Darryl Strawberry (Part Two) The Later Mets Years (1987 - 1990)

After the Championship: After the Championship, Dwight Gooden was admitted to drug rehab missing the start of the season. Darryl had his own issues but was able to keep them mor private & when he produced the attention was off him.

On April 7th, 1987, as the Mets raised the Championship flag at Shea Stadium. Straw began the year with an Opening Day three run HR off the Pirates Bob Patterson driving in all three Mets runs in the 3-2 win.

The next day he homered off Doug Drabek in a 4-2 win. He made it three HRs in the first three games of the season with a three-run shot off David Palmer.

Multi RBI Game: On April 16th-17th, Straw hit HRs in back-to-back in games at Philadelphia. On April 17th he hit a two run HR off Tom Hume. In the 1st inning, he walked with the bases loaded & later added sac fly for a four RBI Day in the Mets 9-3 win. He would have five games on the season with four or more RBIs.

In April he batted .307 with 5 HRs & 17 RBIs. In May he started out the month by hitting HRs in the first two games against the Expos at Shea. Later in the month he hit HRs in three straight games.

Multi HR Game: On May 27th, with the Mets down to the Giants 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning at San Francisco, Strawberry homered off Mark Davis tying up the game. In the 4th inning he had hit a two run HR off Atlee Hammaker, driving in three runs in the 4-3 win. 

It was the first of four multi-HR games on the season. Darryl would hit HRs in the next two games at San Diego.

On May 30th, the Mets were down 1-0 in the 7th inning, when he homered off Eric Show, a two-run shot leading to a 3-1 Mets win. In May he hit 10 HRs while driving in 16 more runs & stealing eight bases.

Multi HR Game: On June 18th he hit a pair of HRs in Montreal, one off Neal Heaton & the other off Jeff Parret which was his 20th of the season. He drove in four runs in the Mets 10-7 Mets win. 

From there he went into a HR slump, hitting just one more HR over the next month. 

Straw vs Backman & Mazzilli: The week of July 4th, he was involved in a highly publicized battle with Wally Backman. As the story goes Backman & Lee Mazzilli had criticized Strawberry for missing two games against the Cardinals that week. 

Darryl threatened Backman, saying "I’ll bust that little redneck in the face". Then the media jumped on Darryl as well, calling his play in the outfield lax & saying he was being lazy with his poor work ethic. 

1987 All Star: By the All Star break he had 21 HRs with 51 RBIs getting to his fourth straight All-Star game. He went 0-2 in the NL's 2-0 shut out in Oakland, with Davey Johnson as the National League's manager. 

Multi HR Game: On August 6th at Shea Stadium, Straw hit two HRs off the Cubs Les Lancaster in a 7-6 Mets win. He hit four HRs that week.

Four Hit Game: On August 16th he had a four-hit game at Wrigley Field in a 23-10 Mets romp over the Cubs. Straw hit a 4th inning three run HR off Greg Maddox, & then added a two-run triple later in the game. 

On August 19th he hit his 30th HR of the season, it came at Shea in a loss to the Giants.

He had six multiple RBI games in August, driving in 18 runs with 8 HRs for the month. 

Player of the Month: In September Straw hit eight HRs with ten doubles, 34 hits, 13 stolen bases & 27 RBIs winning him the Player of the Month Honors. 

On September 5th he hit a solo HR off Fernando Valenzuela in a 4-3 in Los Angeles. 

Multi HR Game: On September 9th, he had his fourth multi-HR game of the year. Hitting HRs off Shane Rawley & Tom Newell while driving in four runs in an 11-5 win over the Phillies at Shea Stadium. 

The next day he hit a two run HR off the Cardinals, Ken Dayley in a crucial series taking a 6-4, loss. The Mets were 2.5 games behind the Cards & got as close as 1.5 games. They would lose six of their last 12 finishing three games back of St. Louis. It was very disappointing after there being high expectations of a Dynasty after the Championship.

From September 14th through the 18th Darryl drove in runs, in four straight games. 

Multi RBI Game: On September 18th, he hit a three run HR off the Pirates Brian Fisher, his 37th HR of the season. He later had an RBI double, while droving in four runs against the Pirates in a Mets heart breaking 10-9 loss to the Pirates. 

Straw finished the year (as one of ten players up until that point) joining the 30/30 club; hitting 39 HRs (3rd in the NL) & stealing 36 bases.

Mets HR Mark: His 39 HRs was a career high as well as a Mets single season record passing Dave Kingman's 37 in 1976.

1987 In he drove in 104 runs (7th in the NL) hit 32 doubles with 151 hits, 108 runs scored (7th in the NL) 97 walks (4th in the NL) stole 36 bases, batted .284 was hit by a team leading seven hit by pitches & posted a career high .398 on base %.  

In the outfield he posted a .972 fielding % with six assists, three double plays & eight errors in 151 games.

1988 NL Eastern Champion Mets Season: In 1988, Strawberry became the first Met since Dave Kingman to lead the league in HRs with 39. 

Multi HR Opener: On Opening Day in Montreal Darryl hit a HR in off Dennis Martinez in his first at bat of the year.  He added another HR later, with the blast hitting off the roof at Olympic Stadium off pitcher Randy St. Claire. New teammate Kevin McReynolds had just homered in the previous at bat helping Dwight Gooden in the 10-6 win over the Expos. 

Two games later he hit his third HR of the season in the 8-5 win at Montreal. On April 12th, Ron Darling shut out the Expos at Shea with Straw hitting his fourth HR of the season in the 3-0 win. 

From April 12 - April 18th, he drew Nine walks in a six-game span. In April, Darryl hit six HRs with 10 RBIs while batting .361.

Walk Off HR: On May 6th, in a 4-3 win over the Reds at Shea Stadium, Darryl had a 1st inning RBI sac fly & added an 5th inning RBI single. The Reds tied the game & took the lead with a 10th inning HR from Chris Sabo. 

In the bottom of the 10th, Strawberry hit a two run, walk off game winning HR off closer John Franco. It was his second career walk off HR off Joh Franco.

On May 22nd, in Los Angeles, Darryl hit a 1st inning two run HR off Fernando Valenzuela, he later added an RBI single, driving in three in the 5-2 win at Dodger Stadium. 

Mets / Dodger Trivia: The Mets would beat the Dodgers ten times in eleven games played that regular season. In the NLCS the Dodgers took the series in seven games eliminating he Mets chances of another Championship.

On May 11th, in a wild 9-8 win at the Astrodome, Straw hit a 4th inning two run HR off Mike Scott. The Astros went ahead, then Tim Teufel's three run HR tied the game. In the 10th, Kevin McReynolds HR ended up being the game winning run.

Big Games vs Cardinals: In June Darryl would have some big moments against the rival St. Louis Cardinals.

On June 6th in St. Louis, he hit a two run HR off Larry McWilliams then a two run double off Steve Peters driving in four runs in the 6-4 Mets win. 

On June 13th with the teams playing a series in New York, his 4th inning HR of Ken Dayley tied the game up at one. The score stayed that way going to extra innings where Lee Mazzilli won it with a walk off base hit off Ken Dayley. 

Multi HR Game: On June 15th he had his second multi HR game of the year, hit two off St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, bringing in three of the Mets six runs, in the 6-4 win. The Mets swept that series, dropping the reigning NL Champion Cards to fourth place nine games back of the Mets. 

On June 19 & 20th, he hit HRs in back-to-back games. Darryl had hit well enough to stay over .300 steadily until July. On July 2nd, he hit his 20th HR of the season, in a 7-2 win at Shea over Houston. 

1988 All Star: In the first half of the season, he hit 21 HRs with 55 RBIs & was batting .284.

Strawberry was elected to his fifth straight All-Star game, starting in rightfield for the NL. His Mets teammate Dwight Gooden was the NL's starting pitcher. David Cone also represented the Mets staff making the team. 

Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog let Darryl play the entire All-Star Game, game, going 1-4 with a single off Mark Gubicza in the NL's 2-1 loss at Riverfront Stadium, in Cincinnati.

Returning from the break, Darryl hit HRs in three straight games on road trip to Atlanta& Cincinatti.  On July 24th-25th, he hit HRs in consecutive games at Shea Stadium. In that ten game span he hit five HRs with seven RBIs.

Five RBI Game: On July 27th, he had a season high five RBI Day, with three hits in a 10-2 win at Veterans Stadium, in Philadelphia. 

In the 3rd inning he collected a two-run single off David Palmer. In the 7th inning, he cleared the bases with a three run double off Bill Scherrer.

On July 31st, Strawberry's 1st inning HR off the Pirates Bob Walk, was all the offense as Ron Darling & Walk went at it in a 2-1 Mets win.

In August Darryl started the month with HRs in back-to-back games, but then a slump had him his just one more HR until September 5th as his average fell from 290 to .263.

30th HR: On August 16th Darryl hit his 30th HR, a two-run blast off Craig Lefferts in San Francisco. It marked the second straight season he passed the 30 plus HR mark.

At the start of September, the Mets had an 8.5 game lead & would easily win the NL East title. In
the month Strawberry hit nine HRs, had four multi-RBI games, including a stretch of five straight games where he drove in at least one run.  On September 7th & 8th he hit HRs in back-to-back games at Wrigley Field.

From September 18th-20th, he hit HRs in three straight games driving in six runs, helping the Mets in three close wins. 

Multi HR Game: On October 2nd, Strawberry closed out the year with his third multi-HR game of the season in 1 7-5 win over the Cards. In the first inning he it a two run HR off Larry Williams & then in the 5th a solo HR off Steve Peters. 

He reached 39 HRs & became the first Mets since Dave Kingman to win a HR title.

Darryl lost out to the Dodgers Kirk Gibson for the MVP award but clearly should have won it. Gibson hit 26 HRs with 76 RBIs hitting .290 with a .377 on base % & .860 OPS in 150 games.

Straw led the Mets in games played (150) HRs (39) RBIs (101) runs (101- 4th in the NL) sac flies (9) slugging which as also tops in the NL (.545%) OPS (.911) & strike outs (127) He was second in doubles (27) stolen bases (27) walks (86) & triples (3)/ He batted .269 with a .366 on base %.

He won his first Silver Slugger Award & was a poster boy for Kenner’s Starting Line Up action figures.  More pressure was getting put on him as people were saying he could possibly be a candidate to break Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. 

1988 Post Season- NLCS: The Mets went into the post season as heavy favorites over the Dodgers in the NLCS. The Mets had taken ten of the eleven games between the two in the regular season. 

In Game #1 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium, the Mets were down 2-0 to Orel Hershiser in the 9th inning. In the top of the 9th, Strawberry doubled bringing in Gerg Jeffries with the Mets first run.

He scored the game's tying run on Gary Carter's two run double, as the Mets went on to win it 3-2.

In the Mets 6-3 Game #2 loss, Darryl collected two hits going 2-4.

In Game #3 at Shea Stadium, Straw had three hits, driving in three runs in the 8-4 Mets win.

In the home 3rd inning with the Mets down 3-0, Straw doubled off Orel Hershiser driving in Mookie Wilson with the Mets first run. 

In the 6th inning, Keith Hernandez led off with a base hit. Darryl then singled & scored on Gary Carter's RBI single. The Mets tied up the game but lost the lead in the 8th when Randy Meyers walked Mike Sharperson with the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the 8th, the Mets scored five runs with Straw contributing a two-run single capping off the Mets 8-4 win. The Mets now took two games to one lead in the series.

In Game #4 at Shea, Darryl hit a 4th inning HR off John Tudor. But the Mets took a series turning, heart breaking loss when Mike Scioscia hit a 9th inning HR off Dwight Gooden to tie the game. Then in the top of the 12th, Kirk Gibson homered off Roger McDowell in what was the game winner. The Mets lost Game #5 at home as well with Straw going 1-4.

Back in LA for Game #6 with their backs up against the wall, the Mets came to life. Straw was 1-2 with two walks & two runs scored in the Mets 5-1, win.

In game #7, it was all Orel Hershiser & L.A. Hershiser pitched a five-hit shutout as the Dodgers scored six runs off Ron Darling (four earned) in the 1st inning. They went on to the 6-0 win & the World Series where they beat the favored Oakland Athletics.

The Mets were shocked & devastated, they never recovered as it was the beginning of the end of their winning 1980's era.

In the NLCS, Darryl batted .300 (9-30) with two doubles a HR & six RBIs. 

1989- Spring Training Scuffle with Keith Hernandez: In the off season, the NL's reigning HR champion was going into the final year of his contract. Darryl & the Mets got into a highly publicized negotiation where the two were far apart. He wanted an extension thru 1992, his agent suggested he walk out of camp.

This didn't sit well with Keith Hernandez who was quoted in the Port St. Lucie papers as saying "a deal is a deal. If Darryl wants an extension, he should keep it out of the press." Even Gary Carter mentioned that nobody put a gun to Strawberry's head four years ago, to sign the deal.

For the 1988 team picture, Jay Horowitz, put Hernandez & Strawberry next to each other. Strawberry refused to kneel or sit next to Hernandez saying, "I'd rather sit next to my friends".

Hernandez responded: "Why don't you grow up, you big baby". Then Straw said to both Keith & Carter: "Why do you have to be saying those things about me. Why would I want to take a picture with you two overpaid guys who do nothing"?

Strawberry then shouted at Hernandez " I've been tired of you for years". Straw then went to punch Hernandez but missed. He had to be restrained by Terry Leach & Bobby Ojeda. Meanwhile Gary Carter held back Hernandez. Strawberry then shouted at Gary Carter "Your next". Eventually order was restored & the two met privately in the clubhouse to make peace.

1989: Strawberry's offensive numbers declined a bit. He batted a career low up to that point .225. His 77 RBIs were his lowest total since his rookie season & he hit ten less HRs missing almost thirty games of action. 

The fans & the media wanted more, especially after all his talk about raises & extensions. They also put much of the blame on him for the Mets not winning another Championship. Looking back, he may have unfairly taken most of the heat for the many of the underachieving Mets. At that point age &injuries were catching up with Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter, two more key parts of the team.

Gary Carter played in just 50 games & Keith Hernandez was limited to 75 games. Howard Johnson emerged as the team's latest power hitter, but he & Straw could not carry the team alone.

Personal Dramas: Darryl's personal dramas continued when he was arrested for slapping his wife around & pulling a gun on her. He checked into rehab for substance abuse. Also, a blood test proved positive of him fathering a child in Missouri.

On Opening Day he collected two doubles & two RBIs in the Mets 8-4 win over the Cardinals at Shea. 

HRs In Straight Games: On April 15th, he homered in a loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis. The next day he homered twice off the Cards Jose DeLeon in another loss. Then at home the next day he hit a HR off the Phillies Don Carmen in a 5-2 win. From April 30th to May 3rd, he hit HRs in three of four games, reaching seven HRs & batting .299.

From May 15th to May 19th, the streaky Strawberry hit HRs in three of four games while driving in six runs. 

Walk Off Walk: On May 19th, with the Mets down 2-1 to the Giants in the bottom of the 6th
inning, Darryl hit his 10th HR of the year, coming off Don Robinson. In the bottom of the 10th, with the score still tied, Rich Gossage walked him with the bases loaded bringing in the game winning run.

Multi RBI Game: On May 26th, Darryl had the first of his eight multi-RBI games where he drove in a season high three runs each time. He collected a two run double with three hits in the 8-2 win.

On June 15th, with the Mets down 3-0 at Shea Stadium, he began an 8th inning Mets come back with a HR off the Cubs Steve Wilson. It was his 15th of the season. The Mets would win the game on Gregg Jefferies walk off single in the 12th inning. 

From July 8th thru July 21st, in a stretch of eleven games, Darryl hit six HRs with 13 RBIs batting .325 with 13 hits.

1989 All Star Game: Darryl made his sixth NL All-Star team but did not get a start for the first time since his rookie year. He did not play in the AL's 5-3 win in Anaheim.

Mets Second Place Season: At the All Star break the Mets were in third place just 2.5 games back. They would get as close as 1.5 games behind the Cubs in late August but finish the year six games out.

On August 8th & 9th, Darryl homered in back-to-back shutouts over the Phillies, reaching the 25 HR mark. David Cone & Bobby Ojeda were the two winning pitchers in those games.

Multi HR Game: On August 16th in a 7-2 Mets win over the Padres at Shea Stadium, Darryl hit HRs off Padre pitchers Don Schulze & Dan Murphy. It was his second & only multi-HR game of the season. The first coming on April 16th. Darryl would get into a funk, not hitting another HR until September 18th & hit just two more the rest of the way. 

In 1989 Darryl batted .225 with 29 HRs 26 doubles 69 runs scored 11 stolen bases & 77 RBIs. He struck out 105 times, going down on strikes over 100 times for the fourth straight season. He walked 61 times with a .312 on base % & .779 OPS. 

In the outfield he posted a .989 fielding%, with 10 assists & four double plays, making ten errors.

1990: In 1990, there was more change in the air for the Mets. It was clear as the nineties began the Mets hey-day of the 1980's were over. Manager Davey Johnson was fired & legendary Met Bud Harrelson took over the position, but never fared as well as he had in his playing days. 

Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter were both gone. The young players never blossomed into stars they had hoped.  Although they did win 91 games, the team once again finished in second place at a time where there was no wild card spot.

Darryl once again opened his mouth making things worse for himself. After Davey Johnson was fired he said he was going to leave via free agency at the end of the season.

In April Darryl hit two HRs with nine RBIs but was hitting .288. Things got better in May, from May 21st to June 2nd, in a nine-game span he collected ten hits with four HRs & eight RBIs.

Player of the Week Award: In June, Strawberry won his fourth Player of the Week award hitting five HRs with twelve RBIs in the middle of a seventeen-game hit streak. From June 7th-June10th in a four-game set with the Pirates, Darryl hit four HRs & drove in eight runs while collecting five hits batting .357.

 

Multi HR Game: On June 8th, he began the series with HRs off Bob Walk & (future Met) Rick Reed in a 7-1 Mets win. On June 10th, he hit a three-run HR & RBI base hit off (former Met) Walt Terrell in an 8-3 Mets win in Pittsburgh. Straw homered the next day as well in a Mets loss. 

He would hit three more HRs before the months end, finishing up June batting .376 with 10 HRs & 27 RBIs, with 35 hits & 17 walks. 

Multi HR Game: On July 3rd, Straw had his second & only other multi-HR game of the season, hitting a pair off Houston's Mark Portugal in a 12-0 Frank Viola Mets shutout.

From there Darryl homered in the next two games as well, driving in three runs in both games. On July 5th, in Atlanta with the Mets down 7-4 Darryl hit a three run HR off Joe Hesketh putting the Mets ahead, in a game they'd win 9-8.

1990 All Star: At the break he had 21 HRs with 55 RBIs & was batting .306. That year Straw played in his final All Star Game in a Mets uniform, going 0-1 as a reserve player in the AL's 2-0 win at Wrigley Field. 

Grand Slam & Five RBI Game: On August 30th he belted his fourth career grand slam HR,
coming off the Giants Francisco Oliveras. In the 1st inning, he had added an RBI single masking it a season high five RBI game in the 12-2 win at Shea Stadium. 

On September 1st, Darryl hit his 30th HR of the season, making it the third time he reached that feat. From September 10th-13th, Darryl hit three HRs in the four-game stretch, with HRs in back-to-back games with the Cardinals where the Mets put up ten runs each time.

Walk Off HR: On September 11, the Mets went into the 9th inning with a 8-6 lead over the Cardinals. But John Franco could not hold the lead. In the bottom of the 9th, Strawberry came to bat in the 8-8 tie facing star reliever Lee Smith. 

He hit a walk off two run HR to win the game in one of his last exciting moments as a New York Mets player. 

Final Mets Game: On September 27th he played his last Mets game, going 0-3 in a 6-0 win over Expos in Montreal. 

Darryl had another good month in September driving in twenty-three runs while hitting eight HRs.

In his last Mets season, Strawberry put up strong numbers in the last year of his contract. He led the team again with 37 HRs (2nd in the NL) with 108 RBIs (5th best in the NL) tops on the Mets with Howard Johnson's 90 RBIs a distant second. 

Straw had 150 hits, batting .277 with 18 doubles & 10 stolen bases, both the lowest totals up to
that point of his career. He had 92 runs scored, with 70 walks posting a .361 on base % & .879 OPS. 

In the 1990 off season as was excepted Darryl left the Mets & signed on with the Los Angeles Dodgers as baseball's highest paid player with a $23 million contract.

All Time Mets Leaderboard: In his eight-year Mets playing career he ranks among the best in most Mets all time offensive categories. 

Straw is first on the Mets all-time HR list with 252 HRs. 

He is second to David Wright in RBIs (733) in walks (580) & in strikeouts (960). He is third in runs scored (662) fifth all time in stolen bases (191) sixth in triples (30) eighth in games played (1109) ninth in doubles (187) & in in hits (1025). 

Honors: In 2010 he was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. In 2023 the Mets will retire his #18.

Post Mets Career: In California, he became a West Coast star & was named Big Brother of The Year. In 1991 he hit 28 HRs with 22 doubles & 99 RBIs batting .265. It was his first & only full season as a Dodger player. 

Injuries & more personal problems sidelined for much of the next two seasons, hitting only five HRs in each season.

Darryl Dramas: He got arrested for hitting his new pregnant girlfriend, then announced he had a substance abuse problem. He then did six months house arrest for failing to pay $450,000 in past income taxes. He got suspended for violating the substance abuse program, coming up dirty for cocaine use. 

In 1994 he was released by the Dodgers. 

In 1996 he was then signed by the AL New York team hitting 11 HRs with 36 RBIs batting .262. He went to the World Series that season with old teammate Dwight Gooden. Darryl hit three HRs in the ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles, including two in Game #4 at Camden Yards.

In 1998 he hit 24 HRs making a big comeback but was soon diagnosed with colon cancer. He had surgery to have 24" inches of his colon removed. He also needed chemotherapy because cancer had been found in a lymph node. He would need another treatment two years later. 

In 1999 Darryl rebounded from that as well hitting three HRs playing in 24 regular season games. He appeared in two more post season games driving in four runs that October. Overall he played parts of five seasons with the AL New York team playing in 231 games batting .255 with 41 HRs & 114 RBIs.

Then there was more negative drama when Strawberry got arrested for trying to pick up an undercover cop disguised as a hooker. He eventually did jail time and then got divorced from his second wife before finally cleaning up his act in the new millennium. 

Career Stats: In his 17-year career Straw was an eight time All Star, an NL Rookie of the Year, one time Player of the Month & six-time Player of the Week.

In 1583 career games, he batted .259 with 1401 hits, hitting 335 HRs (107th all time) with 1000 RBIs. His 16.2 AB per HR ratio is 35th best all time. Darryl has 256 doubles, 38 triples, with 898 runs scored. He had 816 walks, with 31 Intentional walks (78th all time) a .357 on base % a .505 slugging % & .862 OPS.

He struck out 1352 times (125th all time) with eight seasons of 100 or more strike outs. 

In right field he played 1309 games (43rd all time) with 2337 put outs (47th all time) 58 errors (53rd all time) with 23 double plays turned (61st all time) & 76 assists.

Post Season Stats: Strawberry played in 40 postseason games, belting 9 HRs, with 22 RBIs and 20 runs scored. He played in five All Star games, making eight All Star teams with 12 All Star at bats batting .333 with two stolen bases. 

Prison: In 2000 while going to see his probation officer he was under the influence of pain killers, crashed his car & was arrested. 

Later that year he left a Tampa drug treatment center to get high with a female friend. He was arrested & lost his will to live stopping his chemo treatments. Darryl would get arrested again for leaving his home under house arrest & disappearing from drug treatment center in Tampa. 

In 2002 Straw served a 22-month term in prison for these & other violations. Mets P.R. man Jay Horowitz visited him in jail to which Darryl was most grateful.

Gary Carter's Passing: In 2012 Strawberry was very upset at the death of teammate Gary Carter who passed away at age 57. Darryl said Gary was a big inspiration in his life. 

Quotes- Darryl Strawberry: "He was sincere. I admired what he had in his life. I wasn't jealous or envious of him, why would I be? I thought he lived life with love in his heart. He displayed it & made sure everybody he knew he loved & cared for them regardless of if you didn't love him or not. I learned some valuable things from him that made me spring forth in life".

Retirement & Return to Mets: In 1986 Strawberry attended the Mets' 20th Anniversary of the World Championship team. He attended the 30th Anniversary at Citi Field in 2016. 

2006: In Game #2 of the 2006 NLCS he threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

 

In 2008 he was at the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium. 

Strawberry has worked as an instructor for the Mets at many Spring Training camps over the years as well. 

Author: In 2009 he wrote his controversial Autobiography “Straw: Finding My Way”. In that book he told of his own & his 1986 teammates wild escapades. 

Quotes- Darryl Strawberry: "We hauled around more Bud than the Clydesdales. The beer was just to get the party started and maybe take the edge off the speed and coke." 

"On the road, the modo was tear up your best bars and nightclubs and take your finest women". The only hard part for us was choosing which hottie to take back to your hotel room. Lots of times you picked two or three a night." 

2010: In 2010 Straw threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Citi field. That year he was honored along with Dwight Gooden, Davey Johnson & Frank Cashen getting inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.

Later in the year appeared on future President of the United States- Donald Trump’s show “The Apprentice”. Other celebs included Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper & Bret Michaels.

Restaurant: That same year he & his brother opened up a restaurant in Douglaston, Queens called Strawberry's. It closed in October 2012.

2013 All Star Game: In 2013 he participated in the Charity celebrity softball game at Citi Field during the All-Star Weekend. Starw was also on hand around the city for many of the 2013 All-Star Game events around New York.

2015 Mets NL Champs Season: In the 2015 World Series at Shea Stadium, Darryl, Mookie Wilson & Cleon Jones, all threw out the ceremonial first pitches.

ESPN 30/30: In 2015 he & Dwight Gooden were subjects of an ESPN 30/30 special taken place at the same diner Goodfella's Movie was filmed in Maspeth, Queens.

Charities: His charity the Darryl Strawberry Foundation supports children with Autism. Straw also has worked as a studio analyst for the SNY network before & after Mets games. 

Family: Darryl was married three times & has three children. He & his first wife Lisa were married in 1985. She first filed for divorce in 1987, the two were married until 1993. Together they had two children.

His son Daryl Jr. played pro basketball in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns in 2007-2008. He also played in the NBA development league for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, then in Italy for Bologna before he needed knee surgery. In 2011 he played pro basketball in Israel.

Darryl's second wife was Charisse Strawberry they were married in 1993 until 2006. He is now married to his third wife Tracy since 2006.

Born Again Christian: Darryl is an evangelical born-again Christian. He & his wife Tracy are
pastors & have started Strawberry Ministries. The Strawberry Christian Recovery Program is dedicated to restoring lives & relationships.

A HealthCare Company helped the couple run The Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center for drug & alcohol recovery, in Florida, Texas, Ohio & Louisiana. 

In 2017 he wrote a book about recovery & addiction, "Don't Give Up on Me".

In 2022 he took his ministries to state penitentiaries in New Jersey & other prisons in order to pay it forward.

#18: In 2023 the Mets plan to retire his uniform #18 at a Ceremony at Citi Field.