Darryl Strawberry : From Baseball Fame to a Life of Faith and Ministry

Former Major League Baseball star Darryl Strawberry has spent more than two decades using his life story to minister to people facing addiction, suffering and difficult circumstances. In 2024, Strawberry visited the hospital ward and death row at Louisiana State Penitentiary. During the visit, he sat beside a frail prisoner, prayed with him and then embraced him, gently pulling the blankets over the man’s shoulders. For Strawberry, moments like this are part of his calling as a Christian minister. He believes God has given him an opportunity to serve people who are hurting and to help them discover hope and restoration. Strawberry enjoyed an outstanding 17-year baseball career. The 1983 National League Rookie of the Year hit 335 home runs, appeared in eight All-Star Games and won four World Series championships. The New York Mets also retired his No. 18 jersey. However, his struggles away from baseball often received as much attention as his achievements on the field. His life included battles with drug and alcohol addiction, a tax-evasion conviction and time in a Florida prison after violating probation related to a cocaine possession case. At one point, he was reportedly $3 million in debt. Today, Strawberry spends much of his time traveling and preaching. He says he spends around 270 days each year speaking in churches, schools, prisons, hospitals and motivational conferences. His ministry focuses on addiction, broken relationships and other issues that can control people’s lives. Speaking about his visits to prisoners, including those facing the final days of their lives, Strawberry said his purpose is to remind them that it is never too late to turn to God. He tells them that regardless of what they have done in their earthly lives, they can seek God’s forgiveness and surrender their lives to Him. Reflecting on his own transformation, Strawberry often shares a simple message: “If he saved me, he can save you.” Strawberry believes his journey to faith was closely connected to his mother’s prayers. After his mother, Ruby Strawberry, died in 1996, her family discovered a journal beneath her mattress containing prayers for each of her five children. In her prayer for Darryl, she asked God to humble him and bring him to salvation. His mother celebrated his accomplishments as a professional baseball player, but she also knew about the problems he faced away from the sport. Strawberry believes her deepest desire was not simply for him to become successful, but for him to become the person God had created him to be. His childhood was difficult. When Strawberry was 13, his father, Henry, returned home late one night while drunk and threatened the family with a shotgun. Darryl and his older brothers confronted their father, who eventually left the home and never returned. Although Strawberry has connected some of his later struggles with the trauma of his childhood, he says he does not use his father as an excuse for his actions. Instead, he takes full responsibility for the choices he made. Years later, Strawberry received news that his father had suffered a serious stroke. Initially, he decided not to visit him because of the pain caused by his father’s past actions. But Strawberry eventually reconsidered after remembering the forgiveness he himself had received from God. He went to the hospital and asked his father to forgive him for keeping him out of his life. His father agreed. Strawberry then asked whether his father wanted to experience the same forgiveness from God. His father said yes. That experience became a major turning point for Strawberry. He says forgiving his father freed him from years of emotional pain and resentment. “ No matter how much we want to hold someone els… Once known for baseball glory and personal struggles, Darryl Strawberry now spends his life sharing a message of forgiveness, faith and hope with people facing their darkest moments.