By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Darryl Strawberry scoffs these days when people ask him which team he roots for – the Mets or the Yankees.
“I don’t even like baseball,” he declared.
Those are shocking words from a former eight-time all-star who won four World Series championships during a 17-year career in major league baseball.
The 59-year-old Strawberry has made a dramatic transformation in his post-baseball career, overcoming alcohol abuse and drug addiction to become an ordained minister who travels the country spreading the word of God.
Speaking to an audience of several hundred people Sunday morning at the Ocean City Tabernacle, Strawberry described his rise, downfall and redemption during his extraordinary life as a baseball star-turned-preacher.
The man who once played for the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants no longer cares which baseball team is winning or losing. He said he has devoted his life to Christ in the past 14 years as a minister.
“I’m trying to win souls for the kingdom,” he said.
Strawberry lamented that people seem to care more about baseball than they do about church. He elicited laughs from the audience members when he jokingly told them they could always catch the replays if the ball games were in conflict with their time in church.
“Everybody is running back to the ball game instead of running to church,” he said.
Strawberry is an evangelical born-again Christian. He contrasted his commitment to God with his former days as a selfish baseball star whose life plummeted into the abyss of womanizing, alcoholism, drug addiction, criminal arrests and prison time. He called himself a former “heathen.”
“I’m not a baseball player anymore. Over and done,” he bluntly said. “I’m a preacher of the gospel of Christ.”
Stressing his love for his family and God, he also told the crowd that fame and fortune do not make a person.
“Winning, money, fortune – it doesn’t mean anything at the end of your life,” he said.
Strawberry acknowledged that it is a miracle he is here today as a preacher instead of floundering in the “pit” he was once trapped in before finding God. Besides his personal turmoil, Strawberry has also beaten cancer.
He thanked his mother, Ruby, and his wife, Tracy, for being the strong forces behind him.
“God has a great sense of humor. He uses women to straighten men out,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience.
In addition to recalling his own failings, Strawberry focused on what he maintains are the “very dark” times gripping the country.
He blended in a message of hope, but also said people should stop listening to “fake politicians” and should instead turn to the teachings of the Bible.
“We’ve gotten away from the biblical principles and that’s why the nation is falling apart,” he said.
He added later, “I believe this nation has turned its back on God.”
Pointing to the nation’s opioid crisis and overdose deaths, Strawberry said it is critical that more attention and help should be given to young people to prevent them from failing in their lives.
“We need to teach the young people about the gospel of God,” he said.
Strawberry spoke during the 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. services at the Tabernacle. He also appeared at the Tabernacle in 2019 as part of its summer speaker series. On Sunday, Strawberry ended his sermon by reading from scripture.
Pastor Jay Reimer, president and CEO of the Tabernacle, said he hoped members of the audience “would be by the words from Darryl.”
“God delivered him from addiction,” Reimer said.
Afterward, Strawberry chatted with audience members and posed for pictures. A long line of people waited in the Tabernacle’s lobby for some one-on-one time with the former star.
Paulette DeFrehn, who is spending a weeklong vacation in Ocean City from her home in Warminster, Pa., said she was moved by Strawberry’s sermon.
“I believe we need men like that to be our leaders. He was so inspiring,” DeFrehn said. “I really believe what he was saying.”
Dave Pettigrew, a pianist, singer and recording artist who was part of the musical entertainment at the Tabernacle over the weekend, was joined by his wife, Rosie, and their sons, Marco and Sam, to listen to Strawberry’s remarks.
Pettigrew said Strawberry’s warning about the nation’s opioid crisis affecting young people was especially important.
“The words this morning were fantastic,” Pettigrew said.
