By Charles H. Roberts III
Darryl Strawberry is either one hell of an actor or he is legitimately sorry for the lives he's adversly affected and the pain he's inflicted not only on himself, but those around him.
The four-time World Series winner sat in the Bisons' dugout this morning with the look of a man whose fortune and fame sits back seat to reconciling the damage he caused as an addict. His book, "Straw: Finding My Way," is a detail not of his playing career and has very little to do with baseball. It was Strawberry's way of admitting where he went wrong and a brutally honest way of saying he's sorry.
"It's a New York Times Best-Seller, so I'm pretty happy about that," Strawberry said. "It's not about baseball. It's about real life. The struggles you got through and how you overcome and help others."
Sure - the guy is obviously promoting his book. Using the media to do so is an effective tool as well. However, when posed with difficult questions, Strawberry gave honest answers - and didn't beat around the bush in doing so.
"Life is a journey," Strawberry continued. "Hopefully that journey doesn't have to be as difficult as mine has been, but I have accepted that and take full responsibility and that's the most important thing. It's not about me - it's about who I can help."
"There's a lot of people that have lost the struggle, so hopefully I can be an inspiration," Strawberry said. "It can be done."
As the 6-foot-6 former slugger spoke, you could detect a true feeling of remorse in his voice. Far too often, especially in troubled athletes, we hear lame-duck, half-assed apologies that are more of an insult than anything.
That wasn't the case with Strawberry this morning. Although he is certainly well-versed in speaking with the media, having played 11 years in New York (between the Mets and Yankees), his thoughts didn't seem pre-planned or staged.
When asked if his book was in some ways therapeutic for him, you got the true sense of where he is at in his life and how painful being an addict truly must be.
"I wouldn't say therapeutic," he said. "I'd say painful. Looking back on what it was like and the people that I have hurt - I'm very sensative about that. Looking back on that was very painful."
Good luck, Straw.
Darryl Strawberry is either one hell of an actor or he is legitimately sorry for the lives he's adversly affected and the pain he's inflicted not only on himself, but those around him.
The four-time World Series winner sat in the Bisons' dugout this morning with the look of a man whose fortune and fame sits back seat to reconciling the damage he caused as an addict. His book, "Straw: Finding My Way," is a detail not of his playing career and has very little to do with baseball. It was Strawberry's way of admitting where he went wrong and a brutally honest way of saying he's sorry.
"It's a New York Times Best-Seller, so I'm pretty happy about that," Strawberry said. "It's not about baseball. It's about real life. The struggles you got through and how you overcome and help others."
Sure - the guy is obviously promoting his book. Using the media to do so is an effective tool as well. However, when posed with difficult questions, Strawberry gave honest answers - and didn't beat around the bush in doing so.
"Life is a journey," Strawberry continued. "Hopefully that journey doesn't have to be as difficult as mine has been, but I have accepted that and take full responsibility and that's the most important thing. It's not about me - it's about who I can help."
"There's a lot of people that have lost the struggle, so hopefully I can be an inspiration," Strawberry said. "It can be done."
As the 6-foot-6 former slugger spoke, you could detect a true feeling of remorse in his voice. Far too often, especially in troubled athletes, we hear lame-duck, half-assed apologies that are more of an insult than anything.
That wasn't the case with Strawberry this morning. Although he is certainly well-versed in speaking with the media, having played 11 years in New York (between the Mets and Yankees), his thoughts didn't seem pre-planned or staged.
When asked if his book was in some ways therapeutic for him, you got the true sense of where he is at in his life and how painful being an addict truly must be.
"I wouldn't say therapeutic," he said. "I'd say painful. Looking back on what it was like and the people that I have hurt - I'm very sensative about that. Looking back on that was very painful."
Good luck, Straw.
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