The Design: The expansion Mets of 1962 are considered one of the worst teams in baseball history and they didn’t improve much over the subsequent six seasons. Then in 1969, the impossible happened and the New York Mets became World Series champions. The franchise thrived through 1976, but when The Franchise was traded to the Reds in 1977, it ushered in another dark era in Mets history that lasted into the early-1980s. A sense of hope started to glimmer in the summer of 1982 when the Mets drafted a prodigious righty named Dwight Gooden with the fifth overall pick while word was spreading that the first overall pick of the 1980 draft, a fellow named Darryl Strawberry, was making a legend of himself in AA Jackson. As a 20-year old, Strawberry hit 34 home runs with 97 RBIs, 45 stolen bases and 100 walks while batting .283 in AA that season. Strawberry was billed as Willie McCovey with speed or Willie Mays with height and was the next big thing in baseball. He won the Rookie of the Year in 1983 and made his first All-Star team in 1984, the year Dwight Gooden burst onto the scene. The comparisons to Mays and McCovey didn’t seem that far off. The young stars, along with veteran leaders, balls-to-the-wall teammates and overpowering pitching led the Mets back to the top of the baseball world in 1986. Strawberry’s home run in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1986 World Series gave the Mets an important insurance run and was a signature moment for the sweet-swinging lefty. Strawberry played for the Mets for eight seasons, averaging 37 home runs and 107 RBIs per 162 games during the time.
Strawberry left in free agency and battled drug and legal problems, and just when it looked like the former King of Queens was going to be out of the game, he triumphantly returned to New York and was a key member of the team for five seasons, winning two more World Series in that time. Strawberry was particularly lethal in the postseason for the Yankees, belting three home runs in the 1996 ALCS. He hit .333 with two home runs in the 1999 postseason as well. Strawberry is one of the few players beloved by both the Mets and Yankees fanbases. A cancer survivor, Strawberry had now devoted his life to his religious faith, Strawberry Ministries and Autism awareness. His number 18 will be retired next season at Citi Field. Strawberry is one of just three players to have played for all four New York franchises—the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants—but his subway stop will always be Willets Point-Shea Stadium.
