The worst-case scenario played through Darryl Strawberry’s mind as he prepared for surgery during the progression of what his doctor would call a “massive” heart attack.
This was March 11, just over a week after Strawberry had completed a visit to spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where he had served as a Mets guest instructor.
Now wondering if he was going to survive, the 62-year-old former All-Star outfielder’s mind raced to what he might not live to see.
“I was making a deal with God,” Strawberry told Sports+ this week. “I said, ‘I can’t die right now, I’ve got June 1.’ … I can’t miss that. I’ve been waiting for that forever.”
On that day, the Mets are set to retire Strawberry’s No. 18 during a ceremony at Citi Field. Strawberry, a star from the Mets’ last World Series-winning team in 1986, is still on course for attending the event after a stent was placed into a coronary artery that he was told had 60 percent blockage.
The first symptoms appeared days after Strawberry departed spring training. Strawberry, who spends about 250 days a year on the road as part of his Christian ministry — he speaks to groups about his journey, which includes overcoming a cocaine addiction — was hustling to his gate at the airport and experienced shortness of breath. He felt as if he might faint.
Strawberry continued to his destination and spoke in Fort Wayne, Ind., at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“I could feel my heart racing when I was speaking,” Strawberry said. “I knew I couldn’t be tired because I was just getting back going. I left spring training and down there I felt great.”
After he returned home to the St. Louis area four days later, the discomfort intensified. Strawberry had lunch with his wife, Tracy, and upon arriving home began clutching his chest. Breathing was difficult. Tracy ordered her husband into the car, with the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lake St. Louis as the destination.
Once he arrived, just by the nature of the questions he was receiving from hospital staff, Strawberry realized he was in “deep trouble.” Tests were performed. Strawberry’s heart was failing.
“One of the doctors was like, ‘I know who you are and my brother is a big fan, and we’re going to help you,’” Strawberry said. “He didn’t tell me at that particular moment I was in trouble, but as we went along, I could tell because all of a sudden more people started to come in, doctors and nurses, and then they started to run more tests on me.”
On his way to surgery, Strawberry had a moment of reckoning as he was separated from Tracy.
“My wife went one way and I went the other, and I just knew from there it wasn’t up to me, it was in God’s hands from there whether I was going to live or not,” Strawberry said. “In that moment in time I said, ‘God, this is up to you.’ There was nothing really I could do.”
The surgery to insert a stent proceeded without a complication, but Strawberry said his doctor used the word “massive” to describe the nature of his heart attack.
After Strawberry took to Instagram to share his news, he began receiving well-wishes from all corners of his universe: family, friends, former teammates and even basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. In all, Strawberry said he received more than 600 text messages.
Strawberry has been told by his doctor to stay at home until the end of April. That recommendation has brought disappointment: Strawberry’s friend and former Mets teammate Dwight Gooden is scheduled to have his No. 16 retired at Citi Field on April 14. Strawberry originally planned to attend, but will now express his sentiments in a video as part of the ceremony.
As part of his recovery, Strawberry had a defibrillator implanted — he will have it for three months — to ensure his heart maintains a regular rhythm.
Strawberry plans to resume his ministry once he is cleared medically, albeit with a lighter schedule.
“I’m going to pick and choose a lot, but I’m not going to stop the calling,” Strawberry said. “My life has been incredible and I’ll continue to go to maximum security prisons and I’ll do a lot of churches, but cut back on some other stuff. This is a calling for all my life, and I’ve got to finish my race.”
As much as anything, June 1 and his number retirement ceremony is spurring Strawberry’s recovery.
“Man, I’m right there,” Strawberry said. “That’s a celebration I want to be a part of because it’s so special and dear to my heart and all the Mets fans and just all the people that helped me get to that place.”
Lindor pays it forward
Francisco Lindor is proud of his scholarship fund, which recently awarded scholarships to three students who will attend his alma mater of Montverde Academy near Orlando.
Tuition, room and board at the academy is about $50,000 per year.
The recipients this year included a student with talent in opera and another in baseball, according to Lindor.
“I just want to capture the people that actually deserve scholarships, from all across, whether it’s sports, arts, genuinely good individuals that are helping the community,” Lindor said.
Lindor and his wife, Katia, personally interview the candidates. Overall, the fund has awarded 10 scholarships.
“I’ve talked to a couple of them, and they’ve contacted me and thanked me and two of them reached out to me and asked me, ‘What do you think about this college?’ ” Lindor said. “That’s more important to me in life than anything else, being able to guide people.”
Want to catch a game? The Mets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
You can’t beat Mother Nature
The Mets’ first home game was postponed for a second straight season, perhaps a harbinger for what’s to come during this stretch of March and April at Citi Field. “Gloom” is the operative word when it comes to early spring in the Northeast.
The Mets opened last season with six straight games in ballparks with retractable roofs — in Miami and Milwaukee — and while such a scheduling tactic might be viewed as something of a cure for the spring, the teams who play in such locales don’t love it. After all, the more home games a team has in April, the fewer it will have later on when school is out and playoff races have begun to develop.
In recent years, the Mets have improved at getting ahead of the weather and postponing games before fans venture to the ballpark.
The Mets still aren’t perfect in this regard, but trying to predict the weather is like trying to predict the weather.
