Strawberry returns

It did not get really large coverage, but what it did get was pretty much friendly coverage when Darryl Strawberry came back to town for Tuesday’s American Association All-Star Game.

The former Saint [as in baseball player Saint, not in the religious sense although I guess that is still possible] was a guest as his contributions to the team’s 1996 championship of another league was recognized. He was here as a part of an effort to play himself back into respectability after multiple episodes stemming from chemical dependency.

Recovery is tricky. I am not an expert, but that seems to be a consensus. A few only seem to need it once. Many need several tries and some never make it at all. Many people have put in a huge toll both emotionally and financially trying to help people facing these problems.

And while most of the people of good will that I have known generally wish people well in recovery [at least the first time or two] it is the uncertainty of whether any specific time trying for recovery will be successful is part of what has led to neighborhood concerns about “sober houses.”

There seem to be many ways to connect these things. I’ll leave them to you.

I should note that the recovery Mr. Strawberry was in in 1996 was not his last one. He has been clean for a few years, I guess, and I am sure that all wish him well.

And I am grateful that I got a chance to watch him swing a bat and hit some home runs. He made it look so easy with perhaps the smoothest swing I have ever seen.