IF LOCATION is everything, Darryl Strawberry is doing just fine now. With Don Mattingly's blessing, Strawberry was given the locker next to Mattingly's inside the storied Yankees clubhouse. Mattingly is in Strawberry's corner. And vice versa.

Space is precious inside a baseball clubhouse, but the story is that Mattingly requested that the open adjacent locker be filled by Strawberry and his trailing circus. For the betterment of Strawberry and the team, Mattingly willingly surrendered his space and his quiet. Such a show of generosity is rare in this game.

With the Yankees' captain giving his full support to Strawberry and the controversial signing of the year, it is fairly certain that the skeptics in the locker room won't be heard from - and there are some skeptics. Without saying all that much, Mattingly runs this clubhouse. He is that respected.

Mattingly's ample locker is in the near-right corner of the large but busy clubhouse. The corner spots are the coveted ones. But it is Mattingly's locker that most resembles a room; there is space there for a mini refrigerator and a stereo. Strawberry had better get used to John Cougar Mellencamp, a Hoosier like Mattingly. Regardless of musical taste, if lockers had a real estate value, this would be a prime plot. Mattingly is comfortable here, and Strawberry can be, too.

"I've got friends at home who have had troubles," Mattingly said, explaining his support for Strawberry before Strawberry's homecoming game in New York. "I really believe somebody can mess up, get their life back together and go from there.

"Everyone's got their own trouble. If people are thrown out based on one mistake, or even two mistakes, we wouldn't have anybody left. There are lots of kids who have trouble and struggle. And just like [Steve Howe], Darryl can come back and be an example. Just like [Howe], he can show people you can make a mistake and recover from it. I believe in forgiving and moving on and giving people another chance."

Strawberry understands the worth of Mattingly's stamp of approval. "It means the world to me," Strawberry said. "He's showed a lot of support. I'm grateful."

It has been written several times, here included, that Strawberry is fortunate to be back in the big leagues. He has been to Smithers and Betty Ford. He has been suspended for violating his aftercare agreement. He is under house arrest now. He has made almost as many mistakes as he has hit home runs, and that is quite a few.

Strawberry has been accused of wife-beating and tax evasion and throwing away massive talent. He has a big, green tattoo on his bulging left bicep. It says "Lisa." That is the name of his former wife.

"I destroyed myself," Strawberry said in a news conference before going 0-for-3 in the Yankees' 3-0 win over the Orioles. "My destruction came from immaturity." Strawberry said he doesn't consider himself a risk, but he added, "That's for you guys to judge." Strawberry has been known to say the right things before. The question is whether he will do the right things, too.

Strawberry prepared for boos, probably even expected them. However, he received a big reception from the Yankee Stadium crowd. Hardly anybody booed. This is supposed to be a tough town, but it showed its heart last night. The fans apparently will forgive him, especially if he continues to hit like it's yesterday all over again. Strawberry was cheered as if he were away at war, not suspended for drugs. Some people even stood.

Instead, they booed Bobby Bonilla. Some in the rightfield bleachers loudly told him to "go back to Shea." Bonilla was never accused of doing drugs or harming his wife or evading taxes. His crime is that he is playing for the visiting team.

Strawberry was received favorably everywhere on his first day home, including inside his new clubhouse. He sat quietly by his new locker during most of his pregame time, taping his fingers and practicing his swing. He did not initiate conversations with anyone except Mattingly.

Not every Yankee endorsed George Steinbrenner's headline-hogging move. The excised Luis Polonia wasn't the only one against it. When reports first surfaced that the Yankees had interest in Dwight Gooden and Strawberry, Wade Boggs told USA Today, "You're talking about one who's suspended and the other's in jail. Is that the best we can do?" It was almost like Billy Martin's famed "one's a born liar and the other's convicted" description of Reggie Jackson and Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner, knowing his own interest was genuine, reportedly flew into a rage over Boggs' comment. Because Steinbrenner still writes the checks and Strawberry finally is here, nobody is saying anything like that now.

"I definitely think he can help our club," Mattingly said.

Of course, the captain also feels an obligation to say and do what's best for the team. "I don't have any problems with anybody, even [Dave] Pavlas," he said, referring to the replacement player he termed a scab but otherwise supported. "I wasn't going to go out of the way to make him feel uncomfortable. I wasn't going to hold anything against him. He makes his choices in life, just like we all do. Just because I don't happen to agree with the choices he's made doesn't mean I won't support him as a teammate."

Mattingly's support for Strawberry is not phony or contrived in the least. They have a lot in common, having owned the '80s here together. Strawberry said he is glad to be next to Mattingly because they have a lot to talk about, a lot of catching up to do.

Actually, Mattingly would have preferred that this union of former superstars occur sooner. Back in 1990, when Strawberry was about to become an ex-Met and a free agent, Mattingly publicly begged for the Yankees to sign him.

"The biggest thing, first and foremost, I've always liked Darryl from the first time I met him," Mattingly said. "I always thought he was a good person. He seemed to be real. He seemed genuine." And when Mattingly likes somebody in this clubhouse, everybody likes him. Heyman, Jon

Copyright 1995, Newsday Inc.