FREEHOLD, N.J. -- Former major league pitcher John Montefusco came to his sentencing for trespass and simple assault against his former wife, looking for closure to an episode that landed him in jail for two years.

He got three years probation instead.

"This is just a nightmare that continues," Montefusco said Friday after Monmouth County Superior Court Judge James A. Kennedy's sentencing. "I have never hurt anyone in my life and I never would."

While Kennedy ignored an assistant prosecutor's plea for jail time, Montefusco wasn't happy with his sentence, which he plans to appeal.

The former NL rookie of the year had spent two years in jail awaiting trial on charges that he sexually assaulted his former wife, Doris D. Montefusco. He felt that was punishment enough after being acquitted of all the serious charges in a 20-count indictment three months ago.

"You will never, ever see me in court again, for any violation at all," Montefusco told Kennedy before sentencing. "You will never have trouble with me again."

However, Kennedy ordered probation, a decision Montefusco insisted the judge made to protect himself.

Montefusco, of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., also was assessed $405 in a state-mandated fine, an amount he cannot pay now that he is broke and without a job.

The sentence was handed down shortly after assistant prosecutor Anita White said that Mrs. Montefusco still feared for her life and believed her former husband was seen recently near her home in violation of a restraining order.

Montefusco, who has been out on bail since November, denied the allegation after the sentencing.

As he spoke, Montefusco's anger was evident. The right hand that once commanded fastballs and curveballs repeatedly redefined a crease in a photostat of a phone bill he showed the judge to prove he was nowhere near his wife last month.

"She is still accusing me of things I am not doing," Montefusco said. "She is the stalker now."

The frustration that showed every time he spoke about the case seemed to fade when baseball was brought up.

Montefusco, the NL rookie of the year with San Francisco in 1975 with a 15-9 record and 2.88 ERA, wants to get back into the game as a pitching coach. He has been talking to minor league teams in New Jersey and hopes to have a job soon.

"I always knew that eventually this would get over and I was hoping I could get back with the Yankees, and maybe someday I will," he said. "Maybe it will be some other major league club as a pitching coach. I have a lot to offer and a lot to give back to the game, and I want to do that."

His probation would not prevent that, his lawyer, Robert Eisler, said.

All Montefusco has to do is stay out of trouble.

Montefusco's problems started on Oct. 2, 1997, when he said he tried to patch things up with his former wife at her home. He claimed they had consensual sex.

He later left and spent two weeks in Florida working as a minor-league instructor for the New York Yankees.

When he returned on Oct. 20, he was arrested and later accused in a 20-count indictment of sexual assault and making terroristic threats against his wife of 19 years.

Four days after bailing himself out, Montefusco violated a restraining order and visited his wife on Oct. 24, a visit during which she accused him of assault.

Montefusco was arrested in Pennsylvania the following day and his bail was increased to $1 million. He spent the next two years in the county jail.

Montefusco also played with Atlanta, San Diego and the Yankees in a career highlighted by a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 29, 1976. He had a 90-83 record in 13 seasons.