By the Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Darryl Strawberry believes his new purpose in life is to bring the message of
recovery from alcohol and drug abuse to as many people as possible.
"A lot of people don't understand recovery and the nature of the disease and how powerfully it affects
families," Strawberry said Sunday. "More people need to look at it face to face. Some people have to
know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel."
The 41-year-old Strawberry appeared with his wife Charisse at the "Stepping to Recovery" three-mile
walk in Tampa's Lowry Park on Sunday to support her as president of the Tampa chapter of the
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.
The eight-time All-Star, who won World Series titles with the New York Mets and New York Yankees,
was released from a Florida prison in April after serving 11 months of an 18-month sentence for
violating probation on cocaine possession charges.
"Being through everything from addiction through incarceration, you see that it not only affects you," he
said. "Your family suffers through your addiction."
The couple, who live in Lutz, have three children.
About 50 people attended the event, which was also sponsored by the Road 2 Recovery Ministries of
the Without Walls International Church, an organization that Strawberry said he was now deeply
involved in.
Charisse Strawberry said many times people won't face addiction until it creates problems for families
or friends.
"This disease, addiction and alcoholism, is a family disease," she said. "It affects everyone, not just
the addicted person. I'm living proof of that."
