Darryl Strawberry enjoyed a solid MLB career that began with the New York Mets in 1983, when he won National League Rookie of the Year honors and established himself as a key part of the organization’s future.
Strawberry spent parts of eight seasons with the Mets before joining his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers on a five-year, $20.25 million contract in free agency prior to the 1991 campaign.
The landmark signing made him the second-highest player in MLB at the time, trailing only Jose Canseco’s five-year, $32.5 million deal with the Oakland Athletics.
Strawberry enjoyed a successful first season with the Dodgers as he hit .265/.361/.491 with 22 doubles, four triples, 28 home runs and 99 RBI in 139 games.
However, injuries and personal issues limited him to just 75 games over the next two years until he was finally released in May 1994. “My first season went well,” Strawberry said when reflecting on his time with the Dodgers.
“I just ran into the wall and dislocated my shoulder my first season there. I think a lot of people don’t really understand that. I had never been seriously hurt. I’ve been hurt a couple times, but at the beginning of a season. And I still drove in 99 ribbies that year, my first season after missing over a month, month and a half of the season with a bad shoulder.
“Of course, they padded the wall the next day, but it was a day too late. But that’s how things work out. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. My career here worked out well. It was very successful playing here in the city. I guess I just really enjoyed the fact of what it was like to play here.
“My issue was never the city, it was never the people when I became a free agent. My issue was dealing with the front office. I didn’t have a relationship. It was broken. So I ended up signing with the Dodgers.”
After being released by the Dodgers, Strawberry went on to play in 29 games with the San Francisco Giants before finding his way to the New York Yankees, where he had somewhat of a career resurgence. Strawberry retired shortly after the start of the 1999 season.
Darryl Strawberry still haunted by 1988 Dodgers
The 1988 Dodgers eliminated the No. 1 seed Mets in the NL Championship Series, which still keeps Strawberry up at night. “The ’88 team was more talented than the ’86 team,” he said when comparing the two Mets teams.
“The ’86 team had more guts than ’88 team. It was just a different breed of players with Ray Knight, Kevin Mitchell, players that didn’t fear the situation and the opportunity,” Strawberry began.
“I think the ’88 series against the Dodgers was heartbreaking. Yeah, I’ve never gotten over that, of losing that ’88 series. But you’ve got to remember the Dodgers were extremely hot coming in, playing at the end of that season. And they had some big moments — Scioscia home run, Gibson hit that big home run. They just did things right. Playoff baseball is about who comes up with the big hit in the big situation and who doesn’t.”
“And I think that’s what happened in the ’88 series for us. But the ’86 series, we had players on the team that sat on the bench. And if you got ahead in ballgame against us, we knew we were coming back and would win. That was the difference. We didn’t have that kind of same feeling. The chemistry was different.
“And, like I said, the ’86 team had a lot of guts. We realized that we were not going to lose. We were going to come back no matter what the circumstances was.”
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