberry.

WILLIAM S. KOESTER

Upland

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If XYZ Corp. were hiring an executive for a couple of million dollars a year, there would be a resume, background checks, interviews--you know the story.

And with Darryl Strawberry, everyone (at least the fans) knew the guy was trouble, had a bad reputation and dirty laundry. What in the world did we want with a guy like this to begin with?

Now, he’s gone and the Dodgers will continue in their never-ending role as the league’s farm team.

Never mind who’s on first--just fire the guy who made the call to sign Strawberry to begin with.

WAYNE BRADSHAW

Redondo Beach

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I only wish Fred Claire would have the same empathy for the people who paid for his fiasco and Darryl Strawberry’s bad habits--the fan who has to pay the inflated prices for tickets, parking, food and beverages at the ballpark to see the lazy bum play when he felt like it.

BARNEY THARP

Simi Valley

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What is the message we are sending to our children when we pay someone $8 million to do absolutely nothing after two stays in a rehabilitation clinic for substance abuse?

Isn’t it about time baseball and other sports get tough and put into these outrageous contracts a clause that would deny these so-called role models any compensation after they’ve blown one chance? It’s tough enough teaching kids to do the right thing, especially when they see these phony heroes being rewarded for despicable behavior instead of suffering consequences.

TERRY SNYDER

Los Angeles