Darryl Strawberry

[donmuth]

I started collecting baseball cards in 1985 with a few packs of '85 Fleer. One of the first good cards I got was Darryl Strawberry. I started watching the Mets with my dad hoping to see Strawberry get a hit or make a good catch. He soon became my favorite player and I worked to get as many of his cards as possible. It didn't seem like it was too long before the drug abuse and other problems surfaced and left me without a baseball idol and role model.

I hadn't thought much about Strawberry in what seemed like forever.

Then I saw a commercial on TV yesterday for NBC and I thought I saw Strawberry!

I just checked out the web and sure enough he's set to be a contestant on The Apprentice. I read his bio on the show's site and it sounds like he has turned himself around and is doing good for the community.

Maybe I'll break out my old album, dust his cards off, and see which ones I'm missing still. It's kind of nice to not wince when I hear his name.

Hopefully, the bio is accurate and true and I no longer have to feel like I got shafted being a Darryl Strawberry fan.

[ChiefBenderForever]

Donny,

Getting 84 Topps, Fleer, and Donruss RC cards of Straw are so vivid it was like yesterday, and then the same with 85 Gooden. The jerseys and the great team were a combo made in heaven. It's kind of funny that three of my favorite players from the 80's were Pete Rose, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden. I have most all of their cards, and the 83 Topps traded of Straw and Goodens 84 Fleer and Topps update and all their RC's are some of my all time favorite cards. I saw Straw on tv a year or two ago and he is a born again christian who seems to have turned it around.

[Robextend]

I always root for Straw even though he has made plenty of mistakes. He was a part of my childhood and I am glad to see he is doing better. Even though I am a die hard Yankee fan I catch the occasional Met game and he does the pre game sometimes. He isn't the best, but he is much better than some other "experts". And also I will never forget the role he played on the 1996 World Series team!!

[JasonL]

What a phenom growing up in the majors...so much fun to watch in those first few years. I loved that sweet, looping left-handed swing, and had alot of fun emulating that in the schoolyard...

When I was in high school, I went went to a Cubs Mets game on a gorgeous sunny day, sat out in the right field bleachers with a friend, and had it confirmed immedaitely what type of guy Straw was. As soon as he trotted out to take his position in right, he approached to a chorus of relatively friendly taunts. So before he turned around to face the field for the beginning fo the game, after his warm-up throws, he acknowledged us Wrigley faithful with a smile and a deliberately long grab of his crotch....ah, the memories!

still think the guy is fantastic. The choices have been often poorly made, but the effort he has put forth in getting through life is admirable.

[chaddurbin]

can't beat the straw...followed him since his mets days and i was so happy he signed with the dodgers . always remember the 1st time i saw his '89 topps card with the veins popping out of his forearms...FIERCE. maybe if he played in milwaukee or seattle he could've lived up to all that natural talent.

[KNH]

One of my memories of Strawberry was early in his career, possibly his rookie year, when he caught a ball near the line in RF and threw out Alan Wiggins at home trying to tag up from 3rd. Wiggins was possibly the fastest man in the game at that time. The throw was incredible.