 Welcome back to another edition of Yes We Are Here. I'm Jack Curry and today I'm joined by a Major League player who had one of the most majestic swings you will ever see in Daryl Strawberry and also by the way one of the nicest guys you would ever meet and Daryl I have to start out by asking I know you're in the St. Louis area how are you and your family doing during this difficult time? We're doing well. We're doing well doing this difficult time because we're not affected as much as other places are like New York City and California the places that had completely shut down. We had shut down in so many ways but at the same time it's been pretty flexible here we've been able to go out to the parks and have walks when it's not rainy when it's not cold. We've had a lot of rain lately but it's just me and my wife Tracy at home and we're doing well with our puppies and it's it's a very challenging time for all of us but at the same time you know you have to stay positive and stay upbeat about life because we don't never know what it's gonna bring us. I'm glad you mentioned that challenging time because Daryl these days you're a Christian minister and you are preaching to people and during this you've had a pretty powerful message because you've got first-hand experience with drug and alcohol abuse and you've put out the message there of you might be home you might be in the middle of a pandemic but don't reach into areas that might get you into trouble. Well yeah just just don't get lost you know I think that's the key for most people. Most people have never experienced frustration and challenging times like we are now and it's not just one person it's an entire society who has to go through it and you think about the unemployment and what's happened to people and so many people can turn to so many wrong things you know when you're broken and when you're hurting you usually turn to the wrong things and I've seen that through myself my own experience myself and also through the younger generation who has got addicted to opiates and heroin and they all been dying we've had an epidemic for a very long time with our young generation because our young people believe they're not important and don't understand the reality of life so now we all are sitting through the coronavirus and we're all sitting here and wondering what's next you know what is next you know we don't know what's next I just know that people need to be patient and they need to really find some some type of faith for themselves you know because this is probably the been beginning of so many different things that's going to take place in our society and I think a lot of people are not prepared and when we're not prepared you know things things happen like this like the coronavirus just like 9-11 when that happened you know we were a country that needed to rally together and through this process here we all need to rally together we all need to come together with the government and the president and we need to get on one board you know we need not to be pulling against each other because we're all in this together and everybody's suffering right now Carol you did a book a few years ago and I love the title of this book it was called don't give up on me and you wrote very graphically and in a lot of details about all of your struggles how blessed do you feel that you are in the position you're in now where you get the opportunity to talk about your life experiences and help other people well I feel very blessed you know to be able to encourage people I think that's what it really boils down to and that's what the book was about to be able to encourage people who are struggling and any areas of life because we all have some type of areas of life that we're going to go through some struggles and how do we get through it how do we walk through it how do we fight through it and usually what happens is we let other people help us as you know I I wrote the book but you see the different people that were in the book Ron Doc who was the one in my life you know when I was struggling he worked for the Yankees the boss brought him on and he worked over there for the Yankees and help with substance abuse and he was a big part of encouraging me and walking with me because you need people to walk with you no matter what anybody has to say you know I think a lot of times people say well you shouldn't be so weak there's nothing weak about you know what happens you know to a person they get it get addicted and no one signs up to be addicted to alcohol and drugs you know it's something that has affected them in their life that they've never dealt with that use alcohol and drug to cover up who we really are and that's what happens to so many so many people today you know in their life they're doing the same thing that I was doing back in all those years and never get to a place allow themselves to get the help and let people help you because at the end of the day God is never going to change what he does he always going to use people to help people and that's you know that's the criteria of life today is people helping people Daryl you were in the national spotlight from the time you were a teenager and I know that you got to the levels in baseball with all of that talent when you reflect on all that attention how did that help you positively how did that impact you negatively well the positive side of it was it helped me become the player that I became because playing in New York you see that you're gonna play are they gonna let you know and that's just the way it is and I love that about New York fans is it's a great thing about being able to play in New York and have to walk down that road and have their kind of experience you know where you need to play because you're talented this is what they're saying to you and and you're more talented than most people so you need to play at a better level in a higher level so that's a very positive side I think the negative side of it is when you come to a place and you feel alone inside you feel like you're you're not connected you know and you want to be more connected from a life standpoint and why I say that Jack is because I always reflect back to you know Gary Carter Gary Carter was you know his life was an example of being a superstar but being a man at the same time I think that's so big and different than anything I've ever seen in my life when I experienced that and watching him as a young player growing up and watching the way he was and the joy and the happiness and how great and how kind he was to everybody and you know he never had a bad word to say about it anybody you know I think a lot of people don't understand that so I realized that part was missing in me and also you know that's the same part I saw on Derek Jeter Derek Jeter was the same way he was a very talented player very kind loving never said a bad thing about anybody people would say things and take shots at him but he would never make a comment and I wasn't that guy when somebody said something about me I went off the top you know so I was there was obviously something that was really missing on the inside of me more than what I was from a talented standpoint I'm glad you brought up Carter and in terms of the 86 Mets you look back at that team and and Carter was sort of on the side right because you would call him the altar boy on that team whereas that was a rambunctious rebellious tough team with a lot of swagger when you look back on the 86 Mets even as I'm starting to ask the question I see you got a little smile on your face how much fun was that but also Daryl how much did that team potentially leave on the table that that maybe it could have done more in succeeding years it was an incredible team I mean it was an incredible run you know once once Carter came over first once Hernandez came over that was the beginning of the change for us you know it's getting Keith I don't think a lot of people talk about that and enough and credit Frank Cashion who was a general manager that was making the changes you know for the organization and then we got keep to come over and in that year of 83 I don't know if you want to stay at not then he said he heard through his father they had some really pretty good prospects and the minor leads like you know good and then all these different guys that would be coming up so on it their doc came up in 84 and then Carter came over and then 86 we come to a place where we put all the pieces together what happened we was coming up short in 84 and 85 against the Cubs against the Cardinals which we hated was the Cardinals we and the Cubs beat us in 84 because of Rick Sutcliffe and that's the only reason that was we still had a great year but Carter comes over and Carter makes the difference in who we are you know he gives us that right hand solid bat in the lineup and he's a catcher and he can handle the pitching staff so it brings a different meaning to us when we come to spring training in 1986 and our first meeting was Davey was like we're gonna win it all and we kind of just like looked around and thought to ourself yes we're gonna win it all this year and we actually started off the season that way like gang busters you know and insane you know crazy team we fight we do whatever it takes but Carter was such a different Carter Mookie Wilson probably was two different guys that would always sit in the front of the bus or be in front of the plane and they were quiet and they were different and they were drinking milk why everybody else was in the back and then why everybody else is in the back and we were just having our way with drinking and being crazy so but at the same time we played together and we stayed together and that's what I know about that group of guys you know we were on one accord together a winning and I think that was the most important thing and of course Jack we probably left a lot more on the table than we should have you know we should have had more success in the next year but we lost our whole pitching staff nobody really talked about that 87 our pitching staff went down because you can't go you can't go anywhere if you don't have a pitching staff I don't care how many bats you have in the lineup but we had a great pitching staff 86 and then they got hurt in 87 then 88 I think 88 team was better and we just we gagged it I mean we gagged we gagged it against the Dodgers there's no question about it we lost that serious we shouldn't have never lost that serious to the Dodgers we've been killing them all year and we go into the playoffs and we lose that serious socialists at home run off the dock I don't know how high Shelby to go on to and he ends up getting a walk and then social comes up and hit a hit a home run to tie the ball game up and we go on to lose that series and game seven which I thought which I thought Sid Fernandez should have been pitching game seven there were so much that happened in 88 David Cohn wasn't with you guys in 86 you get him in 87 he has told me that that 88 was the year as you just said should have won that series and and he takes some of the blame because he had the the early start where he had talked to a daily news writer Bob Clappish and that got the Dodgers fired up but Coney thinks if the Mets win in 88 that would have been the springboard and I have got 86 you've got 88 you're feeling as if you're impenetrable and history may have been written a lot differently for 89 90 in the years after that no question that would that definitely would have been the springboard and it wasn't Coney fault you know Coney was a Coney was a complete gamer and no matter what he you know did the article right to article that that had to fire the Dodgers up to beat us just so be it but we should have we should have won that series there were things that we should have done different in that series and especially going into game seven you know not to take anything personal away from darling but I just thought of Sid should have been starting a game no question about in that game because Sid was a different type of pitcher and Sid was a pitcher did didn't have to think so much you know he hadn't had to worry about pressure being on him he just said Sid was kind of guy just he just goes out there and pitch you know and Coney was phenomenal in that series you know he had one rough game but you know that that's part of part of life and but he was all Coney was always a big game pitcher for us and you know that shouldn't have been the reason for us not winning that series we should have won that series I don't want to speak for David but I know in writing a book with him last year full count he loved you as a teammate loved hanging out with you and one of the things he spoke about was to let's look at Darryl's career 17 years 335 homers four World Series rings four top 10 finishes in the MVP while battling substance abuse problems while conquering colon cancer and Coney said a lot of people want to say Darryl should have been a Hall of Famer one percent of the players that ever play in Major League Baseball make it to the Hall of Fame Cohen's point was can we celebrate the career that he had how do you react when you hear people saying wow Darryl Darryl should have had a plaque in Cooperstown but it didn't work out that way well I don't really think about that because I think I think about the fact that I'm grateful that my life turned out the way it did I'm grateful for the struggle because it allowed me to get well more than anything because greatness is greatness is good to be recognized you know from what you did you know and they talk about you know Hall of Fame but at the same time every player dream is to get to the major leagues one day and be successful and I just felt like I was very successful I felt like I had some very special relationships and close friendship me and Eric Davis and Chris Brown growing up together and our dream was to play in the big leagues and and we got a chance to play in the big leagues coming from South Central LA and then having the teammates that I had like the like I said the 86 match you know the animal house team I just love that team I just it was a team that just you thrive coming to the ballpark every day I think the media even thrive coming to the ballpark to see what we had to say but they knew we had something to say because it was a lot of chirping going on in the clubhouse and it was just fun it was fun what baseball was like and then Coney was what Coney comes over and Coney becomes one of my best friends and he becomes one of the guys it becomes one of the guys part of the scum bunch and we just had a great time together playing baseball and achieving great things regardless of you know the failures of life are real and I think about all the guys in the Hall of Fame you know you think about those that have walked in there how many that you can really count on your finger that really lived a clean life you know didn't have some kind of some kind of issues some kind of problem it's a lot of men there that has a lot of problems a lot of question marks you know guys too and you know it's still questioned some of the other guys are questioning the guys that did steroid but you did something too you know that and that's you know that's not that's so unfair for guys to be able to you know point fingers at people because we know that life is so hard and so difficult and so challenging but at the same time developing real friendships throughout the game was really important to me and those guys I played with in the 80s in the 90s those Yankee teams I played with in the 90s I developed some great friendship with a lot of players and just like in the 80s so I could say that I'm truly blessed to be able to play in New York City and play with these guys and have the relationship that I have. Darrell, 1995 you complete a drug suspension and George Steinbrenner signs you to the Yankees he received a lot of criticism for that but he believed in you believed in giving you another opportunity when you're when you're going through your your life's experiences in your head how high on the list is George Steinbrenner for for giving you that that chance George is number one on my list because let me tell you Jack I'm better today because of him believing in me regardless of what anybody want to say and they can say yeah you had other people in your life but he was the only person you know that talked to me about the fact of life and really having troubles and everybody goes through it I mean I said in his office he's like everybody has problems everybody has trouble he goes look at me they suspended me from baseball and I was a personal one-on-one relationship with me and him you know talking about real life and stuff like that and a lot of times people didn't know that he didn't just sign me he actually he actually cared about me he cared about my struggles and knew they were real and understood him I think and I think a lot of times people didn't give him enough credit you know for understanding people battles and struggles and and then for him to bring me over to the Yankees and allow me to you know be a part of the Yankee organization was just just an incredible time that I will never forget you know I had to be accepted you know coming over I wasn't accepted so much in 95 with book show Walter and those guys but I was accepted because of Donnie you know that's the reason why I was accepted in 95 when I came over and then when I came back you know in 96 you know with the team again you know that that process with Joe Tory and them they you know they brought me in there and Joe accepted me you know he accepted me regardless of all of all the things that people were saying and doubting I saw his trust in me as a player and then watching me grow as a player over there for them and becoming the guy that I became over there for those Yankee years. You contributed in 1996 to a world series team you end up hitting 11 home runs but the 98 year really stood out for me. You hit 24 home runs in 1998 you're 36 years old at that point you have an OPS for the season of almost 900 you were a menace to opposing pitchers it was the old Darrell coming back what do you remember about how things were going so well for you in 98? I remember 98 was just like a fun year because 97 you know I hurt my knee and and still was recovering from 98 going into 98 and I just felt strong I felt strong mentally I think more than anything and I felt like I had a role to play with the ball club and learning to accept your role was so important you know coming from being a star you know in the 80s and now you're playing on a team with a bunch of young stars and I was able to accept that and able to accept you know fitting in wherever I could fit in and I just remember Joe always coming to me and saying how you feel today I was like I feel great I said but you could play one of the other guys if you want to he goes no I'm playing you that's why I'm asking you how you feel it so you know it was so it was so good to be able to play under a manager like that that saw something in you and I just kept being consistent that year but at the same time I knew I wasn't well that year I knew playing I was playing from a physical standpoint but from a health standpoint you know I had blood in my stew just about that whole summer and and going into the last quarter of the year and didn't realize you know that I would end up sick but I knew something was wrong and I was having stomach cramps every day but I knew I was a ball player so you don't go to the doctor if it's not broken you don't go to the doctor you just you just work through it and I kind of work through it and I was drinking May locks every day when I was having stomach cramps and and I was losing weight and I was getting fatigued and I was just sit I was sent to myself something's wrong but at the end of the year in September I'll go into the training and tell him I need to probably get checked to start and I went into the trainers just yeah I went into the trainers and told them you know I was having problems you know while far as my school and they said well we need to get checked in September at the end of year before the playoffs start and a little did I know when I went in for them from from that year there was I ended up what Colin Castle and Darrell I was in Texas when the Yankees announced that to the players they were getting ready for the postseason and I have never seen a more somber clubhouse and then a more somber postseason workout you've been involved in those workouts they're fun you've made it to the postseason you're excited the energy is high and instead you you had people like David Cohn had tears in his eyes because your teammates were so worried about you they ended up stitching a 39 onto their caps that October and they wanted to win because they wanted to win but I'm confident they wanted to win for you as well well I mean that was pretty amazing those guys were awesome you know that team was so so much fun you know the thing I like about that team was it was no animosity it was no jealousy it was just you know we we come today and we played today and we win you know and it was just like the 96 team you know the same way you know we had the same kind of swag about ourselves you know just come and we all play it doesn't matter who get it done let's just get it done and that's what the 98 team was about it was so special it was so special to really see that later I couldn't really see that at the moment in the time because I was on my way into the hospital and I was laying there in the hospital and you know I was kind of I was so worried and then one day you know I'm laying there and wake up and there you know I got a visitor and it's the boss is sitting there you know it's just like unannounced you know this came and just wanted to let me know that he was thinking about me and that the team was thinking about me and he was like you know they're gonna win it they're gonna win it all I was like I know they are because I mean I knew what a great team that was that was such a powerful team all around in every aspect of the game this team was so great from the pitching to our defense to clutch hitting and getting it done and and just having so much fun we had so much fun at that time and I think that's what what felt so good I mean I remember hitting two Panche grand slaps yeah yeah and one yeah I hit one in Kansas City and I hit one in Oakland you know so it was it was just a it was just a phenomenal team and a joy to be around and have such good friends