Darryl Strawberry

Darryl Strawberry
Rightfielder
Born: March 12th, 1962 Los Angeles , United States
Strikes: Left	Throws: Left
Debut in Major League Baseball
May 6,  1983  with the  New York Mets
Last MLB assignment
October 3,  1999  with the  New York Yankees
MLB statistics (until end of career)
Batting average	, 259
Home runs	335
Runs Batted In	1,000
Teams
New York Mets (1983–1990) Los Angeles Dodgers (1991-1993) San Francisco Giants (1994) New York Yankees (1995-1999)
Awards
8 × All-Star (1984–1991) 4 × World Series winner ( 1986 , 1996 , 1998 , 1999 ) NL Rookie of the Year (1983) 2 × Silver Slugger Award (1988, 1990) Batsman with the most home runs in the NL (1988)

Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962 in Los Angeles , California ) is a retired American baseball player and manager who was as famous for his game on the field as he was notorious for his antics. In his 17-year career in the 1980s and 1990s, he led the New York Mets and New York Yankees to a total of four World Series titles and was named to the Baseball All-Star Team eight times in a row from 1984 to 1991 .

Youth and first years

Darryl Strawberry, a boy with Native American roots, was born in the Los Angeles ghettos . In South Central, he went to Crenshaw High School , where he played for the Crenshaw High Cougars on the famous 1979 team, along with Chris Brown . In 1980 he was signed for the first time for the New York Mets after he was referred to as the black Ted Williams . In New York in 1983 he played in the MLB for the first time and was able to shine with 26 home runs and many other performances. He was named National League's Rookie of the Year and was able to confirm his successes in 1984. Another 26 home runs were on his account and he was called up to the baseball all-star team for the first time.

Heyday

Despite being unable to play forty-three games in 1985 due to a thumb injury, Strawberry posted 29 home runs throughout the season. In 1986 the New York Mets won the World Series for the second time, not least through 27 home runs by Strawberry. Although he scored an impressive 39 home runs in 1987, stole 37 bases and celebrated other personal successes, the Mets missed the play-offs. In 1988 he managed 39 home runs again, he reached the play-offs with the Mets, but was eliminated against the Dodgers in the fight for the National League Championship Series. In 1989, the Mets were second behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League East. In 1990 he managed another 37 home runs, but were again only second for the fight in the National League East, behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was named to the Baseball All-Star Team every year for the eight years between 1984 and 1991. During this time he was very popular and popular, printing posters and flags as well as producing and selling action figures. As famous as he was, his antics on and off the square were also controversial. He was often late for training or not at all. He argued publicly with his teammates and thus drew the anger of them, who even threatened him with violence (Wally Backman: “bust that little redneck in the face” ).

Later years and comeback

In 1991, at the age of 29, he had already achieved 280 home runs and was compared to home run king Hank Aaron . Despite such statistics, he felt extremely bad and became depressed. He signed and played with the Los Angeles Dodgers when his problems got out of hand. He beat his wife Lisa and publicly stated that it was his wish to burn Los Angeles down. After scoring 28 home runs straight away in his first year of his career, he didn't manage more than ten total over the next two years. He even had to wait five years for his 300th. Strawberry joined the San Francisco Giants in 1994, where his star dropped even further. He managed only four home runs during the entire season and was suspended for a year in 1995 after he was convicted of having had contact with illegal drugs. In May 1996 he tried to rehabilitate himself and went to the Saint Paul Saints . There he scored his first home run in almost two years against the Duluth-Superior Dukes in June. With the commitment Strawberrys to the New York Yankees in July 1996, he experienced a comeback. He showed again performances that reminded of his heyday. Despite only getting eleven home runs in 1996, the Yankees won the World Series alongside his former teammate at the New York Mets , Dwight Gooden . In 1997 he could not play almost the entire year because of his injuries, but was able to win the 1998 Yankees World Series and scored 24 home runs. In 1999, the year he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, he only scored three home runs, won another World Series with the Yankees, and retired because of his cancer. Despite being compared to Hank Aaron and prophesied that he could break his home run record, he didn't even make half of Hank Aaron's home runs because of his career break and personal problems. Even so, he had an impressive record of 335 home runs, 1,000 RBIs and an average score of .505, won the World Series four times and was elected to the Baseball All-Star Team eight times in a row .

After the career

In 1995 he worked as a trainer for the Mets. Strawberry had little positive news to report after his career ended. He took part in a reunion of the New York Mets World Series team on August 19, 2006, where he and the rest of the team received a standing ovation from fans at Shea Stadium . Although he was not invited due to the quarrels with the team, he appeared anyway and was celebrated as well. He now lives in St. Charles , Missouri . He is the only player who could win the World Series with both New York teams. 1986 with the Mets and 1996, 1998 and 1999 with the Yankees. On October 12, 2006 he was allowed to perform the first throw in the first game of the season of the New York Mets in the game against the St. Louis Cardinals , which caused great applause from the audience.

He has little contact with his son, DJ Strawberry, a college basketball player at the University of Maryland. His son broke off contact because his father was never there for him in his youth. Still, you can see Darryl Strawberry regularly at his son's games.

Antics

This section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

• On January 29, 1987, his wife Lisa separated from him after he broke her nose after a game in October 1986. In 1993 they got divorced. They have two children together.
• On April 7, 1989, he was accused by a woman named Lisa Clayton of being the father of her son. A blood test in January 1990 actually confirmed paternity.
• On January 26, 1990, two days after paternity was confirmed, he was arrested by police for beating his wife Lisa and threatening him with a gun. He was released shortly afterwards.
• On February 3, 1990, he went on alcohol withdrawal treatment.
• On September 4, 1993, he was taken into police custody after beating his girlfriend at the time, Charisse Simon, who was three months pregnant at the time. She later admitted that she had previously hit him with a baseball bat, they reconciled, and the couple subsequently married on December 3, 1993. They have three children together.
• On April 3, 1994, he did not appear to a baseball game and was only found that night. He admitted he had a drug problem and went to the Betty Ford Center for four weeks .
• On February 6, 1995, he was suspended from Major League Baseball for 60 days because he tested positive for cocaine. On the same day he was sacked by the San Francisco Giants.
• On April 24, 1995, he was sued for tax evasion of $ 350,000.
• On December 11, 1995, he was sued for maintenance payments to his ex-wife Lisa. After allowing an ultimatum to expire in June 1996, he finally agreed to pay for his children in July.
• On October 3, 1998, he had an operation on his bowel and had a tumor and 6 cm of his bowel removed after he had been diagnosed with colon cancer two days earlier. A few days later, it was found that the cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes. He started chemotherapy.
• On April 14, 1999, he was reported by a police officer who allegedly insulted him as a prostitute. He also had a small amount of cocaine on him at the time.
• On January 19, 2000, he tested positive for cocaine again, shortly thereafter suspended from Major League Baseball for a year, where he no longer played anyway.
• On July 28, 2000, a CT scan found that his cancer had spread and he had to have another operation.
• On September 11, 2000, he was caught in Tampa after being drugged in a traffic accident and hit and miss. He was sentenced to one year of community service.
• On October 25, 2000, he was sentenced to thirty days in prison for using drugs with a friend. In court he admitted that he had lost his will to live and wanted to stop chemotherapy. After his sentence was over, he still underwent therapy.
• On October 7, 2005, his second wife, Charisse, divorced him.

Works

• Darryl Strawberry, Dan Castellano: Darryl! Contemporary Books, Chicago 1986, ISBN 0-8092-5028-4 .
• Darryl Strawberry, Don Gold: Hard learnin ' . Berkley Books, New York 1990, ISBN 0-425-12651-X .
• Charisse Strawberry, Darryl Strawberry: Recovering Life . Plow Pub. House, Farmington 1999, ISBN 0-87486-988-9 .
• Darryl Strawberry, John Strausbaugh: Straw: Finding My Way . Ecco Press, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-170420-8 .

Web links

Commons : Darryl Strawberry  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Player information and statistics from MLB  or  Baseball Reference  or  Fangraphs  or  The Baseball Cube  or  Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
• The Straw Stirs - Tom Watson (English)