He only played 29 games for the Saint Paul Saints, but the team is retiring the number 17 worn by Darryl Strawberry during the 1996 season at a ceremony this weekend.
Strawberry came to the Saints as a last chance to stay in the game after a drug problem forced him out of the majors. He was National League Rookie of the Year in 1983 and an eight-time All-Star when the problems with drugs interrupted his career after signing a $20 million contract with the Dodgers after years of success with the New York Mets.
"I didn't really want to play baseball again," explained Strawberry. "My agent at the time really just kept trying to convince me, 'just give it another shot, give it another shot, go to St. Paul'. And I said, 'ok, well, let's see.' I finally decided and made a decision to come here."
Former Saints owner Mike Veeck told WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar he made a pitch to Strawberry no other team could match.
"They all wanted to use Darryl's name to sell tickets, and we had the advantage because of the wonderful reception we've always kind of had in the Twin Cities," explains Veeck. "We didn't have tickets to sell. We were sold out. And so that helped me when I called them and I said, 'look, this is not you on display, this is not you having to do something that you walked away from, this is simply you having to come to an area of the country that will welcome you with open arms, and you can see if you love baseball the way you did when you were a kid. Because I know you don't love it now.' And he agreed."
Strawberry told WCCO's Henry Lake that playing with the Saints did make baseball fun for him again. He played four more major league seasons after leaving the Saints, twice playing in the World Series with the Yankees.
Strawberry says he is glad he made the decision to come to Minnesota.
"It's the best decision I've made in a long time in my life, coming here to play baseball," says Strawberry. "I think it was more about life and I think it was more about being received by the people. And the way the people received me and my family here at that time, it was just incredible."
In 29 games for the Saints, Strawberry hit .435 with 18 home runs before signing with the New York Yankees. He wound up in the World Series that season and again in 1999 before retiring from the game.
Related
