Few players embodied the 1986 Mets more than Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.
But there was Strawberry at Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium yesterday, wearing a Yankees uniform and unsure of his status with the Mets and their commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the ’86 World Series. Gooden, meanwhile, remains in a Florida prison.
“Doc has a journey, just like I do,” Strawberry said. “Unfortunately, his journey involves some time away. I hope he finds his path. You have to do that in life and it’s not easy. People think it’s easy because you have a great ability to play a sport, but it’s not when you live a lifestyle like Dwight and I did. All I can do is pray for him.”
Strawberry acknowledged that he isn’t really a Yankee, regardless of the resurgence he had in his career when he joined the Bombers in 1995.
“There’s no question I’m a Met,” Strawberry said. “My history is with the Mets, just like [Derek] Jeter and Bernie Williams are home-grown here.”
Left unsaid, however, was the fact that, unlike Jeter and Williams, Strawberry wasn’t able to stay with the team he came up with and unable to take full advantage of his ability. Had he taken better care of himself and had better luck with injuries, there’s no telling what kind of career he could have had.
“That’s woulda, coulda, shoulda,” Strawberry said. “I don’t fantasize a lot about those things anymore.”
Instead, Strawberry talked about marrying again soon, doing charity work and his very, very clear statement that he would not follow the path of Don Mattingly into a dugout.
“Never,” Strawberry said regarding a possible career in coaching. “Never. I am not going to have a job in the major leagues. If a team wants me to work with young players, that’s something I’d be interested in.”
But rather than teaching them the finer points of hitting home runs, Strawberry would deal with other aspects of the game.
“If I had someone tell me what to do and how to handle myself when I was younger, that would have helped,” Strawberry said. “That’s what I’d like to give back.”
David Cone, Strawberry’s former teammate in both the Bronx and Queens, is equally unsure about his future. Cone returned to the Stadium for his first Old Timers’ Day and said he still wasn’t ready to commit full-time to a job in baseball, despite having offers from the Mets in broadcasting, coaching and the front office.
“If I’m going to do something, I need to do it all out,” said Cone, who hasn’t ruled out working with either team in the future.
He also finally has come to grips with how his career wound up.
“I miss being able to throw 95 miles per hour,” Cone said. “I don’t miss struggling the way I did at the end.”
As always, Cone wants to remain tied to both the Mets and Yankees organizations, since he spent six years with each team.
Neither player has talked to George Steinbrenner in years, but believe they are on good terms with The Boss.
“He’s always been a good friend,” Strawberry said.
And both admire the way the Mets are playing so far this year.
“It’s amazing,” Strawberry said. “They’re doing it the right way, bringing up guys. It’s fun to see both teams winning like this. This is the way it should be.”