Happy Birthday, Darryl Strawberry
12 03 2008Potential is such as sad word when it comes to sports. It seems it more often used when an athlete fails to live up to the predictions.
Strawberry, who turns 46 today, was one such player. When he burst on to the scene with the Mets in 1983, people started comparing him with Ted Williams and were practically reserving a space for him in Cooperstown. His home runs were legendary; they still talk about the one he hit off the clock in St. Louis in 1985.Five hundred dingers were not out of reach for him; he ended up with 335 (252 with the Mets) in a career that lasted, to my amazement, for 17 years (although he only had one season of 100-plus games after he turned 30).
Unfortunately, Strawberry succumbed to the glitz of the game and lost previous time to injuries and fast living.
The Amazon Report on Darryl Strawberry:
The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw
High and Tight:: The Rise and Fall of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry
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