Former New York Mets and Yankees star Darryl Strawberry, an eight-time MLB All-Star and three-time World Series champion, announced via Instagram this weekend that he has been pardoned by President Donald Trump for his former tax-evasion conviction.
Strawberry said in the post that he received the call from President Trump on Thursday, November 6. He thanked the president for “finalizing this part of my life, allowing me to be truly free.”
Strawberry’s baseball career spanned from 1983 to 1999, but it was marked by legal troubles and drug abuse. He was always thought to be one of the most talented players of the 80's. He pleaded guilty in the tax-evasion case in 1995 after he was accused of failing to report more than $350,000 in income from autographs, personal appearances and sales of memorabilia between 1986 and 1990. A White House official told the press Strawberry had served his time and paid back the taxes.
“Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade — he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center which still operates today,” the official said.
“This has nothing to do with politics,” Strawberry wrote on Instagram. “It’s about a man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend. God used him as a vessel to set me free forever!”
The former Rookie of the Year was the #1 draft pick in the 1980 MLB Draft and made his major-league debut in 1983. He won his first World Series with the 1986 Mets team. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees, where he finished his career. Strawberry won two more championships with the Yankees in 1996 and 1999 and finished his career with 335 home runs and 1,000 RBIs.