Don't you agree that Darryl Strawberry was well on his way to being a Hall of Famer till he threw it all?

Question

away from 1992-1999. From 1983-1991, he was dominant and well on his was to being a Hall of Famer, till he did too much coke, booze, beating on women, etc. Straw ended his 17 year career in 1999, and had, 1,401 hits, 335 HR's, 1,000 RBI's and .259 BA

He had 280 HR's his first 9 seasons from 1983-1991 and only 55 his last 8 seasons from 1992-1999. And had 832 RBI's his first 9 seasons and only 168 RBI's his last 8 seasons. He averaged 31 HR's his first 9 seasons and 92 RBI's. If he continued those averages until he retired, he would've wound up with 527 HR's and 1,564 RBI's. What a shame. Such a sweet swing he had.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/strawda01.shtml

Answer 1

Straw started screwing up his life before he was very far along the Hall track; it wasn't like he was "sure thing" and then it all went into the ashcan.

But he was an overwhelmingly talented player who should have produced a much greater career -- one that almost certainly would have been Hall class (600 HR, two MVPs). He was, for a while, going in very much the right direction. He needed a whipcracking mentor early on, and this person never materialized. He did put on a decent, feel-good show toward the end, but by then his Hall chances were long gone.

You never stop hoping someone will pull out of destructive cycles, and not everything that piled upon him and his career was of his own doing, but a lot of it was, and ultimately the fans were denied the Strawberry we should have been privileged to witness.

I didn't get to watch Straw very much, but he had genuine physical grace, and that's rare in someone as tall as he is (6' 6"), even among top-flight athletes. He hit a home run in Montreal -- I think it was an Opening Day game -- that just kept on going, hit the back wall of the Stade. It was the most perfect swing I have ever seen, every part of that lanky frame putting the bat in exactly the right spot at full speed, true poetry in motion, and the ball simply launched itself and Straw, for those microseconds, was a thing of beauty, no motion wasted, timing perfect. sigh.

Answer 2

Yep. He could do it all and do it well. But he threw it away.

Truly one of the tragic figures in baseball.

You know what really is terrible that I just remembered. I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame around 1984 or so with my 9 year old nephew who was a Mets fan. We were looking at all the stuff about great players and he kept saying, "Darryl Strawberry is better than him" or "Doc Gooden is better than him." I told him those guys were really good but they had to do it for a long time to get into the hall of fame. It's a shame that both of those guys went down he wrong road.

Answer 3

Jim Thome has been a sturdy participant yet by using no potential an superb participant. His occupation abode run entire would be adequate to overshadow any deficiencies he could have. undergo in recommendations that better than a million/2 of his occupation has been as a DH yet to his credit he replaced right into a appropriate fielding 1st baseman. Now in spite of the fact that if his call will finally be related solidly to the PED situation, who's to declare. there have been comments that Thome is definitely one of the 103 ultimate names on the Mitchell document while he replaced into with the Cleveland Indians. If he does finally get elected he will could wait until eventually greater worth gamers are voted into the hall. the way issues are with the BBWAA, there is not any assure of something.

Answer 4

Strawberry was on his way to the Hall of Fame after 9 years of earning respect from opponents. Yet his final numbers are not close enough to get him in the HOF, even without his troubles. You don't know if he could have kept up the pace though. Biggio is a HOF shoo-in, but his numbers dropped since his glory days, as it probably has for all HOF'ers. I think his peak was around 94-96, but he continued for over 10 more years. Straw could have done better on the field by taking better care of himself and possibly even lasted longer with that better production, but his numbers would have been tapering off too as he was moving beyond his prime. It is a shame that Straw disappointed so many who believed in him enough to keep him around for as long as they did.

Answer 5

Absolutely agree! Unfortunately he loved that white powder more than those white lines on the field.

Whenever we think of Strawberry we always think about Doc Gooden. Another would be hall of famer that couldn't kick the habit either.

Answer 6

Yes, he could have put hall of fame numbers up. I remember his rookie season with the Mets uncork a strike from right field to home plate. The only person who I could compare his swing too was the spendid splinter himself, Ted Williams.

Answer 7

Definitely. I grew up watching him & Doc Gooden tear it up in the 80s when I was just a kid. That's when I became a Mets fan forever. Watching how the 2 of them finished their careers was sad and a convincing reality check.

Answer 8

Yes. Even if he had not made it to the Hall, he would have had an outstanding career. It's a shame that he gave this up for drugs. I loved his game.

Answer 9

Yes..he had that sweet swing like Ted Williams

Answer 10

Sports figures, no matter how talented or how rich they are, are still human beings with faults like you and I. During the peak of Daryl's popularity, I had purchased his autobiography for my eldest nephew, who idolized him. Daryl was living the dream of thousands of young future athletes. He was their role model. It is sad to say that he let them down and he let himself down. Who knows just how much he could have achieved?