Former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry delivered a powerful message of faith and redemption Sunday as he preached to a packed congregation in Tulsa — giving glory to Jesus and thanking President Donald Trump for pardoning him earlier this month.
Strawberry, an eight-time All-Star and four-time World Series champion, spoke at Sheridan Church, where Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer of Pastors for Trump welcomed the baseball legend to the pulpit.
When Strawberry credited Trump for issuing the pardon that cleared his tax-evasion and drug charges, more than 400 attendees erupted in applause.
"God just completely set me free when He gave me a pardon from President Donald J. Trump," Strawberry said. "Other presidents had opportunities, but they didn't do it."
The former Rookie of the Year, who hit 335 home runs over a 17-season career with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees, battled addiction, legal troubles, and personal problems for years, culminating in an 11-month prison sentence stemming from a 2002 probation violation.
Now 63, Strawberry said he has been sober for more than 20 years and attributes his turnaround entirely to his Christian faith.
"All glory to God because He found me in a pit and put me in a pulpit," he told the congregation during his 45-minute sermon, joking that the devil "should have killed me when he had a chance."
Lahmeyer, who leads the independent charismatic congregation, told Politico he became politically active after facing threats of arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic for holding parking lot worship services.
A member of the National Faith Advisory Board, Lahmeyer said Trump had spoken highly of Strawberry during a recent meeting at the White House.
"Trump knows all the stats — he's a huge fan of Darryl Strawberry," Lahmeyer told the outlet.
Strawberry and Trump first connected when the former slugger appeared on the president's "Celebrity Apprentice" TV show in 2010. But Strawberry said he was stunned when he received a call from Trump on Nov. 6 informing him of the pardon.
"We talked about my baseball career in the '80s," Strawberry told The Associated Press. "He told me how great of a player I was, and joked that he couldn't hit a baseball. I told him, 'With the way you hit a golf ball, you can hit a baseball.'"
The conversation then turned to Strawberry's past legal issues — including a 1995 guilty plea for failing to report $350,000 in income from autograph signings and memorabilia sales.
"He told me, 'You know you did some very bad things,'" Strawberry said. "But then he said, 'Today, because of the way you've turned your life around — your faith, your sobriety, and the way you help people — I'm giving you a full pardon. You're going to be clean.'"
Strawberry said he was overwhelmed by Trump's gesture and "really thankful to God."
"God has really changed my life and kind of brought me to a really humbling place of doing his work," he said.
Shirley Carson, who has attended Sheridan Church for more than two years, told Politico that Strawberry's story of redemption was inspiring.
"That's what the power of Jesus does," she said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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