Strawberry Tested Positive for Cocaine

Darryl Strawberry tested positive for cocaine on consecutive days last month, according to documents obtained Tuesday by the Associated Press.

Strawberry was suspended by major league baseball Monday for 60 days for violating the game’s drug policy and terms of his after-care program. The San Francisco Giants released him.

Strawberry sat out the first two months of the 1994 season after admitting to a substance-abuse problem and seeking treatment. Although there was speculation at the time that it was a cocaine problem, it was never confirmed by representatives of baseball or Strawberry.

A letter sent by acting commissioner Bud Selig to Strawberry at his home in Rancho Mirage last week informed the outfielder that “on Jan. 17 and 18, 1995, you submitted urine samples, which tested positive for an illegal drug.”

The letter does not detail which drug was involved.

But another document on Strawberry’s case showed he tested positive for cocaine when the samples were evaluated Jan. 20. In drug testing, it is standard to perform a confirming test on an additional part of each sample. Strawberry’s “B” test was conducted Feb. 1 and also was positive.

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Catcher Andy Allanson has signed a minor league contract with the Angels. Allanson, 33, batted .261 with the Angels’ triple-A team in Vancouver last season. . . . Raul Mondesi, Jose Offerman and Jerry Brooks homered to lead the Dominican Republic to an 11-0 victory over Venezuela in the Caribbean World Series at San Juan, P.R. In the second game, Roberto Alomar had three hits, including a two-run homer, leading Puerto Rico to a 6-1 victory over Mexico. . . . Cuba will remain outside the umbrella of professional baseball, the chief of the Caribbean leagues said. Although scouts say Cuba has several players with major league ability, Commissioner Juan Francisco Puello alluded to the frosty diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington in barring for now the re-entry of that nation into organized baseball.

Pro Football

Marc Trestman, a former NFL assistant coach who managed bond portfolios the last three years, was hired as offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers.

The Seattle Seahawks have decided not to hire a new general manager or assistant general manager. The general manager duties handled by former coach Tom Flores, originally hired as general manager and fired after last season, will be shared by current front-office personnel, team President David Behring said. . . . The new Philadelphia Eagle coaching staff said it remains committed to Randall Cunningham at quarterback despite a late-season swoon that landed him on the bench.

Tennis

Andre Agassi, the top seed, defeated Fernando Meligeni, 6-0, 6-2, in the San Jose Open. Earlier, No. 2 seed Michael Chang overcame a second-set lapse to defeat Marcelo Rios, 6-4, 7-5, in the first round of the San Jose Open. . . . Top-seeded Boris Becker of Germany defeated Juan Albert Viloca of Spain, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the Marseille Open in France. . . . The Phoenix Smash, a World Team Tennis franchise that features Jimmy Connors and led the league in attendance for three seasons, was sold to the league.

Soccer

Professional matches have been canceled in the Paris region after Douadou Atout, 22, a fan of Club Berbere, was shot and critically wounded by a Drancy fan after a match Sunday in Drancy, north of Paris. Atout died Tuesday. Youth and Sports Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said all pro games from the First Division on down would be called off this weekend to encourage “deep reflection” among soccer fans.

The kickoff at Sunday’s Italian league soccer games will be delayed by five minutes so team captains can make an appeal to fans against violence. Soccer and other Italian sports events were called off Sunday to provide a day of reflection after the stabbing death of a Genoa fan Jan. 29.

Miscellany

In light but unpredictable winds off San Diego, Young America defeated the all-women America 3by more than three minutes and joined Stars & Stripes atop the America’s Cup defender scoreboard.

In the challenger race, the winless Spanish entry, Rioja de Espana, took advantage of a string of wind shifts to lead Team New Zealand, which has not lost a race. Team New Zealand, however, recovered to win by more than 20 minutes.

Japan’s World Cup leader, Kenji Ogiwara, and Olympic silver medalist Takanori Kono won the jumping phase of a two-day, two-man World Cup Nordic combined sprint relay in Lillehammer, Norway. . . . Swedish slalom star Thomas Fogdo was seriously injured in northern Sweden and taken to a nearby hospital, the national news agency TT reported. Few details were available about the accident in Aare, about 440 miles northwest of Stockholm. . . . Heavyweight Tommy Morrison, fighting for the first time in more than six months, knocked out Ken Merritt in the first round at Oklahoma City. . . . Two former Nevada Las Vegas football players and one current player are facing charges in connection with a series of purse snatchings near Caesars Palace. William Yates, Daryl Wright and Frederick Sowerby were booked on charges of strong-arm robbery and larceny after police received a call that a tourist had her purse stolen near the hotel. . . . The Grade I stakes-winning filly Sardula was destroyed after contracting a bone disease.