Mets mentors, 1983 debut, minister work

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On May 6, 1983, the top overall pick in the draft three years earlier arrived at Shea Stadium for his major league debut.
Darryl Strawberry was 21 years old and just beginning a celebrated Mets career that would include a World Series title, but ultimately was compromised by drugs and alcohol.
Now a minister who travels the country spreading his faith and speaking about the evils of drugs and addiction, Strawberry is still an occasional visitor to the ballpark.
The former slugger — somewhat incredulous he is about to mark the 40th anniversary of his arrival to the major leagues — spoke to Post Sports+ this week.
What do you remember about your major league debut?
Darryl Strawberry: I’d gotten to experience spring training that year with a lot of those guys, and I played well. Many of those guys thought I would make the team, but I got sent back to the minors. A month later, I came back up and there I was, facing the Reds and Mario Soto in that first game, so I got thrown right into it. Soto had a tremendous changeup, and I’d never faced anybody like that in the minor leagues, but when you get there, you’re going to face the best of the best and that’s what it was.
Darryl Strawberry greets Gary Carter, who Strawberry calls “probably the best teammate I ever had.” Getty Images North America
The nucleus of the ’86 championship team hadn’t arrived yet. Was there anybody in that clubhouse who looked after you in those early days?
DS: I had Mookie [Wilson] and Hubie Brooks. Those were two guys that were there and established and good players for the organization. They came through the organization just like I did. A lot of the other guys were veteran players, and I started to realize it was just a business to them. It wasn’t about winning. I didn’t see the excitement about winning in them. I knew guys like Mookie and Hubie wanted to win because they were young. I gravitated toward that, learning how to play the game watching them, and Hubie used to talk to me a lot about how good I could be.
You had a special relationship with the team’s hitting coach, Jim Frey. How did that develop?
DS: He was the hitting coach, and I was supposed to be at the ballpark early, at 1 o’clock. I didn’t show up until 3 o’clock, and he came up to me in my face and said something funny: ‘Listen here, big turkey, if you want to be a great baseball player, you’ll be at this baseball field every day early, working.’ From that day forward, I came to the ballpark every day early working, even if it was on the road, because of Jim Frey. And Jim Frey helped me understand what it was going to take to be a great player at this level. You can have all the talent, but if you don’t put the work in, it’s not going to pay off and it paid off in that year because of Jim Frey. I had a chance to reach out to him before he passed away — I had heard he was sick — and said, ‘I just need to thank you. I became the player I did because of you pushing me in my rookie season and making me work and understand what it was going to take to succeed at the major league level.’
Was there a former teammate that impacted you in such a manner?
DS: Gary Carter was probably the best teammate I ever had, along with Derek Jeter. Those were guys I admired and had respect for because they never said anything wrong or negative about anybody. I was very impressed with Carter’s life, more than anything. Most people don’t realize: We would’ve never won a championship if we didn’t have Carter. We could talk about all the other players and me, but if we didn’t have Carter and we go into Boston [in the World Series] and him having that big night [in Game 4] to get us going, we don’t win.
Darryl Strawberry can hardly believe 40 years have passed from when he made his major league debut, at the age of 21, to today, when he works as a minister. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
If I told rookie Darryl Strawberry in 1983 that all these years later, he would be a minister, helping people change their lives, would he have believed it?
DS: I would’ve laughed. I think everybody was laughing [when he started his ministry], thinking what I used to be playing baseball and how talented I was and how angry I was. The womanizing, the drinking, the drugs, the trouble. … Sixteen years ago, being called to the ministry and be a minister of the gospel and traveling the country 260 days a year, preaching and bringing hope to people, I would’ve laughed and said, ‘No way.’ I was called from where I was called from 16 years ago to start preaching the gospel. I’ve never looked back. I’ve been going forward ever since, and I’m going to stay in it for the rest of my life and help as many people as I can.
Fresh trips or traditional rivals?
For somebody who covers baseball, the new scheduling format that reduces the number of division games in favor of additional interleague matchups is appealing from the perspective of getting to visit more ballparks and watching different teams.
After all, a third trip to Miami or Washington in a season can become tedious compared to getting reacquainted with ballparks in places such as Minneapolis and Kansas City for the first time in a few years.
Next week, the Mets will play their first series in Detroit since 2016. Fun? Maybe not. But definitely something different.
Under MLB’s new, more balanced schedule, the Mets will travel to Detroit’s Comerica Park next week for the first time since 2016. Getty Images
For the record, the only current MLB ballpark I haven’t visited is Globe Life Field, the Rangers’ home that opened before the 2020 season. Because the Rangers are coming to Citi Field this season, it’s fair to expect the Mets will visit Arlington, Texas, next year.
But from a competitive standpoint, the idea of the Braves coming to New York for only two series seems amiss. The Braves will be at Citi Field for four games starting Friday and they return in August, but that’s it.
Mets-Twins is nice, but will that stoke the kind of emotions from fans that an added series in Philadelphia would bring? Shouldn’t the NL East champion have to play half the schedule (or thereabouts) against the division?
That is one argument. The other is: Why should the better teams in the weaker divisions — the NL Central and AL Central — get an easier schedule in regards to the wild-card race?
“I think I like the new format, just because I don’t like to face the same batters too many times,” Adam Ottavino said. “For my job, I think it’s good, but as a fan do you want more rivalry games or do you want to see everybody? I think everybody would have a different answer on that.”
A spin through the old rotation
Taijuan Walker has an ERA hovering around 5 through five starts for the Phillies. AP
As the Mets struggle with their rotation — amid injuries and Max Scherzer’s 10-game suspension — let’s check out how some alumni have fared.
Jacob deGrom: The former Mets ace has pitched to a 3.04 ERA in five starts for the Rangers with 43 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings. His replacement in the Mets rotation, Justin Verlander, still hasn’t debuted with his new team as he awaits a minor league rehab start on Friday.
Taijuan Walker: The right-hander appeared on the right track with two strong outings for the Phillies before scuffling against the Mariners in his most recent start. Walker owns a 4.97 ERA, and has failed to complete five innings in three of his five starts.
Chris Bassitt: The Blue Jays right-hander was brutal in his first start of the season, but since then has performed at the level the Mets saw for most of last year. Bassitt has four straight starts of at least six innings with two or fewer two earned runs allowed.