MLB | One ball, two tainted autographs

NEW YORK — F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said there are no second acts in American lives. But Fitzgerald obviously didn't know squat about the sports memorabilia industry.

A Long Island memorabilia company is selling baseballs autographed by scandal-tainted superstars Jason Giambi and Darryl Strawberry that come with this inscription: "Everybody deserves a 2nd chance."

The balls are being offered for $199.99 by Authentic Memorabilia of Great Neck, L.I. The company's Web site says it has 30 balls in stock.

"I made a lot of bad decisions in my life," said Strawberry, the former Met and Yankee whose struggles with substance abuse and run-ins with the law are as legendary as his towering home runs. "But people can reverse their lives and move forward. That's what has happened in my case."

Authentic Memorabilia owner Spencer Lader said the balls originally were signed by Giambi, the Yankee slugger who reportedly told the BALCO grand jury that he had used human growth hormone and steroids.

Lader said there wasn't much interest in the Giambi-autographed balls, so he asked Strawberry to sign his name and add the inscription. Lader said Giambi's representatives were aware of the balls. Giambi's agent, Arn Tellem, declined comment.

It wouldn't be the first time a ballplayer has used a baseball to comment on his life and times. Disgraced hit king Pete Rose signed dozens of "confession balls" that included the shocking inscription "I'm sorry I bet on baseball."

The balls, which sold for as much as $10,000, certainly didn't help Rose's crusade for reinstatement. Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on the game, effectively barring his induction into the Hall of Fame.

Strawberry apparently is making the most of his second chance — although given his record of suspensions, drug arrests and domestic-violence allegations, some might say he's had far more than two chances in life. Last year he married his third wife, Tracy; they live in the St. Louis area, where they run the Darryl Strawberry Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting children with autism.

"I'm in it for the right reasons," Strawberry said. "When I look in those kids' eyes, I can see the pain. I can see what those kids go through. I want to make a difference."

Last week, Strawberry hosted a sold-out fund-raiser for the group at the Lawrence Country Club on Long Island. The attendees included a number of New York sports heroes — John Starks, Carl Banks, Ottis Anderson, Bud Harrelson and Howard Johnson.

"It's the first of many, I hope," Strawberry said. "I went down a road in my life where I got lost, but my life is now in order and I'm happy to do things behind the scenes to help other people."