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Darryl Strawberry on his Dodgers days: Playing in Los Angeles was boring

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Darryl Strawberry‘s new book, ‘Straw: Finding My Way,’’ with John Strausbaugh, just found its way to my desk.

The former Crenshaw High star calls leaving his original team, the New York Mets, after the 1990 season and returning home to Los Angeles to play for the Dodgers a mistake.

‘On the professional level, playing in L.A. was a huge letdown after a decade in New York,’’ he wrote. ‘The sports atmosphere in New York was insane and intense and that was what I was used to. Lunatic fans screaming at you when you lost and tearing the joint up when you won. In Dodger Stadium, fans were much more, you know, Californian. Laid back. Drifted into the park late, filtered out early. They had no fire, no passion. When you got a hit, they gave you a smattering of polite applause. When you struck out, they were like, ‘Oh, bummer, man. Better luck next time.’

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‘It was, to be honest, boring...’’

We bring this to you a few minutes after reporting how much, according to USA Today, Manny Ramirez appreciates the Dodgers’ fans.

But that was then and this is now.

Strawberry, by the way, takes responsibility in the book for virtually all of the negative things that happened to him throughout his controversial baseball career, even for hiring the agent who derailed the negotiations with the Mets and brought him back home to Los Angeles.

‘...I knew just where to go looking for trouble,’’ he wrote.

-- Randy Harvey

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