Fresh From Rehab, Strawberry Joins SF

SAN FRANCISCO -- Darryl Strawberry, having completed a drug rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Center, took the first step toward rehabilitating his baseball career by signing to play the remainder of the season for the San Francisco Giants. The team hopes he will be playing right field for them by the All-Star Break, July 11. "Like anybody who lives in this country, he deserves another chance," Giant Manager Dusty Baker said Sunday. "I'm looking forward to him joining the team next month."Strawberry, 32, has not spoken publicly since telling the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 4 that he had a drug abuse problem. After completing a rehabilitation program, Strawberry's doctors recommended a change of playing environment, and the Dodgers mutually agreed to release Strawberry on May 25. Strawberry was not at the news conference in San Francisco, but he said in a statement he believes "that being a member of the Giants presented a comfortable atmosphere for my return to the game."Financial terms were not disclosed, but it is believed that the Giants are paying Strawberry the major league minimum of $109,000, prorated to about $63,000. nBruce Hurst, struggling in his comeback attempt with the Texas Rangers, retired Sunday. Hurst, 36, was 2-1 with a 7.11 ERA in eight starts with the Rangers this season. Hurst had surgery on his left shoulder in October 1992 to repair small tears in the cartilage and rotator cuff. He spent most of 1993 in rehabilitation. Hurst was 145-113 with a 3.92 ERA in 15 seasons. He pitched 379 games in stints with Boston, San Diego, Colorado and Texas. nTwenty-one people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries after an escalator at the Camden Yards ballpark in Baltimore jammed and sent riders falling atop each other before Saturday night's game between Baltimore and Minnesota. Between 20 and 30 fans sustained minor injuries in the incident, which occurred 20 minutes before the game began, said Spiro Alafassos, an Orioles spokesman. "It's mostly orthopedic problems -- abrasions, lacerations, sprained ankles, cuts. At this point it looks like no one will probably need to be admitted," said a hospital spokeswoman. "It went click-clack and whoosh. It's just like the floor went out from underneath us," said Greg Johnson, who was traveling to the stadium's upper deck on the escalator. "It's a small miracle no one got their limbs cut off," added his brother, Wayne Johnson. "It was a nightmare." (LAT, AP)