Donald Trump pardoned his ex New York Mets great Darryl Strawberry on past tax evasion and drug charges, citing recognition of his Christian faith and longtime sobriety as the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year.
Strawberry was an outfielder and an eight-time All-Star, including seven with the Mets from 1983 to 1990. He hit 335 homers, had 1,000 RBIs and 221 stolen bases in 17 seasons.
Due to subsequent legal, health, and personal problems, Strawberry was charged with tax evasion and eventually pleaded guilty to one count in 1995. This was based on his failure to report $350,000 in income from autographs, personal appearances and memorabilia sales.
Strawberry agreed to pay more than $430,000 in the case. In 1998, he was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery and chemotherapy.
The following year, Strawberry was sentenced to probation and suspended from baseball after he pleaded no contest to charges of cocaine possession and solicitation of a prostitute. He eventually spoke in court about his struggles with depression and was charged with violating his probation multiple times, including on his 40th birthday in 2002.
Strawberry eventually served 11 months in Florida State Prison and was released in 2003.
A White House spokesman said Friday that Trump had approved a pardon for Strawberry, who has served his time and paid his taxes. Speaking on condition of anonymity to detail the pardon, which has not yet been officially announced, the official noted that Strawberry had found faith in Christianity and had been sober for more than a decade, and that he had entered an active ministry and opened a rehab center that is still in operation.
Strawberry posted on Instagram photo of himself and Trump and wrote: “Thank you President @realdonaldtrump for my complete forgiveness and for bringing closure to this part of my life, allowing me to be truly free and clean from my entire past.”
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He said he was at home Thursday afternoon caring for his wife, who was recovering from surgery, “when my phone kept ringing nonstop.”
“Half asleep, I looked over and saw a call from Washington. Curious, I answered, and to my amazement, the woman on the line said, 'Darryl Strawberry, the President of the United States has called you.' Donald Trump“,” Strawberry wrote. “I put my wife on speaker while my wife was nearby, and President Trump spoke warmly about my baseball days in New York, praising me as one of the greatest players of the 80s and praising the Mets. He then told me that he would grant me complete forgiveness of my past.”
Trump was a New York real estate tycoon before becoming a reality TV star and becoming president twice.
Strawberry said he was “overflowing with gratitude—thanking God for freeing me from my past, helping me become a better Husband, Husband and Father.”
“This experience has deepened my faith and commitment to working for His Kingdom as a true follower of Jesus Christ,” Strawberry wrote, while noting, “This has nothing to do with politics – it is about a Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend. God used him as a vessel to set me free forever!”
The President has broad constitutional pardon power, which does not erase the recipient's criminal record but may be considered an act of justice or mercy, often in cases that may promote the public welfare.
Strawberry's follows Trump this week pardoning the former Republican speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives and a former aide on public corruption charges. It also joins a list of celebrities and political allies who have similarly received unlikely pardons, including a former Republican governor of Connecticut, a former GOP congressman and reality TV stars who were convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion.
Strawberry played for the Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants from 1983 to 1999. He won a World Series with the 1986 Mets, playing alongside players like Dwight Gooden and Keith Hernandez, and with the Yankees in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Strawberry was hospitalized with a heart attack in March 2024, the day before he turned 62 years old. That same year, the Mets retired his No. 18, and an emotional Strawberry told the crowd at Citi Field, “I'm truly, truly sorry I ever left you guys. I've never played baseball in front of fans like you guys.”
