But there is a window here. Cancer is unfair. No matter who you are or what you have done to yourself, no one deserves what this disease does to you. No one deserves to have organs dissolve or slowly shut down. And if you are already an addict, you don't need any help with depression or self-destruction.
Depression feeds addiction and self-destruction.
In the minds of addicts, it justifies them even. Maybe it's naive to believe Strawberry's story might have played out differently had cancer not been diagnosed before the 1998 postseason. But here are some facts. Before then, he had not been disciplined for violating substance-abuse policies since 1995. He had been, in fact, an inspirational story, one who spoke freely about his abuse and addictions, one who had rebuilt his career through stops in the minors, one who often brought his son into the clubhouse, proudly.