Nearly 50 miles from Citifield, without baseball or hot dogs, people stood at Holtsville Church on Sunday and cheered for the former Mets Slugger Darryl Strawberry.
Strawberry is a legendary right fielder who grew up in Los Angeles but was always a New Yorker after helping the Mets win the Second World Series in 1986 and is now a travel preacher. His preaching to Jesus on Sunday was about addiction, fatherhood and faith in the Church of Jehovah.
He said to the church congregation, “I know I'm here for a reason.” “This is also the season you're here.”
Strawberry leads prayer service on Sunday. Image source: Newsday/James Carbone
A career also includes a career with the Dodgers and multiple championships with the Yankees is not without trouble. Strawberries have troubles ranging from alcohol and drug use to arrests and other legal issues.
“It's still young, come into the spotlight in New York, don't get me wrong, I love it,” he told Newsday. “But celebrities, most of us are broken.”
As for the huge salary of becoming a celebrity athlete, Strawberry said: “If you think the money will solve the problem, it won't. It can help you get any lawyer, doctor…but it's still just a band-aid.”
After leaving the Mets in 1990, Strawberry signed with the Dodgers and then won two World Series titles with the Yankees. He later defeated cancer twice and survived a heart attack.
Their website states that Strawberry and his wife Tracy founded the Strawberry Department after being addicted, jail time and “two failed marriages for each of us.”
Strawberry said in his son’s baptized church: “I am not chasing fans, wealth…I hope the soul is saved.”
Several parishioners took back the Strawberry 18th place in the Mets jerseys on Sunday, which retired last year. His Sunday sermon attracted first-time visitors such as Bethpage's Michelle Thomas and her 10-year-old son Dylan.
“When I was a kid, I loved it [Strawberry]. He is my favorite player,” Thomas said. “Now my kids are the age I started watching. He plays baseball and his grade is 18 years old. ”
Baldwin, 41, said he watched old Mets clips and saw Strawberries snatch the spotlight.
“As Mets fans, we don't have that many superstars,” Urena said. “Daril is that.”
As people left the church and strawberries walked through a group of parishioners for signatures and words of wisdom, some children threw a football in the church parking lot. One shouted, “Did you all get his signature?” Another nodded, holding a piece of paper covered with strawberries.
Strawberry told News Day: “When you finally get to where you live, you're happy, it's a blessing.” “I've been playing baseball for a long time, and I have happy moments, but it's not the joy of freedom.”