Strawberry Jailed After Accident

Darryl Strawberry, the suspended New York Yankee outfielder who has battled cancer and drug abuse, was jailed Monday in Tampa, Fla., after hitting a street sign and then running into a vehicle stopped at a red light.

Strawberry, who had cancer surgery last month, “blacked out” at the wheel from prescription medication while driving to a probation officer supervising him since a cocaine conviction in April 1999, said the outfielder’s lawyer, Joseph Ficarrotta.

“He took some kind of medication and that apparently caused some reaction and made him pass out,” said Ficarrotta. “Where in the sequence he blacked out I don’t know.”

Strawberry, 38, was taken into custody at gunpoint by an off-duty officer who saw the collisions. Strawberry was being held in the Hillsborough County Jail without bail, pending a court hearing today.

“He seemed very tired and very drained,” Ficarrotta said after visiting Strawberry. “He’s recuperating from some very severe cancer surgery. He seemed very weak and very tired.”

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Steve Ontiveros, a former American League earned-run average leader and all-star, signed with the Boston Red Sox after a five-year absence from the major leagues. Ontiveros, 39, made his last appearance in the majors on Sept. 29, 1995, with Oakland. The next year, he underwent his second ligament transplant surgery on his right elbow.

“No, I didn’t think this day would ever happen,” he said. “I was really scratching my head, wondering why I wasn’t here before.”

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Red Sox reliever Bryce Florie, at home recovering from a line drive to the face, is expected to return to the hospital in a day or two for further evaluation.

Florie was released from the hospital Sunday and called his Boston teammates in the clubhouse as they prepared for a road trip with stops in New York, Cleveland and Detroit.

“He’s OK, spirit-wise,” Red Sox reliever Rod Beck said before Monday night’s game against New York. “He did say it was painful to talk.”

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Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews remained in intensive care, on a breathing machine and unable to speak, but his wife said he has shown some improvement.

One of 16 players in major league history to hit 500 home runs, Mathews, 68, has been hospitalized near San Diego since Sept. 3 because of a heart problem.

“He’s got pneumonia, but they’re giving him medication for that,” Judy Mathews said. “He can’t talk yet because he’s still connected to the breathing machine, they’re trying to wean him off that. He’s going to be in intensive care until they can wean him off the breathing machine. He’s definitely going to recover, but it’s a slow process.”