Darryl Strawberry

From The Met Wiki

Darryl Strawberry was an outfielder for the Mets from 1983 to 1990. He batted .263 in 1109 games played with the team. Strawberry had 252 home runs and 733 runs batted in as a Met.

Strawberry was selected by the Mets with the first overall pick in the 1980 free agent draft. He joined the parent club in 1983, during which he set a Mets rookie record with 26 homers and was named the National League Rookie of the Year. At Shea Stadium on May 8, Darryl got a run-scoring single for his first major league hit in the Mets’ 10-5 win over the Reds. He hit his first major league home run in an 11-4 Mets victory at Pittsburgh on May 16. One night later, Strawberry hit his first home run at Shea in the Mets' 6-4 win over the Padres. He had a three-run homer and an RBI double in the Mets’ 6-4 triumph over the Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea on June 22. Darryl hit two homers and drove in five run in a 10-1 Mets win at St. Louis on June 28. He homered twice in the Mets’ 6-3 victory over the Giants at Shea on August 27. Strawberry had a single, a triple and a homer and four RBIs in a 7-3 Mets win over the Padres on September 2 at Shea. He also drove in three runs with a single, double and homer in a 5-1 Mets triumph at Philadelphia on September 13.

In 1984, Strawberry led the Mets with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs. He had 27 stolen bases and scored 75 runs during the season. Darryl hit three doubles and drove in a run in the Mets’ 8-1 victory over the Cubs at Shea on May 1. He and two singles, a double and three runs scored in a 7-6 Mets win in 11 innings on May 15 at San Francisco. Strawberry singles, doubled and homered in the Mets’ 4-2 triumph at Pittsburgh on June 4. He hit a three-run homer to give the Mets the led in an eventual 7-4 win over the Phillies on June 20 at Shea. Darryl singled home the Mets' only runs in a 2-1 triumph over the Braves in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea on July 1. He hit a three-run-homer in the Mets’ 9-3 victory over the Cardinals at Shea on July 25. Strawberry had two singles, a homer and four RBIs in a 10-6 Mets win over the Padres in the second game of a doubleheader on September 1 at Shea. He also singled twice, homered and drove in five runs in the Mets' 9-3 triumph over the Cubs at Chicago on September 16.

Darryl had 109 hits in 111 games played in 1985. He compiled 219 total bases for the year. At Shea on April 13, Strawberry homered off John Franco in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 2-1 victory over the Reds. He hit a grand slam in a 5-4 Mets win over the Pirates in 18 innings on April 28 at Shea. Darryl had a grand slam, a three-run homer and a triple in the Mets’ 16-4 triumph over the Braves at Shea on July 20. He hit three home runs in a 7-2 Mets victory on August 5 at Chicago. Strawberry had a single, double, homer and four RBIs in the Mets’ 9-3 win over the Padres on August 25 at Shea. He also homered in the 11th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 victory at St. Louis on October 1.

Strawberry batted .259 with 93 RBIs in 1986. He had 27 doubles and a team-leading 27 home runs in the Mets’ World Championship season. At Atlanta on April 30, Darryl had three singles, a double and a homer in an 8-1 Mets win over the Braves. He drove in three runs with two homers in the Mets’ 7-2 victory on May 4 at Cincinnati. Strawberry had a run-scoring single in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 6-5 win over the Pirates at Shea on June 13. He had a single, double, two home runs and four RBIs in the Mets' 6-5 victory over the Astros on July 3 at Shea. Darryl hit the second of three straight Mets homers in a 5-1 triumph over the Braves at Atlanta on July 27. He had an RBI single and a two-run homer in a 5-4 Mets win at Los Angeles on August 18. Strawberry drove in four runs with a single and his 100th career homer in a 6-5 Mets victory in 11 innings on August 27 at San Diego. He also hit a grand slam in the Mets' 9-0 win over the Pirates in the season closer at Shea on October 5.

Strawberry had 10 hits in the ’86 post-season. At Shea on October 11, he hit a three-run homer in the Mets’ 6-5 win over the Astros in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. He homered off Houston’s Nolan Ryan in a 2-1 Mets victory in 12 innings in Game 5 of the NLCS on October 14 at Shea. Darryl also hit a home run in the Mets’ 8-5 win over the Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series at Shea on October 27.

In 1987, Darryl had his most productive season as a Met. He set team records with 39 home runs, 97 walks, 108 runs scored and 310 total bases. He also hit .284 to set a personal high for the season. Strawberry hit a three-run homer in the first inning for all the Mets’ scoring in a 3-2 win over the Pirates in the season opener at Shea on April 7. He homered and drove in four runs in a 9-3 Mets win on April 16 at Philadelphia. At San Francisco on May 27, Darryl hit two home runs in a 4-3 Mets victory over the Giants. He had two homers and a double in a 10-7 Mets win on June 18 at Montreal. Strawberry drove in three runs with two homers in the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Cubs at Shea on August 6. He also had a double and a pair of two-run homers in an 11-5 Mets triumph over the Phillies on September 9 at Shea.

Darryl led the National League (and tied his own team record) with 39 homers in 1988. He had 101 RBIs and 101 runs scored in the Mets’ division-winning season. In the season opener at Montreal on April 4, Strawberry hit two home runs (the second of which hit the roof at Olympic Stadium) as the Mets defeated the Expos, 10-6. He drove in all the Mets’ runs with a sacrifice fly, a single and a 10th-inning two-run homer for a 4-3 win over the Reds at Shea on May 6. Darryl had three RBIs with a homer and a single in the Mets' 5-2 victory over the Dodgers on May 22 at Los Angeles. He hit a two-run homer and a two-run single in the Mets’ 6-2 victory on June 6 at St. Louis. Strawberry homered twice in a 6-4 Mets triumph over the Cardinals at Shea on June 15. He singled, doubled twice and drove in five runs in the Mets’ 10-2 win on July 27 at Philadelphia. Darryl drove in a pair of runs with a single and a homer in a division tie-clinching 4-3 Mets win over the Phillies at Shea on September 21. He also hit two home runs in the Mets' season-closing 7-5 victory over the Cardinals on October 2 at Shea.

Strawberry hit .300 in the ’88 NLCS. He had a double, two singles and three RBIs in the Mets’ 8-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the Series at Shea on October 8. He hit a two-run homer in a 6-5 Mets loss in 12 innings in Game 4 on October 9 at Shea. Darryl also scored two runs in the Mets’ 5-1 win at Los Angeles in Game 6 on October 11.

In 1989, Strawberry collected 107 hits for 222 total bases. He had 69 runs scored and 77 RBIs for the year. At Shea on April 3, Darryl had a single two doubles, two RBIs and two stolen bases in the Mets’ 8-4 season-opening win over the Cardinals. He hit the first of three consecutive Mets homers (followed by Kevin McReynolds and Keith Hernandez) in the third inning of a 5-2 victory over the Phillies at Shea on April 17. Strawberry hit an inside-the-park home run in a 6-4 Mets loss to the Reds on May 3 at Shea. He hit a game-tying homer and drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded walk for a 3-2 Mets triumph over the Giants at Shea on May 19. Darryl hit a three-run homer in an 11-1 Mets win at Cincinnati on June 30. He had a double, homer and three RBIs in the Mets’ 4-1 victory over the Braves on July 20 at Shea. Strawberry also had a sacrifice fly and two solo homers in a 7-2 Mets win over the Padres at Shea on August 16.

Strawberry had a Mets-leading 37 homers and 108 RBIs in 1990. He also had a team-high 281 total bases for the season. Darryl hit a two-run homer that put the Mets ahead to stay in a 5-4 win over the Expos at Shea on April 21. He had two singles, a homer and a stolen base in an 11-0 Mets victory over the Padres on May 26 at Shea. Strawberry hit a pair of home runs in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Pirates at Shea on June 8. He had a three-run homer and an RBI single in an 8-3 Mets triumph over the Pirates on June 10 at Shea. Darryl singled and homered twice in a 12-0 Mets victory over the Astros at Shea on July 3. He had a sacrifice fly and a two-run single in an 8-4 Mets triumph over the Phillies on August 8 at Shea. Strawberry also hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 10-8 win over the Cardinals on September 11 at Shea.

Strawberry signed with the Dodgers as a free agent after the ’90 season. He played three seasons with the Los Angeles team and one with the Giants. Darryl spent five seasons with the Yankees to conclude his career in 1999.

In 2010, Strawberry was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.