Darryl Strawberry: Mets number retirement 'does bring a lot of closure'

All-Star overcame substance abuse issues that derailed his Hall-of-Fame trajectory and New York Mets career while also plaguing him through his post-playing days. While he got sober and became a pastor where he practices in his home state of Missouri, the 62-year-old suffered a heart attack on his birthday just two months ago on March 12.

“This does bring a lot of closure to my career with the Mets that I’ll always be a Met, no matter how people look at it,” Strawberry said on Monday. “Those eight years were the greatest years of my career and I will always cherish those years. I will always keep those as something very special. There was nothing greater for me to be able to play in Queens and have the success I had.”

“You’re not a great player unless you’re on a great team,” Strawberry said. “The thing I look at more than anything was that we had great teams every year going into the season. We had a chance to win. I didn’t finish lower than second in the division on every team besides that first year in 1983… After that, every year, all the way to 1990, I finished no lower than second.”

Had it not been for the likes of some of his teammates on that Single-A club, including fellow 1986 champion Kevin Mitchell and Lloyd McClendon, who went on to have a prominent managerial career with the Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates.

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