Sometimes the grass isn’t greener.
New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry wishes he never signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers after spending the first eight years of his career with the New York Mets. Telling SNY in an interview on Tuesday…
“It was heartbreaking leaving the Mets. That was the biggest mistake I really ever made in my career was leaving New York to go play in L.A.”
Most Mets fans hated to see him go. Strawberry was the first overall draft pick for the Mets in 1980. He rapidly rose through the Mets minor league system, making the Big Club in 1983. With his 26 home runs and 74 RBIs, Strawberry garnered the NL Rookie of the Year.
In 1984. The Straw Man, as he is called, was selected to the All-Star game, the first of eight consecutive visits to the Mid-Summer Classic.
Strawberry joined the exclusive 30-30 club in 1987, stroking 39 home runs and stealing 36 bases. At the time, he was only of only ten players in MLB history to reside in this exclusive group. Strawberry led the NL in homers in 1988 with 36, and finished a close second to Kirk Gibson in MVP voting.
He left New York after the 1990 season and quickly noted the difference between the fans of LA and in NY.
“The fans are so different in New York than LA,” Strawberry said. “LA fans come late and leave early. New York fans come early and never leave. They wait until the end of the game, whether you win or lose, and I was used to that.”
Continuing his SNY interview Strawberry noted, “I was just more used to the aggressive fans and playing in New York City and letting people be over the dugout and yelling at you running across the field. And when you suck, they tell you you suck. And you look at them like, ‘Yeah, I do suck right now. I need to get better.’”
Better indeed, as his career unraveled in L.A. due to injuries, suspensions and drugs. Over his final eight seasons, he averaged only 42 games a year — finishing with a .259 lifetime batting average. He seemed to thrive on the aggressiveness of his fandom, and when that left, so did much of his success.
“Nothing against the Dodger fans and nothing against the L.A. fans, they were just a little bit more laid back,” Strawberry said. “I was used to the aggressive fans in New York City.”
Strawberry finished his Mets career with a line of .263/.359/.520 with 252 homers (which is still a Mets franchise record) and 733 RBIs.
