Darryl Strawberry will be forever known as one of the most talented and conflicted players in the history of baseball. Despite his ability to run like a gazelle, hit the ball to the moon and quickly establish himself as a superstar with Hall of Fame potential, Strawberry had demons that he fought. That inner turmoil led to drug and alcohol addiction that tarnished his reputation and impacted his career.
MLB Legend Darry Strawberry Almost Killed His Abusive Dad When He Was A Teenager
The former New York Mets star, who teamed with “Black Ace” Dwight Gooden to bring unprecedented soul power to the stadium they used to call Shea out in Queens, recently did an interview. Strawberry, 62, shared the challenges and lasting trauma that he had growing up. Including, almost killing his alcoholic father, which compounded his challenges dealing with the bright lights and big city of the rotten apple as a star MLB player.
“I grew up in a dysfunctional home, my dad was a raging alcoholic,” said Strawberry who grew up to Henry and Ruby Strawberry in Los Angeles and attended Crenshaw High at the peak of the gang era. “When I was about 14 years old. He pulled out a shotgun, said he was going to kill the whole family.
My brother Ronnie grabbed a butcher’s knife. I grabbed a frying pan, and we were about to kill my dad that night. And I was already broken before I put on the uniform. I was already lonely, already felt the rejection of not being important. So, when I got into sports it was my pain that led me to my greatness. I wanted to be great because of my father’s rejection. Little did I know the pain was never healing. I used to achieve all these great things, but I used to always question myself. ‘Who Am I? What am I? What’s the purpose of this life?'”
Darryl Strawberry Says Pain Of Dad’s Rejection Led Him To Greatness On The Field
Strawberry says the rejection of his father and his abusive behavior towards the family left him with great mental traumas despite the success he was able to achieve on the baseball field.
The New York Mets selected Strawberry with the first overall selection in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft and the lanky 6-foot-6 five-tool sensation blossomed into a star by his rookie season of 1983. In 1984, he made it to the All-Star game for the first of 8 consecutive appearances, hitting towering drives that scorched stadium roofs and left fans in awe.
Strawberry’s infectious personality and star power, as well as the controversy surrounding his ferocious appetite for the night life and wild sexual escapades elevated him to King of New York and the Mets ruled the town in the late 80s, not the vaunted Yankees.
Darryl Strawberry Changed His Life, Now Preaches Word Of God
“I was at the height of my career championships (Won with NY Mets in 1986) and all-star games and realizing there’s nobody there. It’s really lonely up at the top. Everybody there because of what you do and what you have. You don’t find a lot of real friends when you don’t have that success because when the success wasn’t there anymore nobody was there. They were all gone. Everybody scattered.”
Still, something was not right, and eventually these traumas would catch up to Strawberry curtailing what was sure to be a Hal of Fame career.
“Falling into the pit and allowing God to find me in the pit, pick me up and eventually put me on the pit through the trial and tribulations of life and then I think about my wife Tracy who God would send in my life when I was at the bottom of the pit of life,” Strawberry said.
Smoking crack, shooting dope, $3M in debt in South Florida and she was banging on doors and pulling me out of dope houses talking about God’s got a plan for your life. I would be like, ‘why don’t you and God just leave me here and let me die.’ She would point her finger up and say, ‘you’re not that lucky.'”
Strawberry is currently married to his third wife Tracy Boulware since 2006. He first met her at a 2003 Narcotics Anonymous convention in Florida and started dating her. Strawberry got into a lot of legal trouble when he was sentenced to a one-half year in prison for probation violations related to drug abuse in 2002. He dedicated himself to his road to sobriety after prison in 2003.
Darryl Strawberry’s wife Tracy has been instrumental in his rise from drug-ridden former MLB star to preacher and a triumphant story of redemption. She has provided the nurturing Strawberry needed to heal traumas from an abusive childhood, where he says he almost killed his father. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)
Darryl Strawberry Is Greatest Outfielder In NY Mets History
Strawberry finished his career with 355 homers and three World Series rings playing for both New York teams. One with the Mets in 1986 and two with the Yankees Dynasty in ‘96 and ‘99. He also played for the Dodgers and Giants in California. After a long road to sobriety and eventually giving his life to the Lord, Strawberry who is now a preacher living only to spread the word of God, had his No. 18 jersey retired in a ceremony on June 1 at Citi Field, before the Mets took on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“Straw” is remembered for his sweet lefty swing where in eight seasons with the Mets, he would help the team capture two division titles, one pennant, and one World Series. He is also the franchise leader in career home runs (252), second in RBIs (733) and WAR (36.6), third in OPS (.878), fourth in total bases (2,028) and fifth in stolen bases (191).
Darryl Strawberry Hit Majestic Homers
Strawberry’s power and grace were his calling cards. On April 4, 1988, Strawberry hit a majestic home run at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. The ball traveled an estimated 525 feet and struck the stadium’s service ring, which was an incredible height of 160 feet above the playing field. Strawberry’s blast is remembered as one of the most memorable and incredible home runs in baseball history. Nobody had hit the ball in that stadium that high and far until Strawberry took Dennis Martinez’ pitched to the moon.
After overcoming drugs, he also was able to endure a heart attack just weeks before he was supposed to attend his jersey retirement. Strawberry knocked that out the park as he has so many of the challenges throughout his remarkable life.
