Darryl Strawberry thanks Trump for pardon

Former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry expressed his gratitude to President Donald Trump throughout a church sermon in Oklahoma on Sunday.

Trump pardoned Strawberry earlier this month for previous tax evasion and drug costs. Strawberry was welcomed to a church in Tulsa by Jackson Lahmeyer, the founding father of Pastors for Trump. He acquired cheers from the congregation of greater than 400 members when he spoke in regards to the pardon.

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Former New York Mets participant Darryl Strawberry speaks throughout a ceremony to retire his quantity 18 earlier than a sport towards the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Area on July 1, 2024. (Brad Penner/USA At present Sports activities)

“God set me fully free when he pardoned me from President Donald J. Trump,” he mentioned. “Different presidents had alternatives, however they did not do them.”

Strawberry was the No. 1 total choose of the 1980 MLB Draft. He made his debut at age 21 in 1983 and performed for New York till 1990. He hung out with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.

He gained three World Sequence titles, hit 335 house runs and batted .259 with an .862 OPS.

Strawberry struggled with authorized, well being and private issues all through his profession. He served 11 months in a Florida jail for a probation violation in 2002.

The 63-year-old credited his Christian religion with serving to flip his life round and serving to him keep sober for greater than 20 years.

“All glory to God, for he discovered me in a pit and positioned me in a pulpit,” Strawberry mentioned.

The satan “ought to have killed me when he had the prospect,” he joked.

Darryl Strawberry poses with some individuals who heard him preach at Sheridan Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Sunday, November 23, 2025. (AP Photograph/Bobby Ross)

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Strawberry mentioned he was stunned to listen to from Trump on Nov. 6 when the president revealed he would pardon the previous MLB star. The 2 met on ‘Superstar Apprentice’ in 2010.

“We have been simply speaking about my baseball profession within the Eighties and how much participant I used to be,” Strawberry advised The Related Press. “He was simply telling me how nice I used to be… and he was simply joking about how he could not hit a baseball. I mentioned, ‘Effectively, the identical method you hit a golf ball, you possibly can hit a baseball.'”

He mentioned the 2 talked about his 1999 responsible plea to tax evasion for failing to report $350,000 in revenue from autographs, private appearances and memorabilia gross sales.

“He advised me, ‘ you have carried out some actually dangerous issues,’” Strawberry mentioned. “However he mentioned, ‘At present I offer you full pardon, the best way your life is and what you do, your religion and serving to individuals and being sober. You can be clear. I wipe all of it away.'”

Strawberry and Doc Gooden are notoriously linked as a result of their immense expertise whereas enjoying for the Mets whereas battling drug and alcohol abuse. Strawberry turned his life round a lot ahead of Gooden, however Gooden appears to have stayed on observe lately. The 2 appeared collectively in final yr’s Nationwide League Championship Sequence between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers and have been the topic of ESPN’s 30 for 30, “Doc and Darryl.”

New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry hit towards the Cincinnati Reds at Shea Stadium on July 6, 1989. (USA TODAY Sports activities)

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Each numbers have been retired by the Mets final season.

Ryan Morik of Fox Information and The Related Press contributed to this report.

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