Famed MLB star had repeated run-ins with law during playing career
By Bob Unruh
President Donald Trump on Friday cited former Major League Baseball star Darryl Strawberry’s turn to Christianity in giving him a pardon for his multiple run-ins with the law during his playing career.
“President Trump has approved a pardon for Darryl Strawberry, three-time World Series champion and eight-time MLB All-Star,” the White House told Fox. “Mr. Strawberry served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion. 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.”
BREAKING: The White House said President Trump’s decision to pardon the former MLB slugger comes as Strawberry has stayed sober a decade and turned to Christianity. pic.twitter.com/wx6sQfHYhc
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 7, 2025
The report noted Strawberry’s problems, including a 1999 arrest while with the New York Yankees for soliciting an undercover police officer, for which he was suspended from baseball for 140 days.
NEW: President Trump pardons baseball legend Darryl Strawberry, who was convicted of tax evasion charges. pic.twitter.com/WLeJsWqRtx
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 7, 2025
from Darryl Strawberry: pic.twitter.com/LaO3eO1aKh
— Ron Bruning (@bruning_ron) November 7, 2025
He also at one point tested positive for cocaine, and served several months behind bars for violating rules at a treatment center, and faced a charge of tax evasion.
He met his current wife at a drug recovery meeting.
The Fox report explained, “Strawberry and Doc Gooden have notoriously been tied together due to their immense talent while playing for the Mets while battling drug and alcohol abuse. Strawberry was able to turn his life around much earlier than Gooden, but Gooden appears to have stayed on the right track in recent years. The two appeared together in last year’s National League Championship Series between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers and were the subjects of ESPN’s 30 for 30, ‘Doc and Darryl.'”
During Strawberry’s prime years, he was the National League Rookie of the Year and an All-Star eight times. He was a .263 hitter and averaged 36 home runs and 108 RBI per 162 games.
He was on the World Series winning teams with the Mets and Yankees.
