They Won’t Pitch to Strawberry : Baseball: Tigers’ minor league team walks him five times, saying he shouldn’t be in rookie league.

Darryl Strawberry isn’t getting any help from the Detroit Tigers in his bid to make it back to the majors.

Strawberry was intentionally walked every time he came to the plate--five in all--in Friday’s game between the New York Yankees’ and Tigers’ teams in the rookie Gulf Coast League.

Detroit General Manager Joe Klein admitted he gave the order to walk Strawberry each time he batted. He contends Strawberry, an eight-time all-star now on a rehabilitation assignment with the Yankees, should not be playing in a league where some players are only 17 years old.

“I guess I’m guilty,” Klein said. “I hope the next time we face him, he walks five times again.

“He’s not going to hurt any of my players, especially any of our pitchers, with a line drive through the middle.”

Yankee coach Clete Boyer said he had never seen anything like it in four decades in pro ball. He might see it again, though, when the teams play Tuesday in Lakeland, Fla.

“This is embarrassing for their organization to do this,” Boyer said. “These kids want to watch Darryl hit. If you strike him out, it’s a thrill.”

Klein said he thought Strawberry should at least be in the more advanced Class-A Florida State League, playing for the Yankees’ Tampa team, instead of in a league meant for players who have just turned professional.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think he should be here,” Gulf Coast League President Tom Saffell said. “But there’s no rule against it. Major league teams are allowed to have three players here at a time.”