Darryl Strawberry: A Changed Man
CBN.com Darryl Strawberry was perhaps one of the most electrifying players in Major League Baseball history. He entering the league with the New York Mets in 1983. Throughout his 17-year career, he made eight consecutive all-star game appearances and captured four World Series championships! But his baseball prowess on the field at times was largely overshadowed by his controversial life off of it. It had lot to do with how he grew up.
“My childhood always was a real disaster,” he tells The 700 Club, “due to the fact that I had a tremendous fear factor in my life from my father. He was a very abusive, raging alcoholic.”
Darryl grew up in south central Los Angeles with his four siblings Mike, Ronnie, Regina and Michelle. Their father, “Big Hank”, was prone to fits of rage -- mostly to Darryl and his older brother Ronnie.
“Me and Ronnie was basically his whopping pole. He would lay us across the bed. We had our shirts off, and he would have like an extension cord. He would beat us and tell us, ‘You’re never going to be nothing. You don’t do nothing right,’ and it was just so bad. I was terrified inside of the fact that what he was saying to me I truly believed it.”
When Darryl was 13 years old, one night he and his brothers decided to take a stand.
“That night when he came home, he was drunk, abusive to my mom. My older brother Mike finally confronted him,” Darryl recalls. “Told him to just get out of here and leave us alone. My dad was went into a rage. He pulled out a shot gun and started making threats about, ‘I’ll kill all of you guys.’ Ronnie grabbed a butcher knife, and I grabbed a frying pan skillet. Ronnie was thinking along the same lines I was thinking. Only one’s dying here tonight is him.”
Big Hank backed down. The police came to their home and told him to leave. Their mother was left with five kids to raise on her own.
“What a remarkable woman. She loved her kid. It didn’t matter whatever the struggle it was going to be. She was going to take care of us.”
While Darryl’s life at home was finally peaceful, his father’s abuse stuck with him. But he began to use baseball as an outlet to channel his anger.
“I thought I was bigger than life and nobody could tell me nothing. That wasn’t anything personal, it was always because of the fact that I had been controlled for so long. Now, this was my outlet, and this was where nobody was ever going to control me again.”
Despite his bad attitude, his talent was undeniable. He was the No. 1 draft pick in 1980 and was selected by the New York Mets. After three long years in the Minors, he was brought up to the Majors. He also married his first wife Lisa. He had a stellar rookie season and earned the Player of the Year award in 1983. But with all the fame also came the pressure to perform.
“If I did something good, ‘he’s great.’ If you do something wrong, ‘he’s not hustling. He doesn’t look like he’s playing hard.’ When I hit tremendous bombs and win games, ‘oh, he’s great.’ So it was a no-win situation.”
The pressure came in from all sides. Eventually, Darryl turned to drugs to deal with it.
“I did everything to make me feel good. I drank alcohol, took amphetamines. Later down the line, I got introduced heavily into cocaine, which was my outlet and my escape. That was the biggest escape for me. When I found that, I can escape away from everybody and everything.”
Even though Darryl’s personal life was crashing, he helped lead the Mets to the 1986 World Series championship. Then in 1990, he accepted a lucrative deal to play with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I regret that I left New York. I had had it with New York, not the fans. I had had it with the media.”
Darryl spent three seasons with the Dodgers, and because of his drug habit, his career was hitting rock bottom. He was eventually traded to the San Francisco Giants. But while he was in L.A., his wife invited him to a convention by evangelist Morris Cerello.
“That weekend, all I did was cry when I heard him up there preaching,” Darryl says. “He said, ‘This Sunday, I’m going to lay hands on everybody that comes in here.’ That was the most remarkable move I had ever seen in my life. There was a line formed. The power of God hit me, and when I got up, my belly was like a river. It was just like a river. I had never experienced anything like that in my life.
“I was out of baseball, and I was not with anyone at that time. My mom passed away. I wasn’t going to play any more baseball, because I had been suspended from the league for drugs. I had went through that battle, and I just kind of like had had enough.”
After rehab Darryl entered the lesser known independent league. It wasn’t long before he received an unexpected call, it was the New York Yankees.
“Mr. Stienbrenner brought me back to New York. What a gift. He’s a person that I’m always grateful for, because of the fact, when everybody had written me off, he didn’t care what the opinions were. He said, ‘He’s a New Yorker. He belongs in New York. He’s going to play for the Yankees.’”
Darryl’s career was back on track. He married his second wife Charrise and also helped his team win the ‘96 and ‘98 World Series championships. Again his life appeared to be shaping up on the field, but at home, his drug habit had resurfaced. It began to affect his marriage.
“It was more different relationship with Charisse than with Lisa. Things had changed a little different in my life, but I had that anger and those abusive ways.”
Not only were things at home coming undone, but at the end of the ‘98 season Darryl was diagnosed with colon cancer.
“The doctors said it’s just amazing. This tumor didn’t burst open and spread throughout your body,” he remarks.
Miraculously, after surgery and six months of chemotherapy, he was back on the field the next season and helped the Yankees their third World Series championship in four seasons. But after the ‘99 season, Darryl’s life took a turn for the worst again when he was arrested for soliciting a prostitution and drug possession. He was suspended from the League. Over the next five years, Darryl lost everything -- his career, his wife, and he almost lost himself, but he managed to go to a drug recovery convention where he met Tracy.
Tracy could relate to Darryl, because she had her own struggle with drug addiction. She says, “I saw a man that was very broken, even physically. A person who has addiction themselves, I could look in him and see he wasn’t even clean yet. He was sitting in his seat full of heaviness.”
“I was hurting so much,” Darryl recalls. “I was angry and mad. She came into my life, and I saw something different in her eyes.”
Tracy and Darryl became good friends. Even though, Darryl was still struggling, a born again Christian Tracy proved to be a guardian for Darryl.
“I would plead with God not only for my own life, but standing in the gap for Darryl. Not even knowing what that statement meant,” Tracy explains. “Just being on my face and praying and crying out to God. ‘God, show Yourself to me. Save us, transform us, take this desire out. Get this out of me. , Get this out of him. Wherever he is, cover him.’ I had enough light in me, just a flicker in me, to want to reach out and literally save him.”
Tracy’s example soon began to rub off on Darryl, and he knew it was time to make a change.
Darryl says, “I just had to surrender. I had to get with God myself. I had to separate myself from everything and everybody. God was calling me, and it was either I was going to answer this call or I was going to die.”
Darryl went back to church and rededicated his life to the Lord. This time it was for good. Tracy and Darryl married in 2006. Today, they are both doing better than ever. Darryl is currently working closely with the Mets organization. Together with Tracy, they founded the Darryl Strawberry Foundation, which is dedicated to children and adults with autism. For years, Darryl’s life was surrounded by controversy, but these days he’s a changed man.
“I want them to see the remarkable man who I always knew I had the capabilities of being. And not playing baseball, but the remarkable man God has me. They see that today. I am so proud of what the Lord has done for me and through me. You become a splitting image of God’s image when the world can see that You’re different.”
Mentioned in the Video
- CBN.com Darryl Strawberry was perhaps one of the most electrifying players in Major League Baseball history. He entering the league with the New York Mets in 1983.
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Transcript
Coming to peace with God was a long, hard struggle for Darryl Strawberry. He was the middle of five children born to Monica and “Big Hank” Strawberry. Big Hank’s nickname was well-deserved -- he was a big guy, and he was also one of the best softball players in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Darryl says Big Hank passed down a lot more than just his size and love of sports. Big Hank worked nights at the Post Office. Afterwards, he’d go out drinking, gambling, and carousing with other women. When he’d get home, he’d plop down on the bed. Those were the good nights. Other nights, he’d fight with his wife, “yelling crazy nonsense half the time,” Darryl says. His family was scared of him, and Darryl was often the target of Big Hank’s rage. One night, Big Hank came home drunk and grabbed a shotgun from the bedroom closet. For unknown reasons he threatened to kill everyone. Darryl’s oldest brother, Mike, decided it was time to stand up to him, so he grabbed a skillet. Ronnie, Darryl’s other brother, grabbed a butcher knife. Darryl grabbed a frying pan. Moments later the police arrived, and Big Hank left and never came back. MEET THE METS Darryl was a natural athlete. He played basketball and baseball at Crenshaw High (a school known for its sports) in south central Los Angeles. The team garnered national attention, and scouts and writers came to watch. Darryl didn’t disappoint; he hit .371 his junior year and .400 as a senior. The New York Mets took notice, and drafted him as the number one overall pick in the 1980 amateur draft. By the age of 21, Darryl made it to the major leagues. That year he slugged 26 homers and was named the league’s Rookie of the Year 1983. Off the field, Darryl says life was one big frat party. The Mets drank to celebrate winning, and drank when times were rough. They took amphetamines “like mints” to perk them up, and other drugs just for fun. By 1986, the Mets were the best team in the league (and the rowdiest). Darryl even picked fights with his teammates. During spring training one year, he got into a brawl after one of them called him a crybaby. His wild life affected his home life, too. One night during the playoffs, Darryl came back to his hotel, drunk and “probably on speed,” he says. His wife Lisa had the chain on the door. Darryl burst into the room, got into a shouting fight, and smacked her so hard that he broke her nose. Years later he got into another fight with Lisa, only this time he pointed a gun at her. Police arrested Darryl and he spent the night in jail. A short time later he went to alcohol rehab for the first time. Darryl and Lisa later divorced. HOMECOMING The Mets grew tired of Darryl, and they refused to sign him to a big contract; so Darryl decided to take a five-year, $20+ million offer from his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers. Back home Darryl was close to most of the bad influences in his life. He started smoking crack because he says he was in great pain, and drinking and doing drugs brought temporary relief. In 1992, a relative of his suggested he go to a Morris Cerullo convention, and that day Darryl got saved. Darryl hoped it would mark the end of his problems, but that wasn’t the case. Cerullo told Darryl that the “enemy” was going to attack Darryl. Soon Darryl dislocated his shoulder while chasing down a fly ball, and he reverted back to his old life of drinking and drugs. In 1992, he ruptured a disk in his lower spine, something he attributes to the constant abuse he put on his body. Darryl tried to bounce back too early, but that just made things worse. In ’92 and ’93, he played in only 75 games. During this time, Darryl met and married another woman, Charisse. Darryl got into a fight with her, too, and was arrested (although charges later dropped). Things got worse; in 1994, the IRS announced that Darryl was being investigated for tax fraud. In April, Darryl went partying, and missed his team’s next game. He decided to check himself into the Betty Ford Clinic, but the Dodgers were frustrated with him so they released him. Darryl later signed with the San Francisco Giants, and while he flourished, his season was cut short because of the player’s strike. At home, Darryl’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and she died the following summer. Soon Darryl slipped back into drinking and drug abuse. In January of 1995, Darryl tested positive for cocaine. MLB officials suspended him for 60 days and the Giants released him. The following month, Darryl pled guilty to felony tax evasion. He was fined $350,000 and sentenced to six months of probation and house arrest. BACK TO THE BIG APPLE New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner thought Darryl deserved another shot, so he signed him to a deal. Darryl began playing after his house arrest was over, and he enjoyed a few successful seasons with the Yankees. Then in 1998, he started getting painful stomach cramps. When he finally got it checked out, doctors told him he had a cancer. Surgery to remove the tumor was successful, but Darryl still had to undergo six months of chemotherapy. By April 1999, Darryl had been sober for four years. The bouts of cancer and chemo became too much for him to fight. So he started drinking again. His cocaine use started again, too. One night, he asked a girl if she wanted to party; the girl happened to be an undercover cop, and Darryl was arrested for soliciting a prostitute and possession of cocaine. Darryl pled ‘no contest’ to the charges and was sentenced to probation. The MLB suspended him for 120 days but after the suspension was over, Darryl rejoined the Yankees. During the playoffs, Darryl hit two home runs and helped the Yankees win the World Series. Still, Darryl couldn’t win his battle over drugs and alcohol. In January of 2000, Darryl failed a mandatory drug test. MLB officials suspended for him for a year, but for Darryl, it was the end of the line. He never played pro ball again. AFTER BASEBALL Darryl checked himself into rehab for the third time in ten years, but he left because he felt like his family needed him. (However, his family had learned how to live without Darryl, and he and his wife divorced.) In June, a routine CT scan detected that his colon cancer spread. He had surgery to remove a stomach tumor. During his recovery he became addicted to prescription pain medication. In September 2000, after taking heavy doses of Ambien, Percodan and Vicodin, Darryl got into his car, and blacked out. He was arrested, this time sentenced to jail. Later he told the judge that he stopped taking chemotherapy and lost his will to live. The judge decided to send Darryl back to rehab, where he stayed for a few months. One night, he decided to leave (against the rules) and got high. Four days later, Darryl turned himself in and was sentenced to another 18 months at a drug treatment center. He was kicked out of the program in April of 2002. The judge was going to give Darryl to five to six more years of drug treatment for violating probation, but Darryl opted for prison instead. He was sentenced to 18 months. During those 18 months, Darryl cleaned himself up and was a model prisoner. Afterwards he went back to California, and spent another six months living with his sister. She encouraged him to read and study the Bible, to surrender everything to God, and to trust Him completely. Since 2006, Darryl’s life has completely transformed. He’s cleaned himself up and has remarried. The Mets welcomed him back as a special instructor, and he tells young players how to watch out for the things he encountered during his career. He also works with autistic children and at-risk kids, and he tells them about his struggles and how, through God, he finally managed to overcome them. When he tells them this, he says he finally realizes why God put him in this world, and why God kept him around for so long. He says, for the first time in his life, he has true joy.Download
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