Since we took a look at Dwight Gooden last week, I figured it’d be fun to highlight the minor league career of another former Met that was a huge part of the 1986 championship team, Darryl Strawberry.
In 1980, the New York Mets had the first overall pick in the MLB draft, and decided to use it on Strawberry. At the time he was selected by the Amazins, he was a slim, 18-year-old left-handed hitter out of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, California. There were high expectations for Strawberry to help the Mets become a dominant team in the majors leagues one day, and he was able to stay true to that promise.
Upon signing with the Mets, the outfielder reported to the Appalachian League to get his first taste of pro ball with the Kingsport Mets. He appeared in 44 games for the K-Mets, and showed the potential he had moving forward with a .268/.350/.420 line, including five home runs, five doubles, and 20 RBIs.
At the age of 19, he moved on to A-ball with Lynchburg in the Carolina League, putting together a similar line from the year before (.255/.381/.429). It was his first full season in professional baseball, appearing in 123 games and getting 420 at-bats. He hit 13 homers and 22 doubles, while driving in 78 runs and stealing 31 bases. He also drew 82 walks, which is impressive considering he wasn’t even 20-years-old yet.
In 1982, Strawberry moved on to Double-A and the Texas League with Jackson; this was when he really made it known he was ready for the big show. He hit an impressive, .283/.419/.602 with 34 home runs, 97 RBIs, 93 runs scored, and 45 stolen bases in 435 at-bats (129 games played). All of those statistics were career highs at that point for Strawberry.
He began the 1983 season in Triple-A Tidewater, but it wasn’t too long before the Mets promoted him to the big leagues and he made his debut on May 6th of that year. He would end up playing in 122 games for New York in ’83, hitting .257/.336/.512 with 26 homers, 74 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases. That performance was good enough to earn him the NL Rookie of the Year award.
The 1983 season was significant because it was the only season in his eight with New York that he wasn’t elected to the All-Star game. He would follow up his strong rookie campaign with another 26-homer season, and he would never hit any less than that during his time in the Orange and Blue. He hit 30 or more home runs three times, leading the league in long balls (39) and slugging percentage (.545) in 1988, when he placed second in NL MVP voting.
Despite leaving for the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 1991 season and winning three World Series titles with the New York Yankees, Strawberry is most widely recognized as a New York Met; those eight seasons in Flushing were by far the best of his career. He hit .263/.359/.520 with 252 home runs and 733 RBIs. David Wright recently overtook him for the club lead in RBIs, but he still owns the top spot on the Mets home run leader board…for now. He also collected two Silver Sluggers, seven All-Star selections, that Rookie of the Year Award, the ’86 (co-champ) and ’88 Home Run Derby titles, as well as three top-10 finishes in MVP voting.
Last, but certainly not least, he hit .300/.344/.467 in seven games played to help the Mets capture the 1986 World Series.
Strawberry stayed in the big leagues for 17 seasons, and played more than 100 games in a season 10 times, with eight of them coming as a Met.
As we all know (if we didn’t experience it first-hand) how tough it was to watch Straw walk away from the Mets and head to the Dodgers before the 1991 season, but perhaps it was for the better. Now, the only memory we’ll have of him is his yearly domination, instead of watching injuries and other off-field issues slow down his production. It’s good to know that even though he’s got three rings with the Yankees, he’ll always be remembered first as a New York Met.
I remember this like it was yesterday and that was when I first started following the minors diligently. Not just the Mets, but all 26 teams at the time. There used to be a book that came out every spring called The Scouting Report and I used to love reading about all of them. We wrote about Strawberry on MMO in a retro piece we did and here is what the Scouting Report had for Strawberry:
Hitting:
DARRYL STRAWBERRY OF, No. 18 LL, 6-6, 190 lbs Born: 3-12-62 in Los Angeles, CA
As a minor league hitter, Darryl Strawberry was powerful and productive and had few flaws. He swings easily, but the ball jumps off his bat. He has enough power to hit balls out to right and left-center field. He can, and does, hit the ball to all fields, but as he matures, he probably will pull more.
He likes the ball low and out over the plate where he can take best advantage of the power in his long arms. Off-speed pitches will pose problems for him until he adjusts to the major leagues. He walked frequently in the Double A league–100 times in 129 games last season–but also strikes out too often–145 times. Strawberry should become a solid No. 3 or 4 hitter.
Baserunning:
Darryl has exceptional speed, and was the fastest player in the Mets’ minor league organization last season. He knows how to use his speed, and stole 45 bases last season. He is a threat to steal virtually anytime that he is one base.
Fielding:
He has better than average range, and a powerful arm, though his throwing accuracy is weak. He has good instincts and appears to know how to play the game. With increased playing time in the majors that he is expected to get, Strawberry has the potential to develop into a better than average outfielder.
Overall:
Thus far, on the minor league level, Darryl Strawberry has proven that he is capable in the five key areas. He can hit, with power, run, throw and catch. He appears to have the potential to be above average in four of those areas–all except throwing. He has also demonstrated an ability to hit well in clutch situations, and rises to he occasion. Strawberry has star potential.
The day after we signed Strawberry, bullpen coach Joe Pignatano used to keep a vegetable garden at Shea. He wound up asking the Mets for permission to expand it so he could plant strawberries. Sometimes during games when Strawberry’s name came up and he was still in the minors, Bob Murphy would say something like “and that strawberry patch growing in the bullpen serves as a reminder of what the Mets have growing in their talented farm system.”
Sadly, Straw was never appreciated while in NY. I often say that easily the best position player to ever play for the Mets was Carlos Beltran, but the most talented was Straw.
In addition, those that were lucky enough to work in the bigs, know that he was also a favorite teammate no matter where he was.
He also worked harder than he was given credit for. I can remember every day at Shea seeing him taking extra outfield to work on his approaches and his throwing accuracy.
Sadly, though, the organization let Straw and Gooden down, not listening to the not so whispered stories of drug abuse. 2 Hall of Fame careers that never were b/c of them.
It is nice to see that Straw has really turned his life around, though, and even more, how much he appreciates his time with the Mets and how much Mets fans appreciate him now.