Strawberry: Leaving NY ‘was the biggest mistake’ of career
Darryl Strawberry has a lot of love for New York fans. Playing without them, he soon realized, led to the biggest mistake in his career.
“It was heartbreaking leaving the Mets. That was the biggest mistake I really ever made in my career was leaving New York to go play in L.A.,” Strawberry said in an interview with SNY’s Baseball Night in New York.
Strawberry left New York in 1990 with Rookie of the Year honors, seven All-Star nods and a world championship ring. Even his 252 home runs — the most in Mets history — couldn’t stop one of the greatest Mets of all time from hitting free agency.
So he signed with the Dodgers, ready to embark on another chapter of his historic baseball journey. Except, when he got there, he unraveled. Strawberry’s career spiraled in the midst of drugs, injuries and suspensions. Over his final eight seasons, he averaged only 42 games a year — finishing with a .259 lifetime batting average.
“Why did you have to bring that up? Those are real feelings right there, those are real feelings about leaving the Mets,” Strawberry said. “It was heartbreaking for me to leave New York because I was so used to Mets fans and what New York fans were all about.
“Becoming a free agent … I was very saddened by the fact that I had to leave New York because I was so used to and accustomed to the fans. The fans are so different in New York. L.A. fans, they come late and leave early. New York fans come early and never leave. That was the good thing about playing there. They wait until the end of the game, win or lose.”
Strawberry said playing in Holexecutives lywood without uber-obsessed fans watching every at-bat and every mistake wasn’t easy. He craved for their attention to detail and enthusiasm. They kept him accountable. So when that ended, a part of Strawberry’s success did too.
“Nothing against the Dodger fans and nothing against the L.A. fans, they were just a little bit more laid back,” Strawberry said. “I was used to the aggressive fans in New York City.
“People are over the dugout and yelling at you when you run across the field. And when you suck, they tell you you suck. And you look at them and you’re like, ‘Yeah I do suck right now. I need to get better.’ But they want you to get better, and that’s what I love about playing in New York.”
It’s OK, Straw. You’ll always have Queens.
Matz not worried about loss of Syndergaard: Noah Syndergaard appeared strong the first few weeks of Mets spring camp. His 98-99 mph fastball looked game-ready and his slider was back to where it had been in previous years. He often said this spring training was one of the more comfortable camps he could remember, in terms of feeling physically prepared to take on the grind of the 162-game season.
So it came as a surprise when the Mets announced in late March that Syndergaard would undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right lebow. After a successful surgery in Florida and the ensuing months of rehab, the right-hander is slated to return to the mound no earlier than April 2021.
To make matters stickier, Syndergaard enters free agency following the 2021 season.
Major League Baseball continues to push for a season amid the coronavirus pandemic, and league
— Darryl Strawberry
remain optimistic that baseball will return by early July. That spells a bit of trouble for the Mets — a team that was projected by PECOTA to win the National League East before losing their No. 2 starter in Syndergaard.
Well, if you ask Steven Matz, he doesn’t see it that way. The left-hander is hardly worried about the Syndergaard-less season looming ahead.
“Everyone has to continue to be who they are,” Matz said in an interview with the Mets public relations department this week. “Nobody needs to step up, everyone just has to do what they are capable of. Sure, losing Syndergaard is tough, because he’s a great pitcher, but we have guys who have done this before. Everyone on the staff has the feeling that when they go out to the mound they want to dominate.”
As it stands, the Mets rotation consists of Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Rick Porcello, Steven Matz and Michael Wacha. The Mets’ chances for playoff contention relied heavily on the success of its dominant rotation, and yet without Syndergaard’s power arm, the likelihood of a postseason run has significantly decreased.