Darryl Strawberry was recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and I couldn't be more proud of him. Darryl was the straw that stirred the Mets for 14 years, leading the boys from Queens to four World Championships; in 1986, 1989, 1990 and 1993. He was the team's all-time home run leader, with 503, and retired fourth on the all-time list with 621.
Had you asked me back in the late-1980s, the above passage is what I would have expected to write about Strawberry five years after his retirement. Growing up a Braves fan during that time, I KNEW Strawberry would go down as one of the greats of all time and cause heartbreak for my team. I didn't think this, I was absolutely certain of it. By now, of course, we all know the real truth to be completely different. Strawberry obviously did not, and never will, make the Hall of Fame (unless it's as an example to others) Back then, I, and everyone else, knew Straw had a drug problem, but didn't give a damn. This attitude, however unhealthy, still sticks with many of us baseball fans today. We as fans are total hypocrites when it comes to athletes and their off-field activities. Nonetheless, it was only after leaving the Mets that Strawberry began to have huge problems. Take a look at these career numbers:
8 years with the Mets: .262, 252 HR, 733 RBI, 191 SB
9 years with the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees: .248, 83 HR, 267 RBI, 30 SB
The pressure of playing in New York affects all players. Most poorly, but some positively. There is zero doubt in my mind that Strawberry benefited tremendously from the pressure of playing there. It kept him focused and attentive. The moment he cashed in and went back to his laid-back boyhood home of Los Angeles, all his problems came to the forefront and affected his play. Some people think that drugs wrecked Straw's career. They certainly didn't help, but leaving New York was what really hurt him. Drug problems would have caught up to him eventually (they certainly did when he was a Yankee), but not, I suspect, before he had built up a healthy Hall of Fame resume, and maybe added some more jewelry to accompany his 1986 World Championship ring.
No athlete has wasted so much talent quite like Darryl Strawberry did. Here are some other examples ...
Len Bias - There's something about the power forward position in the NBA, and I don't know what it is. Bias, Roy Tarpley, Shawn Kemp, Derrick Coleman and Chris Webber were arguably the most gifted "fours" to be drafted over the last 20 years. Any one of them could have been the greatest power forward of all time. Coleman and Webber didn't want it bad enough, but at least they stayed clean, carved out solid careers and didn't ruin anyone's life along the way. Kemp and Tarpley blew it all with drugs, but at least they made some cash and had some fun. And at least they're still alive. Not so with Len Bias.
Dwight Gooden - Gooden's story isn't as sad as Strawberry's, for a couple reasons. His drug issues are, of course, well-documented. But what we didn't know back then was that he was pretty much washed up by 1990, his arm dead from too much work at too young an age. He threw 744 major league innings by the time he was 22. Managers today would be fired on the spot for that sort of thing. Moreover, Doc never turned his back on his team. He never quit on the Mets. If anything, the Mets failed him by abusing his arm and shortening his career.
Mike Tyson - Could have ruled the heavyweight division for 15 years. Instead, like many athletes who come from absolutely nothing, Tyson got too fat on the newfound good life. Too much money, too many women, too many suckups who told him that he was great just the way he was and didn't need to train any harder for that Douglas bum. He lost his belt, which SHOULD have been the wakeup call he needed to get back on track. But instead, he took out his anger on a young woman named Deseree Washington, and that was that.
These are my "favorite" examples; please feel free to post some of yours as a comment.
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