Darryl Strawberry was an eight-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion in his 17-year Major League Baseball career with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.
But these days, he’s spreading a message of faith in God that helped him through some incredibly hard times.
Strawberry was in Gainesville on Thursday evening to speak at the 18th Annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Heart of Champions Banquet at Greenhouse Church.
“He’s the God of Israel, he’s the God of everything, he’s the God of mercy and peace and joy,” Strawberry told the audience during the keynote speech. “He’s not like man. He will never leave you. He doesn’t lie to you and all he asks you to do is trust him.”
The 64-year-old Strawberry was the 1983 Rookie of the Year with the Mets, and was an All-Star every year from 1984-91. He helped lead the Mets to the World Series title in 1986. Strawberry signed with the Dodgers in 1991 but struggled with injuries.
He then ran into drug problems, being suspended for the entire 1995 season after testing positive for cocaine. He joined the Yankees in 1996 and helped lead them to World Series titles that year and in 1999, missing the Yankees’ 1998 title run after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
Strawberry retired after being suspended for the entire 2000 season after once again testing positive for cocaine.
“I’ve been enjoying this life and a relationship with God for 20 years,” Strawberry said. “The guys I played baseball with said, ‘oh he’ll be back. Back to what?’”
Strawberry ended up spending some time in prison in the early 2000s, including an 11-month stint in the since-closed Gainesville Correctional Institution in 2003.
“They say Jesus is a man that fell short,” Strawberry said. “No, he didn’t. We all fall short.”
Strawberry credits his life turnaround with his marriage to wife Tracy in 2006.
“My wife Tracy is an ordained minister,” Strawberry said. “I used to be a womanizer and didn’t treat women well at all. But two women, my mother and my wife, are why I’m here today.”
Strawberry did talk some baseball. Former Florida Gators standout and current Mets first baseman Pete Alonso enters the 2025 season with 326 career homers, 26 behind Strawberry’s team record.
“Records are made to be broken,” Strawberry said. “I wish him well and hope he breaks it.”