For the last 20 years, Darryl Strawberry has been teaching life lessons as traveling minister, but he is best remembered for his exploits as a baseball player with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants and Yankees.
In a recent phone interview with MLBbro.com, Strawberry answered a wide range of topics from being pardoned by President Donald Trump to the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 1986 Mets.
MLBbro.com: Tell me your reaction when you first heard that you were pardoned by President Donald Trump last week?
Darryl Strawberry: Thank you, Lord, for your continued grace, mercy and love over my life, my wife’s life and all you have done for us. Of course, I’ve been free during the last 20 years by doing what I have been doing. President Trump didn’t have to pardon me because God has not held [my past problems] over my head. God has given me open doors to go anywhere. [The pardon] was more of a friendship. This is not about politics. I’m not into politics. You know me by now. I’m clearly focused on who I am and what I do in life. Obviously, I’ve known President Trump for a long time dating back to my days playing in New York. He has always been gracious and kind to me since that time. I have a dear friend – Larry Glick – who works for his company and I was telling him about my story at a friend’s house about being locked up. … Pam Bondi was the prosecutor who had me locked up. I never said anything bad about her and I never will. … [Glick] said, “No kidding. Why didn’t you say anything?” I said, “I don’t need to say anything. My life is good.” He said, “Oh, No. I’m going to talk to the president and I’m going to tell him that he needs to pardon Darryl Strawberry.” You don’t have to do that. And he said, “Yeah I’m going to tell him that because he loves you. I never thought anything else about it. I guess, it came about, he told him and here I am. President Trump did it.
MLBbro.com: Every time we connect, we always talk about your mother and Gary Carter. How do you think they would react to this news?
Strawberry: They would be cheering more than ever because I cleaned my life and I didn’t sit in a victim’s mentality.
MLBbro.com: Can you talk about how getting pardoned has deepened your faith in Jesus Christ?
Strawberry: My faith was already deep, but [the pardon] just took it to another level. God has given me a revelation inside of me. I’m truly free. I don’t have anything hanging over my head anymore. I’m not a felon. I paid my dues. I paid back the tax money and everything. I had to pay a heavy price and it was costly. In the end, I’m rewarded spiritually more than anything.
MLBbro.com: On Aug. 11, 2026, you have a new book coming out called “Another Life: Discovering the Healing Power of Purpose on My Long Journey from Player to Preacher.” What do you want readers to understand about this book?
Strawberry: I want them to understand that we have a purpose here. It’s just a matter of figuring it out. When we do figure it out, it could change the course of all of our lives. … The book is going to give readers an in-depth look of my travel life with my writer and son, Jordan. They get to see all the different people that I interact with, the different places I go to and the hope that I bring to so many different people across this nation. It’s the most remarkable thing I’ve ever done in my life. I thought playing in front of 50,000 fans and winning championships was a great experience. There was nothing wrong with that. But I’m [able to] bring hope to people in hopeless situations, see tears falling down people’s faces when I’m trying to give them something that I’ve experienced – freedom, peace, joy, love and happiness. I have all of that in my life because of my faith. No one can take that away from me. You can take baseball away from a person. That uniform is coming off. But my everyday life and doing what I’m doing, you can’t take that away from me. That was given to me by God.
MLBbro.com: Ever since we started speaking in 2021, you seem happier.
Strawberry: That’s because I’m not [attached] to a baseball uniform. I’m not [attached] to a team. My last name is Strawberry. It’s always going to be that way. My name is Darryl, but I’m not bound to that identity of being a baseball player. I’m more than just that. I’m a child of God. I’m a son. I’ve been loved. I’ve had tremendous grace over my life. I didn’t waste it. I’m using what I’ve been given to give back to others. I realize my life was not a mistake. It was supposed to go the way it went.
MLBbro.com: Next year will be the 40th anniversary of when the Mets won their last World Series. Can you believe it has been that long?
Strawberry: It drives you crazy when you think about it. Forty years. Come on, Mets. You haven’t won in 40 years. They are still celebrating this team. It’s time for [the current Mets] to win. We’ve had our day. Forty years, It’s going to be a great celebration. I’m glad that some players are still here. Carter is not here. [Manager] Davey Johnson is not here. [Coaches] Bill Robinson and Buddy Harrelson are not here. I could go on and on. That year was magical. We captured the city and ended up winning it all. You lose people along the way. Davey Johnson was a big part of what we were able to accomplish. After we lost him, I was able to do his eulogy. … I would never want to play for another person. People said he could have contained us. He wasn’t supposed to contain us. He was supposed to let us be players. He was a player himself. That’s what 40 years bring you and you remember those moments. You remember how it went and how you were treated. You think about the people who had an impact on you – Bill and Buddy. Those people were a part of what we did.
MLBbro.com: What made that team so good?
Strawberry: We were not afraid of anything. We were not afraid that teams didn’t like us. If teams were ahead in the game, we were going to come back and whip the smack out of you. We had deep passion towards each other. We cared about each other. When we took the field, you didn’t want to mess with us.
MLBbro.com: How come that team could not repeat after ‘86? The Mets came close in 1988, but they lost to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
Strawberry: In 1987, we lost our pitching staff. Every pitcher went down at some point during the season. They are the ones who got us there. Yes, we had an offensive team. We could come back and score runs, but we needed a staff that could keep us in the ballgame. Those guys kept us in the game. Then we came back with that ‘88 team. That was more talented than the ‘86 team, but they didn’t have the heart of the ‘86 Mets. That was a big difference as to why we couldn’t get through that Dodgers series. We didn’t have that push that we had in ‘86.
MLBbro.com: The ‘86 Mets were not only known for their baseball skills; they were also known for their off-the-field shenanigans. How do you feel that people talk about the shenanigans to this day?
Strawberry: One, because they never saw anything like that. Mets fans in Queens never saw anything like, these guys are crazy wild, drinking, woman, party animals. But when we hit the field, we were rock stars on the field. They were a different breed, a different level. Nothing bothered us. We would go into a town, we would tear it up.
MLBbro.com: By the sound of your voice, it sounds like you are still a Mets fan. You said, the Mets have to go past ‘86. You want to see them win championships now. How do you feel about the current team and moving forward?
Strawberry: I love what [owners] Steve and Alex Cohen are doing for that franchise and moving it forward. I love the players. I love Mendy [Carlos Mendoza]. I love [general manager] David Stearns. He is young and bright. He is trying to build from within. You have to build from within with some of your younger players to help you get to a level of winning consistently year after year. They have to make decisions. Are they going to go all in on free agents or are they going to let these guys grow up to be winners?. When you have 25, 26 year-old players, you don’t give up on them… They have to build a chemistry to win. People say chemistry is not important. Yes, it is. The Dodgers have chemistry. That’s why they are winning.
MLBbro.com: I get the impression you love the young players on the Mets.
Strawberry: I do. I see all those young guys that are coming through and they are very talented. Are they going to have some flaws? Yes. They are supposed to. But I know if you keep playing them, the day is going to come where they are going to be really good. Learning is the key. Young players are important in this day and time in Major League Baseball.
MLBbro.com: What did you think of Juan Soto this past season?
Strawberry: I thought Soto was phenomenal. I thought he made adjustments after the first two months – big contract coming over [from the Yankees]. A new team. It’s very hard. I experienced that, too, when I went to the Dodgers [in 1991]. I struggled the first half and came out the second half and I blasted off.
