Strawberry: Two Years' House Arrest

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/28/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Sidelined New York Yankees slugger Darryl Strawberry, 38, was sentenced to two years' house arrest yesterday for violating probation when he rammed his SUV into a car on Monday while he was on his way to see his probation officer. Strawberry admitted he was driving under the influence of a powerful sleeping pill at the time. Yesterday's sentencing means that the disgraced athlete, who is already on 18 months' probation for cocaine possession and soliciting a prostitute, must get court permission any time he wants to leave his house in Tampa, Fla. "I am very sorry for what happened," Strawberry, who is also battling cancer, said softly in the courtroom. "I used the wrong judgment by taking medication, because I didn't feel well, and then driving." Strawberry's wife, Charisse, who reportedly sobbed in the courtroom as her husband's new sentence was handed down, told the New York Post afterward, "I just hope he can pull himself out of this."