Darryl Strawberry arrived at Citi Field on Saturday with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, not only because the Mets were set to retire his No. 18, but because he was alive for the celebration.
Strawberry, a star of the Mets’ 1986 World Series team and the franchise’s all-time home run king, suffered a massive heart attack less than three months ago, a medical emergency he’s still recovering from.
The episode nearly killed him.
“It means more than ever to be able to be here,” Strawberry, 62, said before Saturday’s pregame ceremony. “I came close to losing my life. I’m sitting here because it’s a gift from the Lord, and I don’t take it for granted.”
Strawberry was hospitalized at Missouri’s SSM Health St. Joseph on March 11 after his wife, Tracy, observed him becoming clammy and fatigued. His heart was functioning at 40% when he got to the medical center and was down to 32% after he underwent surgery.
“I appreciate life even more now, knowing that it can happen to anybody,” Strawberry said. “I’m in great shape physically. There wasn’t anything wrong with me. I’m traveling, doing ministry and running through airports. I was on the road for five days, and I was in heart attack mode and didn’t even know it.”
Strawberry’s survival added another layer of emotion to Saturday’s festivities in Queens, where the Mets made the former outfielder their ninth player to have his number retired.
Drafted first overall by the Mets in 1980, the Los Angeles-born Strawberry debuted three years later at 21 years old and went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in 1983.
Known for a powerful lefty swing that could drive a baseball to all fields, Strawberry spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Mets, earning seven All-Star selections and totaling 252 home runs. Strawberry hit three home runs during the Mets’ 1986 playoff run, including a solo shot in their win over Boston in Game 7 of the World Series.
That championship — the second in Mets history and still the most recent — came a year after the team won 98 games but missed the playoffs after finishing behind the 101-win Cardinals in the NL East.
“I just remember how our locker room was after losing to the Cardinals,” Strawberry said. “It was quiet. I think we just realized that we were not going to let anybody step on us anymore. In our first meeting at [1986] spring training, manager Davey Johnson … didn’t say a whole lot. He just said, ‘We’re gonna win it all.’ We looked around and thought to ourselves, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna win it all.’”
Strawberry helped headline a talented Mets core also featuring Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and ace Dwight “Doc” Gooden.
Gooden remembers meeting Strawberry at spring training in 1984, shortly before the latter debuted that season and became the second Met in a row to win Rookie of the Year.
“He had a lot of confidence,” Gooden, whose No. 16 was retired by the Mets in April, said Saturday of Strawberry. “I remember the first day, he told me, ‘If you’re gonna play in the major leagues, you’ve got to walk with your head up. You’ve got to walk like you belong.’ We just hit it off right away.”
Strawberry and Gooden became known as much for their on-field excellence as they were for their hard-partying ways.
“Doc was crazier than me,” Strawberry said with a laugh. “When I met him at 19 years old, he was crazier than me. I thought to myself when I met him, ‘He’s going to fit right in with us.’”
Strawberry served three MLB suspensions related to substance abuse, the last of which came in 2000 and ultimately ended his career.
“I think coming from a broken situation kept me broken inside as a person, and I could never fulfill the happiness of what I was doing for myself when I was being successful,” Strawberry said.
“I came from a dysfunctional home, and my father was a raging alcoholic. He said I would never amount to anything. … The only thing that brought peace to me was being on the field, because I was angry inside. I was angry inside that I didn’t have a father figure in my life, and I had to learn a lot on my own.”
Strawberry doesn’t regret his past, saying Saturday it shaped the person he is now. He has dedicated his life to ministry, traveling across the country to spread his Christian faith.
He does, however, regret leaving the Mets after the 1990 season for a five-year $22.3 million contract with the Dodgers. Strawberry attributes that decision to a broken relationship with the Mets’ front office, including general manager Frank Cashen.
Strawberry said the Mets challenged him to have a strong season in his walk year. After he hit 37 home runs and recorded 108 RBI in 1990, the Mets offered Strawberry a two-year deal, he said.
“I wish I would’ve never left,” Strawberry said. “It was the biggest regret I will have for the rest of my life.”
Strawberry also played for the Giants and Yankees over his 17 MLB seasons, finishing with 335 home runs, 1,000 RBI and 221 stolen bases.
He apologized for leaving the team during Saturday’s ceremony, during which Mets fans gave him multiple standing ovations and showered him with “Darr-yl” chants. The Mets decorated Citi Field’s famed home-run apple as a strawberry and mowed No. 18 into the center-field grass to further set the scene.
“My eight seasons here were the greatest years of my career,” Strawberry said. “I will always be a Met.”
