After suffering a heart attack in March, Darryl Strawberry says he’s able to travel again and feel better, ending his eventful and all-too-brief tenure in Queens with a love that will soon be immortalized. I looked back with all my heart.
“No matter how people look at me, I’ll always be a Met,” Strawberry said in a Zoom news conference Monday ahead of his No. 18 jersey being retired June 1 at Citi Field. “Those eight years were the best years of my career, and I will always cherish those eight years.”
Those years, and the next nine years, including three World Series rings with the Yankees, would not have been possible had he quit baseball when he wanted to.
Back in 1981, Strawberry was a 19-year-old graduate of Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High School and one year away from being drafted No. 1 overall. At the time, he was one of the most highly anticipated players of all time. When his coach called him “the black Ted Williams” in a Sports Illustrated article. There he played with mostly black teammates.
He was then sent to Class A Lynchburg, Virginia, “deep in the South,” Strawberry said.
He was called “boy” and received racial jeers from fans.
“I hated that year. I hated Lynchburg,” Strawberry said. “I hated the fans, I hated everything that was said to me running back to the dugout, I hated all the comments, I hated all the racial things.
“I just remember [manager Gene Dusan] He often said to me: “Don’t look there.”
But Strawberry heard the insult and his early work wasn’t there.
“I think [Dusan] I feel like if it were me, I’d take the Louisville Slugger and go down there and start taking those guys out,” Strawberry said with a laugh. “And finally, Big Mac came to the park and I was finally happy.”
“Big Mac” refers to Lloyd McClendon, who arrived late in Lynchburg after breaking his wrist during spring training.
Dusan knew Strawberry was struggling as a person and a player, so he turned to the older McClendon, who would coach him for eight years in the majors.
“I remember coming into my manager’s office and he said, ‘I have a roommate,'” McClendon said with a laugh. “I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘I’m married.’
“He said, ‘Okay, you’ll have a roommate, so buy a two-bedroom apartment.’ His name is Darryl Strawberry, and he’ll be sharing a room with you.'”
Strawberry found empathetic friends and black teammates.
Although he had an outlet, fans didn’t let up on Strawberry, who hit .255 with 13 home runs in 123 games with Lynchburg.
“It was really bad and I really hated that year,” Strawberry said. “And I just talked to the Mets. I said, ‘I think we made the wrong decision.’ I don’t want to play baseball. ”
The Mets convinced Strawberry to stay because it would be of great benefit to the player and the team. They told him to give it another year.
“Then I went to the Texas League,” Strawberry said. “Gino [Dusan] He was in the Texas League as a manager, and that year I hit 34 home runs and stole 45 bases. At that moment, I realized that I had come as a baseball player. ”
The Strawberry legend will be hoisted into the rafters at Citi Field early next month to thank his beloved Mets fans, as well as his former teammates and coaches who helped him reach this moment.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said McClendon, who was part of the deal that brought Tom Seaver back to the Mets. “I’ll try to hold back the tears.”
