The Straw Stirred: An Ode to the Mets’ Home Run King

With a smooth-hitting motion, he belted out 252 homers and drove in 733 runs. With swift legs, he stole 191 bases. He made the All-Star team seven times. He contributed to the 1986 World Championship. He had eight successful seasons in orange and blue. In addition to being atop the franchise’s homer list, he is first in adjusted on-base plus slugging, second in slugging percentage, and second in RBIs.

Darryl Strawberry had remarkable talent, yet left us wanting more. But like Dwight Gooden, a different time with a better understanding could have led to better results.

After years of personal turmoil, Darryl found enlightenment and has changed for the better. As for his legacy—a player who had gifted abilities and enjoyed moments of tremendous success in New York—that will never change. Following the distinction that Gooden received earlier this season, the outfielder will have a permanent place in Mets history on Saturday with his number retirement.

No. 18 is still the greatest power hitter the Mets ever produced. He came into the league seemingly destined for Cooperstown.

It was those kind of expectations that surrounded Strawberry even before the Mets made him the top overall pick in the 1980 amateur draft out of Los Angeles’s Crenshaw High School. He was tall and lean, blessed with a sweet name and a sweeter swing. A Sports Illustrated feature compared the 18-year-old to Ted Williams. With a thoroughbred build and a swift upper-cut made for home runs, he had all the makings of the revered “five-tool player.”

On May 6, 1983, the Mets unveiled their shiny new toy. For a team already 10 games out of first place, this was the sign of hope fans would cling to. Strawberry struggled as he tried to adjust to baseball’s top level. Over his first month, he hit .165 and struck out every 2.5 at-bats. But after about five weeks, he began to figure it out. His final totals of 26 homers and 76 RBIs stood as Mets rookie records.

The hope was Strawberry would ascend further into superstardom. In 1984, Darryl duplicated his rookie season’s home run total, struck out nearly as frequently, and batted around the .250 mark. Torn ligaments in his thumb, the consequence of diving for a sinking liner, kept Strawberry on the mend for all but 10 games in May and June of 1985. His blistering second half—which featured a 1.035 OPS and 60 RBIs—made up for lost time.

On August 5 at Wrigley Field, he hit three of the 23 homers he’d launch over the season’s final three months. On October 1 in St. Louis, his titanic 11th-inning blast caromed off the Busch Stadium clock to give the Mets a 1–0 win. It kept his team breathing in a frantic, yet futile, attempt to catch the Cardinals. Darryl did his best to try and stop time. Within a couple of days, though, the Mets ran out of it.

But in 1986, everyone was chasing New York. Strawberry—clouting 27 homers and driving in 93—was one of several major contributors. The Mets piled on wins and added to their division lead, becoming the subject of intense media attention for their dominance and arrogance.

The white-hot spotlight made Darryl open to ridicule. This wasn’t limited to opposing fan bases. Even the Shea faithful got on his case in August, when he failed to produce a hit at home for the whole month.

He rode out the rest of the season, then endured a turbulent postseason of tumult and triumph. His 12 strikeouts in the NLCS against Houston were offset by two clutch tying home runs.

New York chipped away at a 4–0 lead in Game 3 with two hits and an error that brought in a run. Shea was waiting to burst. Strawberry wouldn’t let them down. As Bob Knepper tried to get ahead in the count with a first-pitch fastball, he didn’t have the velocity to throw it by Darryl’s quick bat.

Strawberry delivered again in Game 5. Nolan Ryan had retired the first 13 batters. Not the 14th. Darryl ended Ryan’s hitless day—and the shutout—with a tracer that had enough height and hook to sneak over the fence in the right-field corner.

By the World Series, Strawberry was not just a big target but an easy one. Fenway Park took full advantage in Game 5. The Red Sox were sewing up a victory, giving the crowd a chance to turn its focus on the temperamental right fielder. A “Daaarrrr-ylll, Daaarrrr-ylll” serenade lasted minutes.

But he had an answer in Game 7. Strawberry sent a towering drive over the right-center-field wall to lead off the bottom of the eighth—his first home run and first run batted in of the Fall Classic—and gave the Mets breathing room in an 8–5 win. Strawberry savored the moment, then fittingly offered one last curtain call in a year filled with them.

That homer washed away the scorn of two nights prior, when he was removed by Davey Johnson in the eighth inning of Game 6 on a double-switch and publicly shared his frustration with the media. Choosing the worst possible time for public outbursts became something of a habit.

During the 1988 NLCS against Los Angeles, Strawberry hinted at the possibility of joining the Dodgers after his contract expired. A few months later, he took out his frustration with Keith Hernandez by trying to fight him at team picture day. On top of that were routine accounts of loafing, lateness, and legal battles.

In 1987, he attained personal highs in homers (39), RBIs (104), steals (36), along with batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging. But those stats were clouded by pointed criticism of Johnson and a war of words with teammates Wally Backman and Lee Mazzilli after they questioned his desire to play.

Strawberry began 1988 with a 4-for-4 day and two home runs. The second reached the nether regions of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, a ball that might have cleared customs if not for the roof. He’d hit 37 more to match his career-high total from ’87 and lead the National League. He topped 100 RBIs for the second straight year and was one steal short of back-to-back appearances in the 30-30 club.

For the first time, Darryl was garnering serious consideration for Most Valuable Player, thanks in part to the Mets pulling away from their NL East competition in September and claiming their second division title in three years. Yet it was Kirk Gibson and the Dodgers who took top billing over Strawberry and the Mets later that fall.

Darryl was not the most valuable in ’88, but he was definitely the most volatile during spring training ’89 after his quarrel with Hernandez. That kind of fighting spirit was hard to find during the season as his numbers declined. But with Hernandez and Gary Carter gone before 1990, it was officially Darryl’s team.

In what would turn out to be Strawberry’s swan song, but it didn’t go by quietly. He batted .412 during an 18-game hitting streak, bashed 10 homers, and drove in 27 in June. The Mets advanced up the standings—getting into first place in July before ultimately coming up three games short of Pittsburgh.

By driving in 108 runs, he set a single-season franchise record to go along with 37 homers and an .879 OPS. He was also among the top five outfielders in fielding percentage and the top five National Leaguers in WAR. Strawberry made good on his threats to explore free agency. He jetted for Los Angeles, leaving behind many thrills and controversies.

His career continued to be marked by indiscretions that prevented what should’ve been an easy entrance into the Hall of Fame. He’s owned up to his past and has done his best to keep others from doing similar. He is especially grateful, especially so after suffering a heart attack earlier this year.

Saturday at Citi Field, fans will show their gratitude toward one of the most spectacular players to ever wear a Mets uniform. Darryl Strawberry is one of baseball’s “could have been.” But what’s certain is that he’s a Mets Hall of Famer, confirmed in 2010. He’s forever a legendary figure of the team in Queens. The number retirement certainly confirms that.

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