Straw: Redemption

Darryl Strawberry has written a chilling autobiography--Straw: Finding My Way. It is a great story of redemption for a man who really could've been one of the all time greats but had too many demons nipping at him constantly.

Sean Hannity has a great interview with the once great ballplayer.



A huge tip of a classic blue and orange Mets hat to The Mets Police.

To add to this, as someone who covered Strawberry when he was with the Yankees and who grew up idolizing him as a Mets fan, I used to be tempted to just shake my head at what I thought was a waste of such pure baseball talent. Straw was every pitcher's nightmare with his tall lanky frame pulverizing baseballs all over the place. Still, those Mets only won a single world series title. Their arrogance on display eventually crumbled the team and broke them part, the front office seemingly needing to break them apart. After leaving NY Strawberry was nothing and I remember people laughing when the Yankees added him and Doc Gooden to their roster. They seemingly both turned it around at that juncture: Gooden throwing a no-hitter in 96 and Strawberry making significant contributions as well and sticking around for 3 World titles.

Yet the two still had their struggles. It seemed unforgivable that two men with such talent would cast that talent to the wind.

Then I learned about addiction--something most people don't understand. It was then that I was impressed that both Gooden and Strawberry were able to accomplish anything at all with all the demons that they had faced. Potential unrealized, perhaps, but Strawberry seems to have kicked the habit to realize that his true potential is no longer about bruising baseballs, but about inspiring others.

What is it that prohibits you from reaching your full potential some days? What addictions might you have to kick? Some may not be as self-destructive as Strawberry's are but nonetheless, they are powerful enough to keep you at bay from another hurdle in your life.

Addiction to substances is something that thankfully I haven't had to face in my life but I also know that there are plenty of things that weigh me down on my own road to peace and serenity. What keeps you tied down--and more importantly what allows you to rise again?