Dodgers History: The highs and many lows of Darryl Strawberry

Darryl Strawberry’s time in Los Angeles was interesting, to say the least. A look back at a promising start that turned into an utter disaster.

When the Dodgers signed free agent Darryl Strawberry away from the New York Mets in 1990, manager Tommy Lasorda compared it to the Los Angeles Kings acquiring Wayne Gretzky.

Coming off perhaps his best season as a professional in 1990, the tall, lanky kid from Crenshaw High School was ready to take on Hollywood. A prodigious home run hitter, Strawberry made Shea Stadium, with its expansive outfield similar to Dodger Stadium, look small. He hit 252 home runs over his first eight seasons with the Mets, including 37 the season before leaving Flushing.

Strawberry had risen to the tallest heights of stardom in New York, winning the World Series as a key player in 1986, all the while struggling with substance abuse issues. He didn’t really want to leave the Mets, but when the front office didn’t offer him what he felt was a fair contract, he decided to return home to play in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers signed him to a five-year, $20.25 million contract, the second richest terms in baseball history at the time to Jose Canseco‘s five year, $23.5 million deal with Oakland.

The only thing to sort out was where the right fielder would play. The Dodgers already had Kal Daniels set for left field and Hubie Brooks in right field, which would have pushed Strawberry into center, a position he hadn’t played since he was in high school, had the team not acquired Brett Butler later in the offseason to play center.

Darryl Strawberry’s time in Los Angeles is impossible to classify as anything other than a failure. However, it was an interesting ride along the path to his premature exit from the team.

After a strong debut season, Darryl Strawberry never played a full season again for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Darryl Strawberry, who battled with substance abuse issues for much of his adult life, somehow kept himself in the lineup almost everyday over the first nine years of his career. After playing in at least 120 games every single season except 1985, when he played in 111, he would only suit up for 210 games over the next six years, beginning in 1992.

Everything started falling apart for the left-handed power hitter during his second season with the Dodgers. After experiencing back issues early in the season, Strawberry delayed surgery, before finally agreeing to it in September, losing several months of possible recovery time. With whispers that he was mixing with the wrong crowd from his hometown in Crenshaw, and frustrations started to boil over with the fanbase, things turned ugly quickly.

Just one season removed from his mega, five-year, $20.25 million contract, Strawberry was a giant question mark in the Dodgers lineup. Would he be healthy enough to play? How impactful was his back injury to his lack of production when he did play? Were there too many distractions off the field?

The left-hander hit only five home runs in 43 games in 1992, the same amount he would hit the following season in just 32 games played. His batting average plummeted to .140 during his final season in Los Angeles.

By September of 1993, the right fielder’s fall from grace hit another low point when he was arrested for allegedly striking a woman that he lived with at the time. No criminal charges were filed, but it added to the noise surrounding the former superstar, who said he contemplated suicide late in the season.

The offseason brought more controversy when he said during a radio interview about the Los Angeles brush fires, “Let it burn. I don’t live there any more.”

After a turbulent offseason that also included the IRS investigating him for tax evasion, the breaking point with the Dodgers came in early April when he missed the team’s final exhibition game against the Angels. The next day he admitted he had a substance abuse problem and was placed on the disabled list before the Dodgers reached a monetary agreement and released him in May.

Strawberry would eventually sign with the Giants where he played in limited action during the 1994 season.

The story of the Crenshaw kid returning to Hollywood ended with Strawberry playing only one full season of his five-year contract, hitting 10 home runs over two calendar years after hitting 280 in the previous nine seasons of his career.