Darryl Strawberry's Testimony: MLB Success, Emptiness, & Redemption

We live in a world where many believe fame and fortune is the answer. If you have enough money, recognition, and influence, then life will be complete, right? Actually, Darryl Strawberry reached the very top of that mountain with World Series-level success and discovered he was still empty and struggling. 

He put it this way in our conversation together: I’m very talented [at playing] sports, but that’s not the purpose of my life…

Darryl Strawberry’s MLB Fame and Success

Darryl Strawberry enjoyed an 18-year Major League Baseball career, winning four World Series championships and playing for teams like the New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers. 

And he wasn’t just successful, but famous.

The Reality of Fame

Many young people today dream of having the fame and success Darryl experienced. But, in his own words: “Be careful what you ask for.”

Fame not only brought Darryl the spotlight, but expectations and pressure. Darryl talked about learning to handle many things: his career, people disliking him, the media, and more. 

Why Celebrities Are Still Empty

I asked Darryl a question that sits with many of us: Why is it that when people get to the top and have it all (fame, wealth, etc.), they’re still so empty?

“ …You accumulate all these things that you think will make you well. And they’re just things at the end of the day. You buy a beautiful home, you live behind community gates, you drive the nice car, you have plenty of money… But what it does is only satisfy the outside… We don’t realize that the creation for us on the inside was created for God Himself,” Darryl shared with me. “ That’s why you see so many celebrities struggle so much with life… we achieve all these earthly things, but at the end of the day, when I take that uniform off and I go home, who am I?” 

No matter who you are, we are all created with a space in our hearts that only God can fill.

How Darryl Became a Christian

God used Tracy, who would later become Darryl’s wife, to draw him into redemption after his history of drug/alcohol addiction and abuse.

“Her life was a complete example of living for Christ… God would use her eventually, and it would bring me full circle… I would go on to get back in church and get discipled and get my life transformed and changed forever.”

One day, God spoke to him: She knows Me because she spends time with Me. When are you going to spend time with Me? And that moment changed everything.

He shared how people can get into a strong place with God: “You have to be persistent to go after God. And you have to surrender yourself daily… I learned to surrender myself daily…”

And he pointed out that we have a role to play in our restoration: “ If you don’t do the work, you don’t get restored… You have to participate in God changing you.”

Darryl Strawberry’s Greatest Chapter

Today, Darryl says this is the greatest chapter of his life—not baseball, not championships, not fame, but working for the Lord.

He said, “ I think so many people are impressed with your success, but they can be impacted by your failures.” 

While plenty of people have been impressed by Darryl Strawberry’s success, they’re now being impacted by his failures—because those failures led to his testimony, his ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ.