SKULL SESSION

May 31, 1999

When Yankees outfielder Darryl Strawberry was busted in Tampa on April 14 for allegedly possessing cocaine and soliciting prostitution, assistant state's attorney Robin Fuson figured the case was his. But Fuson was disqualified by an encounter he had with Strawberry almost 20 years ago. In an instructional league game in 1981, Fuson was an Indians farmhand and Strawberry was a Mets bonus baby. Fuson recalls that he fanned Strawberry the first three times he faced him, but in their final confrontation he fired a pitch that hit Strawberry in the head. "The ball rolled back to me," Fuson says, "so threw it to first." The umpire, thinking the ball had hit the bat, called Strawberry out. Maybe Strawberry, who was scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, should appeal those four at bats. "It was alleged that I threw an illegal pitch," says Fuson, who had a no-hitter for Waterloo of the Midwest League in 1978 but never reached the majors. "Alleged—but never proven."