Yankees Can Call It ‘Strawberry, Fielder Forever’

The man they call Big Daddy leans that big body against a corner of his locker and says he would have retired rather than sign a new contract amid the hopelessness of Detroit.

The New York Yankees rescued Cecil Fielder on the trade deadline of July 31. A month earlier, they had salvaged the career of Darryl Strawberry from the baseball halfway house that is the St. Paul Saints.

In the American League’s rain-delayed championship series that now begins today, Fielder and Strawberry represent the potentially potent right-left option at designated hitter--and possibly more. With Fielder scheduled to DH, Strawberry could still open in right field if the wet conditions leave Manager Joe Torre wary of testing Paul O’Neill’s strained hamstring.

Strange business. A few weeks ago, their careers seemed headed toward a dead end.

Now the energized Fielder and Strawberry talk about having fun, looking ahead.

Big Daddy smiles. The man even enjoys promoting a rainy-day story now. He sits at his locker and asks a Los Angeles reporter about speculation that Sparky Anderson, his former Detroit Tiger manager, may become manager of the Angels.

Terrific idea, offers Fielder.

“He’s still capable, still has a great baseball mind,” Fielder said. “That team should be better than it is, and he’d get it straight. It would be his way or the highway.

“There would be no front-office or media interference. He’d bring in his people and run a tight ship. I’ve talked to him a few times and he says he’s not interested, but if he still has it in him, he could make it work.”

Whether Anderson would have that kind of sweeping control under Disney is uncertain. Fielder knows uncertainty.

“If I was still in that same situation [in Detroit], I would probably have shut it down after next year,” he said. “I was mentally drained, didn’t see the team going anywhere soon and wasn’t having any fun.

“I wanted to contribute in a situation where it meant something, but everything I did in the way of team goals seemed to end up in more frustration and disappointment.

“Maybe I would have regretted it, but I was definitely leaning toward retirement.”

Fielder is guaranteed $7.2 million next year in the final year of his five-year contract, the same salary he was owed this year before agreeing to defer $2 million to pave the way for his acquisition by the Yankees.

“This is what I always hoped to achieve, where I hoped to be,” Fielder said of his postseason opportunity.

“For seven straight years in Detroit, I was going home in October, enjoying being with the wife and kids, not even watching the postseason on TV. I feel blessed to get this opportunity. It’s a great feeling to be part of a professional group of guys. I can be myself. I don’t have to be something I’m not. I hope to stick around for a while.”

Pressing, perhaps, to validate his acquisition, Fielder struggled at times with the Yankees but still hit 13 homers and drove in 37 runs in 53 games, totaling 39 and 117. He was a pivotal influence in the division series against Texas.

He hit a solo homer--”as big a homer as I’ve ever hit,” he said--and then singled in the tying run in a 5-4 victory in Game 2. He had a pair of RBI singles, driving in the go ahead run, in the 6-4 victory of Game 4.

Strawberry started Game 1 of that series and went 0 for 5. He didn’t start again.

“You’re always part of it, but being a player that’s part of it on the field makes a difference in the feeling,” he said.

Nevertheless, Strawberry went to Torre before Game 1 of that series and told him to do what he felt was best for the team.

“He’s matured,” Torre said. “His attitude has been big for us because he’s been there.”

Torre referred to Strawberry’s role during the championship runs of the Mets. The story has been chronicled. The failed opportunity in Los Angeles. The battle with substance abuse. The legal problems with the IRS and his former wife. The last gasp bid to restore his career with the Saints.

“I found a love of the game again,” he said of his experience in the Northern League. “I found that I can have fun, no matter what. Even in this situation, where I’m not playing, I can still have fun, still enjoy it. I have a lot of baseball left. I know that now.”

Strawberry suspected then and now there was a blackball, but Yankee owner George Steinbrenner ignored it, as he did with Dwight Gooden.

The $260,000 signing bonus Strawberry received went to first wife, Lisa, to pay off delinquent support. He must pay her $10,000 a month for 24 months.

He is making $150,000 this year with no guarantee for 1997, but he drove in 36 runs and hit 11 homers in 202 irregular at-bats, including two homers in a key victory over Baltimore and three in a win over Chicago.

General Manager Bob Watson, who opposed Strawberry’s signing because of what he considered to be defensive weaknesses that Watson says he has been working hard to overcome, joined Torre and Strawberry in “a heart to heart” discussion after his arrival.

“We laid out the ground rules,” Watson said, refusing to elaborate but obviously having explained his role and cautioned Strawberry against stirring up controversy.

The result? “He’s been what we hoped he would be,” Watson said, knowing, in turn, the Yankees answered the hopes of Strawberry and Fielder.