GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Darryl Strawberry smiled, hugged his wife, thanked a guard and drove away from prison Tuesday, beginning what his lawyer hopes will be a drug-free life. The eight-time All-Star was released from Gainesville Correctional Institution after serving 11 months of an 18-month prison sentence for violating probation on cocaine possession charges. After saying “Thank you” to a guard, he and his wife got into a silver Lincoln Navigator, which was driven by another man, and drove off, getting only about a half-mile away before they had to turn back — Strawberry had forgotten his personal belongings. A guard handed him a plastic bag, and he was off again. Strawberry also accepted the $100 check the state gives inmates upon their release, but declined a suit of clothes, prison officials said. Strawberry refused to talk to reporters. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Strawberry is moving back in with his wife, Charisse, and his three children at a gated community in Lutz. Strawberry and his wife plan to stay in Florida for a few days before a trip to California, lawyer Darryl Rouson said. He said the Strawberrys also are planning marriage counseling. “He’s doing well,” Rouson said before Strawberry’s release. “He’s been clean for a very long time, longer than ever before.” Although Strawberry was sentenced to 18 months in prison, he received credit for the 122 days he spent in a county jail awaiting sentencing and under Florida law, he only had to serve 85 percent of his sentence. “I just wish Darryl the best,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “I don’t know what the next step is for him. I’m certainly happy he’s out early and can get his life on the right path.” BOWA’S SUSPENSION UPHELD Larry Bowa’s one-game suspension was upheld, forcing the Philadelphia Phillies’ manager to serve the penalty when his team played Atlanta last night. Bowa was suspended for one game and fined April 2 by Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president in charge on discipline. Bowa incited the benches to clear during a spring training game against Toronto. “It’s a joke,” Bowa said after the suspension was announced. “The whole thing borders on ridiculous.” The penalties were upheld by Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer. Angry that Toronto’s Roy Halladay had hit Jim Thome in the third inning of the game in Clearwater, Fla., on March 26, Bowa yelled at the pitcher an inning later and was ejected. Both benches emptied, but no punches were thrown. Bowa had to be restrained by several people. CUBS HONOR SOSA FOR 500TH HOMER Before Sammy Sosa charged out of the dugout and sprinted to right field to start another season at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs honored him for hitting his 500th homer. Sosa and the only other Cubs player to reach 500 homers — Hall of Famer Ernie Banks — threw out simultaneous first pitches on a 32-degree day. Snow coated the brown ivy on the walls at Chicago’s home opener. Sosa was also given a painting to commemorate his milestone. He became the 18th player to reach 500 when he connected Friday night in Cincinnati. Banks, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his major league debut, finished with 512 homers, a Cubs record. Sosa has hit 471 of his homers while with the Cubs, 28 with the White Sox and one with the Rangers. PROFESSOR LINKS PHARAOHS TO FLY BALLS Egyptologist and baseball fanatic Peter Piccione made the connection between Pharaohs and fly balls soon after he first viewed hieroglyphics at Hatshepsut’s temple in Deir-el-Bahari. There was King Thutmose III — large, strong and the ruler of Egypt in 15th century B.C. — holding a slender stick that looked like a fungo bat in one hand and a grapefruit-sized ball in the other. Before the ancient Pharaoh, depicted on a wall at the shrine of Hathor, there are two smaller priests with arms upright, each with a ball in his hand. “Did the Egyptians invent baseball?” Piccione asks the audience at his College of Charleston lecture, “Pharaoh at the Bat: The Ancient Egyptians and American Baseball.” “No, they didn’t,” he says, leaving credit for the modern game to the likes of Abner Doubleday. “But their bat and ball games do show similarities to baseball, stickball and softball.” Piccione teaches comparative ancient history at the College of Charleston. His specialty is ancient Egyptian sporting activities and their religious meaning. And there was almost no clearer connection for him between the Egyptian ritual of seker-hemat, “batting the ball,” and America’s national pastime. “Sport and religion were not mutually exclusive of each other 5,000 years ago, and in many ways, they still are not today,” Piccione says. Just look, he says, at the idolization of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Barry Bonds. He also says the euphoria Egyptians felt when their kings successfully played their games rivals that of baseball fans. “You get a sense of baseball evoking the spirit of the community,” Piccione said.

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