Darryl, come on. You only get three chances in baseball. The highly-touted New York Yankee ballplayer, Darryl Strawberry (born March 12, 1962, in Los Angeles), hung up his cleats for the season under suspension following testing positive for cocaine use—again. Too bad, because the Yankees had big plans for Darryl’s quick swing and strong bat as designated hitter. While his fate remains undetermined as far as baseball is concerned, the stars shine with more certainty.

Pisces to the Gills

What goes on inside the head of someone throwing away a fantastic job and lifestyle? Strawberry’s Sun is in Pisces. Pisces, symbolized by two fish swimming in opposite directions in the stream, bears the dubious distinction of possessing a higher than average vulnerability for drug and alcohol abuse. One fish struggles upstream, seeking the high road, while the other follows the path of least resistance. Unconscious coping urges prevail. Sometimes those urges go against the grain of success, and life goes down the tubes.

On the high side, Pisces represents extreme spiritual awareness. On the other side, escapism provides Pisces the easiest way of dealing with the necessities of life. The professional sports pressures of performance, demands of the fans and unending exposure to and availability of drugs is more than many psyches can endure.

Add the Gemini Moon

On top of that, take the high-powered emotional and psychic sensitivity of Pisces, and add to it the nature of a Gemini Moon, as in Strawberry’s chart. The Moon, the source of feelings and reactions, in the sign of the twins, attempts to filter everything through a mental funnel. So a short-circuiting of reactions overwhelms this ballplayer. Escapism offers what appears to be the easiest way out, without any thoughts about the consequences.

Plutonic Influence

The planet of the underworld, Pluto, is within range of making long, difficult visits to Strawberry’s Sun and Moon (a square and opposition, respectively). Pluto pitches contain the shadow, dark secrets of the psyche and the symbolic underworld. You step to the plate, knowing blazing fastballs head your way, no slack. During Pluto’s passage, one submits to the absolute truth of the inner nature. Peace can then occur within all aspects of the psyche. The spirit reemerges victorious, but it’s a long, extra-inning contest. Strawberry is no exception, despite celebrity status, and the weight of these visits from Pluto could compel him to seek escape more fervently than before.

A Society Favoring the Underdog

The sign of Pisces refers to the underdog. How is it that fans in New York end up rooting for a man with cocaine, alcohol, spousal abuse, child support and prostitution problems? Sure, he can swing a bat, but not like the old days. Darryl’s swing used to send the horsehide out of the park thirty times or more in a year—a prodigious feat. Those heroic efforts faded as his cocaine incidents began. Team after team gave him another chance. Maybe he’ll redeem himself. Maybe he won’t. It doesn’t matter, because fantasy projections still hold him as a hero.

Darryl’s horoscope contains a strong collection of Aquarian planets supplementing his Piscean mixture. Aquarius thrives on the sensation of being misunderstood. They persist in aggravating activities that generate the alienating reactions. Aquarius is a fixed sign, meaning it has dogged dedication to an attitude, lifestyle or characterization, whether good, bad or indifferent. Knowing better is irrelevant. That’s how fixed signs are. This adds to his underdog status and his seeming inability to toe the line.

Punitive Pitches

Saturn is moving through Taurus, making a hard angle to the Aquarius planets in Strawberry’s chart. The strong Saturn demands accountability and following the law of cause and effect. Questions arise. Was Strawberry’s suspension warranted? “Are you kidding?” asks Saturn. “An ordinary Joe would have been in serious trouble the first time around. Strawberry is long overdue. Then there’s child support. For someone making that kind of money? Spousal abuse? Not allowed in this game.”

Baseball continues to demonstrate inconsistency in its punitive polices. With Pluto currently moving through Sagittarius, astrologers predict a reformation in professional sports. The theme suggests that all sport corruptions, illegal activities and bending of rules must come to a complete and abrupt halt.

Darryl will appeal. Will he win? He might, but later in the year as both Jupiter and Saturn enter the grasp of the justifying world of Gemini. Striving to see both sides of the situation, expect baseball to yield again, especially if the Yankees get in the pennant race.

Redemption

What can Strawberry do to become fruitful once again? Saying “I’m sorry” falls short of the requirements of Saturn and Pluto. He will have to cope with extreme pressure and performance anxiety and rise above it, showing healthy ways to deal with such stresses. He may have to quit baseball, find a recovery program and stick with it with more discipline than running mandatory spring training wind sprints. To redeem himself, he must rise above the addictive seduction of cocaine, fame and hero worship. And he must do this for himself, not the fans.

Like a professional ballplayer, we all experience the pressure to perform in our lives. We can relate. Baseball remains a game to feed the spirit of the country and to reinvigorate our sense of modern mythological heroes. Let us honor the heroes who heal and inspire. Come on, Darryl, one more time at bat.