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Yesterday at Citi, the Mets retired #18 which was worn by Darryl Strawberry in a spirited and moving ceremony and it touched me in a very personal way.
I covered his entire Met career and thought of the plethora of great moments he had in a place we called Shea Stadium. Darryl has a pre-ceremony presser and talked about those moments like the day in the 86 NLCS he homered off Bob Knepper to set up the dramatic Lenny Dykstra walk-off homer or 2 days later when he hit a rope off Nolan Ryan to tie a game the Mets would later win. Without those 2 moments, there may not be a 1986 World Championship trophy in Queens.
Darryl also talked about his recent life struggles as he suffered a heart attack and needed surgery to repair his heart. While he was chatting about it, I thought of what I went through in 2022 and how I experienced the same feelings. I suffered a heart attack on my living room couch and the ambulance rushed me to the hospital finding out I had to have open heart surgery as I needed a triple bypass.
I listened to Darryl and remembered much like him, I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to pull me through it. As I heard him take us through his journey, I realized that God gave me another chance. Darryl embodies a man who was a great player but since he retired has become an inspiration for so many furthering the words of Jesus Christ.
During my rehab that took a full year, I only thought of getting back to a baseball ballpark—namely CitiField—to witness a game I loved. And live through a day like yesterday that carried so many memories but also held a future in front of my eyes that gives me a smile every day of my life.
I got tears i my eyes when Darryl talked about Gary Carter who left us far too soon but embodied the man we all wanted to be more like. And I am not talking about the baseball player—I am talking about the person. And I hope his family gets a day at Citi that retires his number because if you ever met Gary Carter you quickly realized he was the person God wanted us to be more like–he cared for others in a genuine way.
Strawberry got his special day which was long overdue but provided me with a special moment reminding me that Christ gave me a special gift two years ago—a rebirth that I plan of making the most out of by inspiring others and let them inspire me.
Thank you Darryl for reminding me how lucky I am.
