Darryl Strawberry

Strawberry, a native of Los Angeles, was signed to become a professional by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980. Soon, he was traded to the New York Mets. Some baseball critics had annointed him to be The Black Joe DiMaggio by then. In New York, he began to play in the MLB level in 1983, posting 26 home-runs, hitting 7 triples and bringing in 74 runs, while hitting for a .257 average that year. He was named the National League's Rookie of The Year. In 1984, he made it to the All-Star game, and once again, he hit 26 home-runs, while bringing in 97 runs.

By 1985, Strawberry and Dwight Gooden[?] were widely known baseball stars for the Mets. Strawberry added 29 home-runs, while reaching a .277 hitting average. By 1986, the Mets had surrounded Strawberry and Gooden with the likes of Jesse Orozco[?], Rafael Santana[?], Mookie Wilson[?], Gary Carter[?], Sid Fernandez[?], Kevin Mitchell[?], Lenny Dikstra[?] and Keith Hernandez[?], and the Mets went on to rally from behind and beat the Boston Red Sox in a seven game World Series.

In 1987, Strawberry almost became the first man in baseball history to surpass 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in one year, when he hit 39 home-runs and stole 37 bases. In addition to that, he hit 32 doubles that year. But the Mets couldn't reach the playoffs. He had 104 runs batted in that year.

In 1988, Strawberry once again hit 39 home-runs, and the Mets reached the playoffs, losing to the Dodgers in the National League championship series. He once again went over 100 runs batted in that year, producing 101 runs.

In 1989, Straberry' offensive numbers went down: He only had 29 home-runs and 77 runs batted in. Nevertheless, the Mets came in a close second place to the Chicago Cubs in the National League's east. In 1990, Strawberry hit 37 home-runs, while bringing in 108 runs and batting for a .277 average. His Mets, however, came once again in a close second place in the NL's east, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates by two games.

During the period from 1983 to 1990, Strawberry was very popular, with such things as action figures (Kenner[?]'s Starting Lineups), posters and banners of him being produced.

Strawberry was traded to the Dodgers in 1991, and soon after, he signed a very lucrative contract with that team. In California, he was named Big Brother of The Year for that year. It was while playing in Los Angeles, however, that his personal life problems started to surface: He was accused there of domestic violence by his wife, and , in a widely publicided incident, he suggested that he wanted Los Angeles to burn in hell. After hitting 28 home-runs and bringing in 99 runs batted in his first year there, his offensive numbers also suffered, hitting only 10 home-runs for the next two years.

In 1994, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where his offensive numbers continued to go downwards, hitting only four home-runs and bringing in only 17 runs that year. Soon, he found himself back in New York, as the New York Yankees signed him.

With the Yankees, he showed flashes of his former brilliancy, as he hit only three homers in his first year, but had 11 home-runs and helped his team win the World Series in 1996, alongside former Mets teammate Gooden. In 1997, he did not have any home-runs, but in 1998, he had 24 home-runs, once again helping the Yankees to win the World Series. This was also the year he got diagnosed with colon cancer, and he and some other members of his family opened a record label. In 1999, he only hit 3 home-runs, but the Yankees once again were baseball's world champions.

In 1999, Strawberry was found guilty of soliciting for a small amount of cocaine. Upon being found with more cocaine in 2000, Strawberry was suspended from baseball. He also announced in 2000 that his cancer had spread. Soon after, he announced his retirement from baseball.

Strawberry was found guilty and placed on house arrest. For a period, he left his house and was declared a fugitive.

In 2001, Strawberry was once again arrested, this time for solicting sex from a policewoman posing as a prostitute.