Strawberry Arrested; Future Is Clouded

Darryl Strawberry’s turbulent baseball career has taken another off-field jolt: He has been charged with possession of cocaine with a street value of about $20 and soliciting a prostitute in Tampa, Fla.

The New York Yankees’ outfielder offered a female undercover officer $50 for sex, Tampa police said, then acknowledged that the arrest could jeopardize his future in baseball.

“During this interview, Strawberry continually apologized and was very remorseful for what he had done,” police Sgt. Marc J. Hamlin wrote in an investigative report. “He asked several times, if there was anything that we could do to change this situation, because this was going to ruin his career.”

A search Wednesday night turned up 0.3 grams of powder cocaine wrapped in a $20 bill inside Strawberry’s wallet, police said. He was booked and released on $6,000 bond early Thursday.

“It appeared for personal use,” police spokesman Joe Durkin said. “One hit size.”

The 37-year-old outfielder told police that the cocaine did not belong to him and that he never intended to have sex with the undercover officer.

According to the police report, Strawberry said his wife’s uncle, Rodney Simon, used the vehicle the previous night and that it was possible he might have left the folded $20 bill in the glove compartment where Strawberry found it Wednesday.

The eight-time All-Star said he was joking around with the undercover officer about sex and drove off with no intention of meeting her at a nearby motel room.

The police report said Strawberry was carrying about $1,159.10 in cash at the time he was arrested.

Strawberry has been in Tampa to work himself back into shape after colon cancer surgery Oct. 3.

Cocaine possession is a third-degree felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison, Assistant State Atty. Pam Bondi said. The maximum penalty for solicitation, a misdemeanor, is 60 days in the county jail for a first offense. After that, the maximum penalty is a year in the county jail, she said.

However, those are general guidelines, Bondi said, indicating that charges for Strawberry had yet to reach the prosecutor’s office.

Lonn Trost, the Yankees’ general counsel, declined to comment, saying the team would allow the legal process to run its course before speaking out.

After the Yankees won the World Series without him, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani praised Strawberry “for the comeback he’s made as a baseball player and the comeback he’s making in life.”

He was in New York last weekend to receive his World Series ring, but was not expected to join the Yankees until he completed chemotherapy and a stint with triple-A Columbus.

Strawberry’s list of substance-abuse problems is lengthy.

Major league baseball suspended him for 60 days in 1995 after he tested positive for cocaine. The previous year, he entered the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, and spent four weeks undergoing treatment for a substance abuse problem.