#89: Darryl Strawberry: Turn Your Season Around
Darryl Strawberry has one of the most unique stories in all of the sports, and I'm not talking about winning four World Series rings. I'm talking about how drugs and addiction almost ended his life. In our conversation, we talk about how he was able to turn away from what was in hopes of what God had in store for him. In his new book, he lays out the plan for how you can turn your season around as well!
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Full Transcript
EP. 89 Darryl Strawberry
Tony: welcome back to the reclamation podcast, where our goal is to help you reclaim good practices for faith and life. I'm Tony. And today is episode 89 of the podcast. I have the distinct honor and pleasure of sitting down with the legendary Darryl strawberry Darryl. And I talk about his brand new book.
Turn your season around. And how he shares his journey on hearing from God recovery and living a life. That is not conducive to the walk with Christ and, and the changes that took place inside of him and inside of his community to help make that happen. Such a good conversation. We really dive into some thoughts on prayer and trust and God's speaking to him and yeah.
What that really looks like. I think you're really gonna enjoy this conversation from Daryl. If you do enjoy it. And one of the biggest compliment you can give us, leave us a rating or review, especially on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really does help get the word out about what God is doing on this platform.
Also, maybe share this episode with a friend word of mouth advertising is the best way to share something that is meaningful to you. So thank you so much. And without any further ado, here's my conversation with Daryl shrubbery. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited to be here today with pastor evangelist, former MLB baseball player, Darryl strawberry Daryl.
Thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
Darryl: Well, thanks for having me, Tony. I really appreciate it. Thanks for reaching out to Zonda, Zondervan and Karen and our team and in a way, but to sit here and decide, we just have a great conversation about. You know what God is doing.
Tony: Man, and God's doing some crazy cool stuff in your life and in your ministry. And and we're going to jump into all of that, but is it, is it okay if we talk a little bit of baseball first?
Darryl: Of course, go ahead.
Tony: So I'm interested. How did you feel about COVID baseball and what was your take on the world series?
Darryl: Oh, I thought it was pretty boring. Yeah, COVID base fall and no fans. And I'm a guy that's driven by fans and I love fans. And I love being in, in, in the ballpark where fans are yelling at you and they're born in you and saying you're stuck. That's part of it. You know? And I, I think that some guys may not like that. Some guys may say. I felt like baseball was pretty good for them because they had no fans and they didn't have to hear from anybody.
But I think it would have been pretty boring coming to the ballpark and trying to compete like that.
Tony: Yeah, for sure. One of the things that I really wanted major league baseball to do was to sell a premium audio pass. So that you could get a non, I know this isn't like the most Christian thing. Cause I, I kind of get a sense of, well, I've never played at major league baseball, but I played enough sports and I was in the army for a long time, but I would've prayed, paid big money. Listen to what happens in the nuances of the game, on the field with no crowd noise. I mean, is that something you think people would do.
Well, I think so. I mean, there was a lot of conversations that go on when, when it's crowds there, you could imagine, you know, the conversations they really go on when you don't have people there. Especially in the dugout, I think more than anything, you know, players, players have to sit around and talk to each other a lot instead of, you know, being into the game and.
Being into the crowd and everything else because the crowd excites you, it brings great joy to you and, and there's gotta be a great deal of respect for what the game is all about and who we are and how we, how we respect the game. And I think players have to respect the fans because they have to remember the important part of the ingredients is good when it's fans there.
Even, even if you don't like them, you know, it's like, it's like baking a cake and. If you don't have premium on that, you might not like it. You know, it might not be good, you know, until you put the cream on it. And that's the same thing. What baseball has, you know, when you're a player and having conversations and how empty it is and how shallow it is because there is no fans around.
So I'm a giant Cincinnati reds fan. And I grew up watching the reds and of course the 1990 world series is my favorite reds team of all time. I'm dying to know who is your favorite? Reds player that you ever played against.
Darryl: Hey, Davis, he's my best friend. You know, we grew up there.
Tony: I wrote down, I wrote down Eric Davis. I wrote down Eric Davis. Cause I, I knew that that was the answer, but he was so much fun to watch play baseball. And you guys both were honest.
Darryl: Yeah, he was incredible. He was incredible talent. He just didn't get enough credit because he played in Cincinnati, you know, had he played in a place where it was a market for him?
Everybody would have recognized how good he really was. You know, he was a incredible five, two player that can do it all. And nobody ever talks about it because they talk, well, he got hurt. Well, if you died and you run into walls, you're going to get hurt too. You know, his frame set wasn't big enough, you know, like someone else, you know, like a day went winter or somebody else an outfield. What was one of the greatest players to ever drop on a uniform and play major league baseball.
Tony: I used to slap my glove on my leg. Every time I catch up a pop fly because of Eric Davis and it was amazing.
Darryl: Yeah. I mean, he, he was sweet out there. He was a, like I said, he was, he was incredible. He could do it all.
You know, they just really underestimate how great his talent really was for a guy. That that can hit home runs it's still basis and run. Like he could play center field, like he could he get, he gave a lot, he gave a lot to the rest. He gave a lot to the fans and. You know, I know a lot of red fans still love him to this day.
And I appreciate that because, you know, he's one of my dearest friends.
Tony: So I have two boys who both love the game and they play the game a lot. And you know, of course this is we're, we're playing baseball now. You know, pretty much year round almost, you know, we started winter training for our summer team starts this weekend.
As a matter of fact, we're recording this and the beginning of November I'm curious What your thoughts are on, on what, what does it take to be great in a game like baseball? And if, if you could tell young players like my two kids, Connor and Caleb, what does it take to play baseball at the next level, whatever the next level is for you.
Obviously, you know, that the pros is for, you know, that the people who are gifted by God in some ways, you know, but what what's it take to get to the next level of a baseball program?
Darryl: Well, just be yourself and don't try to be like anybody else. I think too many kids and parents, you know, try to make your kids be like somebody else.
No, God created them to be who they are. And we have to learn that. And what I mean by that, that means building. Self-confidence even, even when you can't see it, you got to believe it because I think that's an important thing for kids to understand about playing baseball and, and believe that you can do it.
And, you know Don't talk to nobody else to think, wow, this guy has more talent than me. So what the most, some of the most talented guys never make it, you know, some of the guys with the less talent make it because of the, you know, because of the heart, because of the effort, because of the time, because of the work that you put in, when everybody else is sleeping.
You need to be working. If that's what you want to play, you want to believe and how good you could be. When everybody else was sleeping, I was playing. See, it's just like, it's just like, it's like the enemy when you sleep and he's doing pushups. So that means you gotta be on your game when you wake up.
And it's just like the same thing and training yourself to be the best. Sometimes you're going to have to learn how to go out and go to the park and run the basis by yourself. I mean, I used to do that. That was Potter, you know, that was probably talking back and getting back on myself, saying, okay, I'm going first to third.
I'm pretending as again, nobody's in the ballpark. I mean, I'm just going to a local field. Nobody's in the ballpark, just me and, and I'm taking my shirt off and it may be date or whatever. And there it is me going first to third, me running first and make it me going second to home. Just. Putting the game in play.
You have to learn how to put the game in play. When you get, when you get old enough, when the kids get old enough, these are the things that they needed to learn how to do. You know, you gotta, you gotta trust who you are and by you trusting who you are is when you go back and ask, when you figure out who you are.
Tony: No, I, I love that. And it's, it's actually the perfect transition because who you are in your life has shifted pretty dramatically. Over the years, how does somebody go from being drafted and playing in the majors to being an evangelist, speaking on stages to men's weekend, about who God is to, how would you encapsulate that transition?
Darryl: I would have to say having a praying mother and that's so important in our lives, you know, I think a lot of us don't understand that. And a lot of us come from, you know, such good situations. A lot of us come from broken situations. And I think a lot of times, most of the people that come from broken situations, they missed the important part of their life who was in a household.
Okay. I wasn't raised by my father. I was raised by my mother. Who was my mother, my mother was a Christian. She left a legacy. She didn't preach to us. She lived Jesus. And we saw that, yes, I was a heathen. I was a completely broken, separate person, but, you know, come to find out that she was praying for me the whole time.
You know, when she passed, when she passed away, there is a journal under her bed and writing in it to God, save all my kids, you know, praying for us. Night after night. And I think a lot of times people don't understand prayer from the righteous come to pass. You know, they've got that, God ends up hearing my mother and God ends up keeping his hand on me, keeping his grace that I didn't deserve over me.
And that's what brings me to a place of who I am today, you know, because of my mother prayers and because of the faithfulness of God, sending. Oh, other people in my life, you see gossip, my wife and my life and my mother and in my life, the straightened me out because I wouldn't listen to my mother. All I had to do is listen to her and stay away from the girls, stay away from the nightlife and live.
Right. And, but I, I didn't want to do that. You know, I wanted to do it my way. So guess what there's and there's like, my wife says, you know, but she always says, well, You can pick your sins, but you can't pick your consequences. Come on. She just that's it. So she gave me some real reality of it. You can pick all the sins you want in life, but you got to remember there's consequences behind your action.
And that was part of my life of becoming transformed in better because my mother prayers. Stuck with me and it came to pass, but my wife came in my life and she was just like my mother. And I goes, God, you said, you knew you, you knew that I love women. I chased them and I love him like crazy. So you said two in my life that was straightened me out.
And changed the course of my life forever, Tony. I mean, what change the course of my life and it would make me see God, like I never could ever imagine.
Tony: Yeah. Well, one of the things that you write about in the book is how your wife wouldn't give you the time of day.
Darryl: Yeah, she won't give me the time of day.
Tony: And that was my interpretation, by the way. That was, those are my words, not your words, but basically she, she I think how you said it was something to the effect of, like, she wasn't gonna have any part of you until you got right.
Darryl: No parts, you know, she was done. I mean, we're boyfriend and girlfriend, any relationship when we started off.
Tony: Where did you guys meet at? I always, I love love stories and you, you, by the way, you and your wife are super cute on Instagram.
Darryl: well, thank you. See, I appreciate that. That, see, she's a sweetheart. She's a lovely Midwestern girl.
Tony: Did put your Christmas decorations up in early November, though.
Darryl: Like that, you know, and she wants to get gone and, and that's important to her and, and we just lived a simple life, but, you know, from where we were until where did you guys meet? I'm sorry, I interrupted you complete. We met back in the days of, I was in the midst of my addiction and she had one year recovery and she had just got clean and she had lost her kids and she was on the road of recovering and, and there was, I was.
Coming back, you know, from five day bins and smoking crack and we meet at a convention and there it is. She sees everybody hovering over me as he goes, this guy is who is this guy? He's very sick. And you know, he's, he's trying to get recovery and you guys talk it over for autographs. She's like, he's going to die out there.
And. And we had a conversation that she never talked about my career or baseball or anything. We just talked about life and talked about trying to get better. And we became friends and then we got involved and were in a relationship and, and. The relationship was toxic because I wasn't. Right. And so, you know, I was smoking crack and, you know, shooting dope and flow softball.
And she banging on doors, pulling me out houses and she's still cleaning. She never went back. She stayed clean once he got clean, she just never went back. She's got old 21 years now. Yeah. She's got all 20 and she's found Jesus. And she started walking a different walk and a different talking. And then she just finally came to a place, you know, with our relationship because it was so toxic.
Because I was so broken, she was like woke up one morning and says, we need to talk, you know, after I don't have nothing, I'm $3 million in debt. Don't have a driver's license. And here it is, she's clinging onto me. What year is this? That was over 20 years ago, somewhere like that. When, when she first got clean.
And, you know, I got over 17 years now. I was still struggling, but she was not struggling. And she was moving forward and, and she comes to the place and just, just finally had enough, you know, finally had enough of, you know, pulling me out of the dope houses and, and telling me you know, God's got a plan for me.
And I said, why don't you and God just leave me here and let me die. She says, you're not got lucky. You know, you know, I lost my kids and I'm clean and I'm never went back and you just don't want to, you just don't want to make a commitment. You don't want to make a commitment to God and do us. Right? So she, we ended up moving to St.
Louis and living in her parents' basement, moving back home, sold everything in Florida on three and millions in debt. No job. As I said, and she wakes up one morning, Tony, and she says credit to me, I need to talk to you. I said, what's up. Just so you need to come from under the covers because I'm hiding from life is dark, you know, and I want to, I'm smoking cigarettes, you know, just, you know, going through life and trying to figure out what am I doing?
And she woke up and she said I just need to talk to you. I said, go, well, go ahead. Okay. From on the cover, since she says, I'm not doing this no more. I said, what you talking about? She says, I'm not living like this no more. She said, I'm not having sex with you no more. But she been studying the Bible and everything.
She said, I'm not having sex with you no more. I'm not living like this. I say, why. You say, yeah, she was like, I don't know what you, I said, well, maybe I need to get out of here. And she said, well, that's what you need to do. And I'll pack my stuff. And I was on a flight within a day or so headed to California to be with my sister and her three kids.
And there was, we didn't know who you won't be together, but we had broke it off because she said, you need to, you need to really get your life right with God, you need to get serious. She says, you know, Who he is. And your mother showed you who he is, you know, the way, but you just choose not to obeying.
And she says, I don't know what you're going to do, but you know, hopefully one day you'll get it together. And I went away. I went away for six months and I repented to God and my sister's house and I got serious. I got gossip. Oh my God. I mean, I remember that first, first night at my sister house, I put the Bible on the bed and I would get ready to open up.
And God said open that Bible. Hmm. And he said, I've been waiting for you. I lost it. I just laid there and cried.
Tony: I always love to ask people when you heard God's voice, was that an audible voice for you? Was it, was it internal or how, how did you know it was God and not just the pain of leaving Tracy behind?
Darryl: Well, I knew it wasn't the pain of leaving Tracy behind because I knew that I was so far away from God and it was just it was the voice of God that you just like said I, you know, he's just like, you know, as I closed my eyes to pray. Cause I was getting ready to open the Bible and he says, don't open that Bible.
And then he says, I've been waiting for you. And I just lost it. That was it. I just laid there and I cried, I just weep. And I said, I'm so sorry. And I says, I'll repent. Will you forgive me? And he was like, yeah, I forgive you. And I just kept crying. And he is, he started me on a new journey from that day. I stopped drugs.
I stopped sex. I mean, it was just, it was, it was like Peer for purification cleaning? No, that just came up on me. It was just like so powerful and I stopped everything. I stopped, stopped everything that I was doing and I focused. He says, I want you to, I want you to focus on getting, getting over yourself and go help somebody else and get in church and start helping others, you know?
And. You know, he was just speaking to me through, through that period of landing there. And I just got involved. I, I w I went to the church that I was out in California and feed the homeless. I had nothing, you know, I had my driver's license, I'm driving my sister car. I got no money or nothing, you know, and here it is, I'm on a journey.
But through that journey and that process of this six months, that's when God brought. Tremendous happiness and freedom. She, this is when you know that you don't need anything else because we think we need it. We think we need a lot of things to make us well, but I, but God made it clear for me to understand you already had all of that.
You already know that doesn't work. See it's people like King Solomon is the same way. And, and, you know, in the book of Ecclesiastes, he, you know, having everything, but sin is meaningless. Under the sun without God. And when you've had all that, then you look at that. I mean, I sit here and I know how meaningless I know exactly what he's talking about, because if I don't have this, if I don't have this empty hole inside of me field with the right thing, I'm going to always chase the wrong thing, but see the empty voice that's inside that was inside of me.
Tony was, was the God was missing. He's the only one that could fill that empty, empty void on the inside of all of us. And when I realized that, and he was starting to feel that empty void on the inside of me, that's when I realized I started pursuing and going down the right road. And I started turning away from everything and everybody, and it was, it was a process, you know, most people say, well, how well, how did you get here?
How did you get so much revelation now? Well, when I went through that six months, Approach it, I went back then me and Tracy started living together and got right and got married and we started doing things the right way. And then there was again, okay. There was again with God, God says, okay. He says, I want to sit you, you need to be discipled.
Right. So he sits me for seven years who okay. Seven years, you know, I see a lot of folks don't at Danny's sake. I see you now. No, it was seven years of sitting of discipleship. I don't know why he did it, you know, but I know that he was saying, you need to be discipled. You need to not get up and speak about anything.
And until you are discipled and you are qualified because I knew what God was doing, you know, at the end I found out, you know, why he did that because I realized more than anything. And why he never wanted me to get an, a pulpit when I wasn't discipled, because he knew the devil was put a stranglehold on me and the devil will kill you.
You know, I think a lot of people don't understand that this is a serious deal. When you come to this place here and you start standing in a pulpit and you start preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you're not equipped with the word, the devil. Is going to destroy you. That is, that is no joke about it.
And I think too many people take that lightly, but Jesus talks about that in John 10, 10, he said the thief does not come except to steal, kill and destroy. Then he talks about, I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. So. I think people get that confused and they think our bundled life is stuff he's not talking about that he's talking about peace, joy, wisdom, knowledge.
He's talking about stuff that I'll give you far greater than any earthly thing that you were ever achieved. So that was a whole process for me to be able to grow through that. It was a long journey. See people don't. People don't look at the journey. You have to go on with God.
Tony: It takes so long to become an overnight success, right? Like it just takes so long. Now. I love you. And you and I have talked a little bit before we press record. I love intentional disciple-making I think it is. I think all of us need spiritual mothers and fathers. Everybody needs a Paul. Everybody needs a Timothy. And and so I'm curious, I love to get practical.
What did disciple-making look like in your life as you were getting the reps for the seven years prior to stepping into your public ministry? What did disciple-making look like for you?
Darryl: Disciple-making was like being a church with a notebook and notepad, because that was one of my wife's number, one thing, you know, I was always looking at her why she was so joyful and I'm like, Laura, why is she always so joyful and smile and happy?
Hey, hon, you know, when I wake up, he said, because he spends time with me, you know? And he says, when are you going to spend some time with me? You know? And that got to me, I, I wanted what she had and said, you'll never get that until you spend time. So it was like going to church on Sundays, but having a notebook and notepad, I mean, I mean a notepad and pen.
Sorry about that. And it was about going to, by doing the step thing on a notepad and pen and Italian notes and see that the problem with so many of us, we don't take notes. Because the notes, the notes are discipleship for you to grow in God when you had charts. And the problem was in the problem with so many people they've gotten consumed with, you know, iPhones and iPads and, and they put them down and you don't pick them back up.
You know, I stayed with, I stayed with the normal Bible, bringing my Bible to church and highlighting it and taking notes. And I started, I started diving in that way because the Bible talks about it. My people perish because of lack of knowledge, you know, and that's so cool. I was planning I out so clear today and the society that we're living in and everything, it was so many people are perishing because there was no knowledge and understanding of God's order.
So that discipleship was part of participating so busy, so many don't want to participate. There's small groups that people could get involved in and connect and participate, but you know what happens to small group groups? A lot of times, so many people want to be leaders, but they not even ready. Yep.
You know, that's the, that's the downside fall of a lot of Christians is ready that remember I said, sit, don't get possessive. Don't probably get into leadership, just do service work. And you come to church and you stay connected and you stay connected in the word. And what I mean by discipleship when I take, I was taking notes, but I would go home and study those later.
I wouldn't just take them in, you know, on Sundays and, and just put them away. You know, those would be notes that I would go home and saturate myself in and I would meditate on it and I would look at it and I will look at the scriptures and go back to it and realize, what does it all mean? You know, what does it all mean?
How does it all come together? Well, it comes together when you participate, when you get involved, you know, and I think so many don't participate and get involved and they walk. They want somebody to. Explain, explain to me what the scriptures mean. Well, the Holy spirit have they explained to you, if you listen and you and you study.
So that's, that's what discipleship really looks like, you know, for, for what it looked like for me, because you know what Tony, I saw my wife study with God, see the whole man. She is incredible, man. She gets up every morning. She, 21 years we've been together. He gets up every morning. At five, five 30, she rolled out of that bed and she goes, and she studies the word of God, come on.
You know, God has set her for God, set her for 12 years before he released her to be preaching and teach them like she is now in helping so many folks. But I mean, she's got so much word down in her. His depth is down in her because of her studies with God. And that's what, you know, that's what God was showing me.
You'll get what she has when you study it's in the book. The problem is nobody picks it up no more. You know, they put it on the shelf and they say, I go to church and saying how they loo and hand my hand out and God blessed me pleased. That's what people want. Why don't you stop? Looking for what God's going to give you and give God your heart,
Tony: Here for all of this, by the way I love this.
This is my, I mean, this is so I, you know, one of the things that we always say here is that if you're not if you're not dedicated to your disciplines, you'll be destroyed by your distractions.
Darryl: That's good.
Tony: And I think, I think what I really hear you saying is that your preparation for where you are now is really all about disciplines.
Now. You, you talk a little bit about your, your kids and your relationship with your kids. In the book and how you had to, to kind of deal with your own relationship with your dad and then your own relationship with your kids. I'm curious if you could talk a little bit about that and then specifically, what do you and Tracy do now to route your kids kind of in that Proverbs 22 kind of way.
And, and train them up. Cause I, I think that there are a lot of people listening who are like, man, I want that for my family, but I don't know what the first steps are. Outside of my own walk with Christ.
Darryl: Yeah, that's good. You know, I think your own walk with Christ has to be first before most, and you have to, you, you have to own that, you know, and I think you don't own it.
And what I mean by it, if you don't own it, then it's as hard for your kids to be able to see it's real. No. And I think me and Tracy learned that I learned that through my mom. I think that's why I'm the way I am today. And you know, I've never preached to my kids. I never told them you gotta do this. I always encouraged them that Jesus is Lord.
That's all, you know, I don't have to dump them over the head with it. You know, I, because my whole past relationship that I had was broken with them. No, because of divorce, drugs, jail all kinds of all kinds of things. That was a part of my life at that time. But you know, the real reality of them seeing me today is like, wow, my dad is just like so different.
You know, he goes, people always talking about him, you know, as a, as a football player, his failures, you know, but mine. We'll be saying your dad was like such a great, when they see me and stuff with them, he was like, Oh man, your dad is this, what's this amazing plan. They'd be like, looking at me like. No, he's not, he's a preacher.
What are you talking about? He goes, no, you have no idea. You didn't see him. Why you don't understand how big he was, you know, as a player. And they just see me as dad, you know, they just see me as someone that has overcome a lot of things in life. And they appreciate that even more because I don't really speak a lot about, about my history and plain, I don't brag about it to him or anything like that.
They may see us sometime time, you know, on social media, something like that. And then they realize, well, wow, I guess he was pretty good, but you know, but I, I like who he is today and I work life well, when they see you live, according to the biblical principle, people would talk about the principles, but do you.
No. I think for my kids recognize with me, and that's what they recognize with Tracy. They recognize what we stand for. We love them. They know that they, they know when we're not going to tolerate the foolishness. We'll love to do it because we know they all got to go through what they have to go through and we'll love you through it.
But at the same time, we're going to give you, we're going to give you that fine point of been there, done that. That's that's the, that's the point of life we give to them. I've been there and I've done. So you can try to sugar coat your life to us. This is just. You know, Heidi says, no, we, we already know we already, we already done that.
You know, we, we, we, we live outside of that. We don't live in and I had no more once upon a time we used to live in that, that used to be who I was. I used to be who she was, but we live, we live or. Our faith. We live for being in a church, but we don't, we don't live for the hyper church. We don't, like I said, we don't preach to you guys.
What we actually live in and our kids adore us because we live it. They get a chance to see us actually love each other and, and, and see happiness. You know, they come to the house, you know, we always say, my wife said, God's always giving us the house for. Healing, you know, cause people always were going to have to walk through the people who walked through all the doors and then they need healing and even all kids and we've been able to assist them and all that.
And I think it's just been a blessing to be able to do that and be who we are as parents.
I love that. I'm going to ask you a question kind of selfishly. So I've got seven years sober. I, I realized that I had some coping mechanisms that were not healthy for me or for my relationship with God while I was in full-time ministry.
It wasn't a good, I just made some not great life choices. And I, I have an addictive personality. It's, it's part of what makes me really good at church and ministry. And it it's part of what how the enemy, how the enemy just puts me in bad places, or I make bad decisions. Right. And. So I'm curious, knowing that you, you also have an addictive personality.
How do you deal with that in the next generation? Cause I have a, I have a 15 year old now and I have a 10 year old and an eight year old princess. And I know about generational sin. Right. And I know that my, my grandfather had an addictive personality and I, I mean, I can, I can, I can trace it all out. I have traced it all out with my counselor and my, you know, the people in my life were speaking truth.
How do you how do you deal with generational sin in your own kids' lives?
Really good that you shared that with me, you know, because addictive personality doesn't mean anything is really wrong with us. I think we just have to come to, to a place to understand that's not who we are, you know? I think so for so long, you know, I used to think that, well, this is just the way it is.
Cause it was generational sin, you know, from my father, from the car, from the tree. So why shouldn't, why should not be? Why, why, why not? You know, why shouldn't I, why should I. Have you have, can have what I want and be what I want, you know, you don't, you don't, when you understand that you don't get rid of that until you get rid of your ego, because that's the cause every man, every man has his ego.
There's not a team that is going to get crushed, you know, not by people across my God. Yeah. So I realized how good God was when he could crush my ego. Cause you know, the ego is a three letter word. Easy God out. And we, and we do that well with, Oh, this is, I got it all together. You know, I, I know what I'm doing.
I, you know, and every time I was like that, I would make mistakes. And my wife wouldn't appoint my mistakes. I'll just, she was just like, well, you need not to connect with these people. You need not to be around these people. You need not to. Say things like that. And, you know, I thought, well, what are you talking about?
Right. I got it. I got this together, but I really didn't. You know, that was, that was, that was the obviously complicated part of who I was until I let God crushed me, crush me, which I'll have him crush me again. And when I let him, when I, every time I let God crush me, guess what came. Humility humility.
That's so good.
And then you go back and, and, and, and you, you read about the people that he used, why they were so great. They wasn't, you wasn't that special about none of us, Moses speech impediment, humility, meekness. Your walk with God, God, I'm not qualified.
Tony: There's only two people in the, in the Bible that Jesus ever called the devil and Peter was one of them. He used him to start the whole church.
Darryl: I know
Tony: I resonate with Peter deeply because it's just.
Darryl: But we all, we all have that Tony inside of us until we let God crushes. I mean, in the crushing part I'm talking about is a good part. Cause, cause you know what happens in that? It's no longer about me. I don't have to have a big fuss.
Amen. You know, because it's not about me, you know, when you, we, when we get to that place where it's not about me, it's not a, how about home goods? How did I sound? Yeah. Preach a good word. That's not important. Right. You know, cause that's what keeps us stuck instead of us operating supernatural and the Holy spirit.
And saying every time I get ready to go speak and administer, Holy spirit, you better do it. Cause I surely came preach. Right. You know, this has nothing to do with me. Whatever comes out of me, it has to come from you. That's what took all those insecurities away from who I was. You know, that's what took all the dysfunction part of who I was away because it was no longer, I didn't notice that Galatians two 20 about being crucified with Christ brother.
When we get to that place, we crucify with Christ. That means I've died. Yep. That means I no longer live. Just like I said, I mean the plus of me no longer live, I don't operate it. Yeah. Sometime it, it tries to, it tries to. Rise up, but you know what, you, you, you, you keep moving like, Oh no, that's that's that comes straight from the pit of hell, you know, because that's the flesh, it tries to rise up to tell you, well, you all that.
Well, I thought I used to think I was all out of a bag of chips when I was playing ball, hitting home and win the championship. But at the end of the day, when I took that uniform, who am I? Right. You know, and most athletes don't want to. Come to that place of who they are, because we identify ourselves with the one thing they're uniform, you know, and it wasn't until my wife came to me one day.
My wife came over to me one day and said, when are you going to take that uniform off? I was like, well, I was like stuck. No, because she was right. You know, I, I was identifying myself the wrong person.
I was identifying myself with the uniform baseball success trophies, but I was never identified. I must self was who am I in Christ? You know? So we, you know, so we, you know, we get to that place where we we get consumed with just being. Comfortable being the uniform, most athletes, that's all he knows.
Well, I did this, I played it when I hit bottom. I played this idea, this I'm, this I'm that, you know? Oh what do you mean? Who am I? I got four championships. No, but who are you can't really tell you who I am because I'm nothing without the uniform on. So it wasn't until I had to. Take the uniform off.
You realize that that no longer was me anymore. That he died. And I became this new guy resurrected in Christ Jesus.
Tony: Now in this new book, there's a, there's nine, nine chapters, nine endings. I love, I love the cheeky baseball references throughout, but but one of the questions I wanted to ask was in the first ending is grace.
And it sounds a lot like what you're talking about, but what I'm going to ask the question. Why, why did you start with grace?
Darryl: Because a grace, grace is so incredible to me because I think as people we don't understand grace, you know, and it wasn't until I started understanding grace and realizing the importance of grace.
Grace is something that you don't deserve, but God gives it to you anyway. Now see, when I finally got that, that gave me victory over everything else, because. I don't deserve the grace. And I understand that. So that, that made me become a man, because I didn't understand it before. Why would he give me the grace?
Even in my filter penis, why would he give him any grace even in. The hard places and the not so hard places, but he just constantly gives it to us and we don't deserve it. And that's that second Corinthians 12 nine, where he says, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your way.
Come on. Cause we're weak, you know, and, and, and to know that he gives us strength and the weakness that gives us. Far more than we can ever imagine, you know, far more than any platform that we could stand on. Any pulpit we could stand in because now my actually standing in a poor pit now I'm full of grace.
Come on. You know, and now I don't have to think about how am I good. Because I know I'm not good, but he's good, right.
For me today. It's so good.
Tony: I know that there are some people listening who and you know, we're releasing this book around the first of the year and it's 2020 has been a tough year. And you write about Busting out of a slump in the book. And it was one of my favorite stories in the book, 1986 home run off of Nolan. Ryan, can you tell the story and what you take away?
Darryl: Well, I take a lot away from when I'm facing a guy like Nolan Ryan, because of the history of who he is and, you know, just, just spacing one of the greatest pitchers of all time and, and being able to be in that situation. And. And coming through, you know, it was just like a reporter came to me after the game.
And he said, he said, I talked to Nolan and you want to know what Nolan said about you? I said, well, what did he say? And he says, well, he said, NOLA said his talent beat my talent on that pitch.
That's that's pretty, that's pretty powerful. Right? You know, and I think a lot of people, I mean, I got that, you know, he was saying the talent match up is real, but own that, particularly a Baton that pitch his talent beat my towel.
Tony: Yeah. And prior to that pitch, correct me if I'm wrong, but like you, you had kind of been in a slump.
Darryl: Yeah. I've been, I struggled. I struggled in that series in the world series still, you know, but yeah. You have a slump and, you know, I just needed to come up. I mean, it come up in a situation where the big hit, you know, it was a one, nothing shutout at night time game, and we're going to win that game. We lose, we don't get there.
So it's, it's, it's just one of those situations where you gotta be ready at all times, even if you're in a slump, because life's going, gonna bring slumps to you. Yeah. Just like a ball game, you know, as a hitter, you get in a slump, what happens? You keep working. You keep working, you keep going down to the batting cage early, you get to the ballpark early.
What do you do? You work? You work, you soft toss until you get in that place and went boom. There it is. You hit, you get one hit. That's all it takes. Everything else takes here.
Tony: Yeah. I feel like as I was reading that I could not help, but think about 2020 as being like. A really interesting slump for so many of us, right.
Between COVID and the shutdown or the, or the great pause as some people are calling it. And then all of a sudden, you know, we're, we're going to go into a new year and this book is all about turning your season around. But I think one of the things that I appreciate so much is that Just like in, in your journey to ministry, just like your, your preparation for that one pitch against Ryan.
You know, it, if you want to turn your season around, it actually starts today. It has an eight, it starts the moment you decide that you're not going to settle anymore for whatever the enemy, whatever lies the enemy is telling
Darryl: you. It's the moment you decide, you know, the moment you decide to turn well, you can sit around and you can look at this.
You can look at the pandemic. You can look at the election, you could be frustrated and mad and back and forth. You're not getting anywhere until you open up your heart to God. As what we all don't understand is a lot of us, especially non believers, don't understand. God sees everything. I mean, he sees the pandemic, he sees the election, he can start whatever you want, you know, but obviously he's given us the opportunity and the freewill and the free gift to turn off season around and to turn off season around to him.
No, that's pretty incredible, amen. That he would give us this time, because I could tell you he's, he's sparing us through this whole process. And I think a lot of people don't receive his grace in that. That's why grace, I don't know why grace was number one. It was number one for a reason. God, I didn't want to write a book.
I was like done. You know, I was like, no, no more books. You know, this enough am I say, well, you got to write it, God put it down in you. And she said, well, what time did you come up with before the pandemic or anything went on? And he said, well, the Holy spirit said, I want you to write a book about turn your season rockets.
Everybody. He was saying, everybody's going to have to turn these shoes. I didn't know a pandemic was coming and you know, and here we are in the middle of it. And the book is the book is full of biblical practical principles.
Tony: And what I love is at the end of every chapter, there's their self-reflection questions.
Like if you do the work of this book, there's no way that you don't go closer to Christ at the end. No way. There's no way because God's word is too good. I mean, your words are good, but God's word is really good in this
Darryl: book. God's word is great, you know, and that's what people don't understand. His word is great.
Has his word, his word means. Deliverance, you know, it's, it's what it does. You know, you look at a guy like me, I'm not who I used to be. I don't talk like I used to be, I've been delivered, you know, you know, I've been, I've been rescued, I've been redeemed. I've been restored. No, man, I could do that to you only.
God can do that to you. And if you allow him, if you allow him to allow you to go through the hard, hard part of life and come to the place of humility. Oh my God, man. I tell you if we, if we can get more men standing in a pulpit, preaching the gospel and they have some humility, they will see.
They will see the miracle of God working, you know, because it as something about something about God, when it comes to a man that decides to humble himself and not no longer make it about himself, that says, okay, God, okay, this is, this is, this is, you use it. No use every piece of me and let me not get in the way.
And that's the, that's the place Tony that I came. I came to in my life and say, God, okay, I'm never gonna make it about Darryl strawberry. Never gonna make it about trophy success or anything fame before it's in anything I'm going to make it about your kingdom. I was going to make it about souls going to remind.
I remember I'm gonna remember that I was a soul that was down in a pit. That everybody was writing about and laughing about and point fingers. And you pull me out of that pit and you put me into a pulpit where I'm not even qualified, but the only way you put me in that pulpit, because I said, I finally said yes to you that I will do it.
And I was no longer about me anymore. Now you put me in a place that I can have a grand impact on lives. For you, not for me. I mean, you see so many get to a place and they boast about, you know, they boast about their 19. They boast about the Holy spirit. It doesn't belong to me, Tony, the gift is not mine.
The gift belongs to God, you know, and I need, I need to, I need to respect that in my respect that God does something so amazing because he knows that you respect the gift. The gifting that's inside of you, you know, that comes directly from the kingdom of God. It doesn't come from man.
Tony: Woo. Come on, man.
That's that'll preach every day of the week. So I, I know that my listeners they love to pray and they're going to be listening to this the week that your book comes out. What can they pray that God will do with this particular book of yours?
Darryl: Just pray that God will use it to touch the multitude of lives.
It's nothing, nothing great about me that just that God would use his tool to reach every in every individual person. That needs attorney season around because at the end of the day, we all do even. I do. Yeah. You know, when I first read the book, I was like, Oh my God. I was like, God, this is incredible.
I didn't say me. I said, God, this is incredible. I said, this is, I said, I didn't want to write it. He says, Whoa. Didn't I tell you it wasn't about you
and that's when you get it, you know, that's when you get it, that's when you that's, when you get up. When I rise up and I get up Tony, it's not about me. No, I don't, I don't make it about me. And like some famous people, you notice coming to different events to speak and athletes, and I've seen them, you know, to come at different events to speak and talk about, you know, talk about, you know, they love for Jesus, man.
They don't even know Jesus. Right. Cause all they're doing is talking about this shell and putting a little gospel, drinking a little God on it. Hmm. I think that that needs to Jesus is I got up early Sunday morning. Right? Don't you don't, you know who that is? That got up early Sunday morning, come on, pastor.
They don't understand that, you know, he's nothing to play with. Right. You know, we play in front of all these TVs and all these places and we say, we say God, and we say this, and then we live another way. Yep. Yeah.
It's incredible, man. Okay. So I know my listeners are also gonna want to pick up a copy of the book, where is the best place to do that?
And if, if they want to follow what God is doing in your ministry, where's the best place to where's the best place to
do those things. You can go onto a web page, finding your way.com that whole section on them. Whole section. We just, we just did a, did a new web page, me and my wife, and finding your way.com and they can go there and they can order the book off there.
They can connect on there. It's just so much information on there. When they look at our webpage, I want them to understand my wife did that. She's so creative. I mean, of course she had some, you know, some designer to do it, but everything that's on there. It was organic and created through her.
Tony: I love it.
Hey, can I just tell you that I love the way that you talk about your wife. I listen, I think yes. I just think that that is such a good godly picture of marriage and learning to be on the same team with your wife is is such an important thing. And, and you guys are clearly doing it well. And if you're not following Darryl on Instagram, you've got to do it because.
His wife really does make them look good. I got kicked my coverage to every day, every day.
Darryl: I do. I mean, and I do it, you know, you know what, I'm thankful for it because, you know, God made me understand marriage because I didn't understand that the first two that I had, and I got married the first two and have beautiful kids by each one of them, you know, and I was, I was not a good house for me because I didn't know what a husband was supposed to be like.
And, you know, Have Tracy in my life and love her and love her and love doing life with her and loved doing ministry with her. And I love having fun because I think, well, what we, what we came to was. God called us to help people. And then this is the coolest thing. When you finally understand that and you help people and you love people and you meet them right where you at, you know, seek us.
We liked, we liked the people that nobody likes. You know, we've been, we've been at churches where people come in as broken and have all kinds of stuff and they'd be like, well, we don't really know if we can handle these kinds of people. What you mean? That's the last, that's what, that's what God talks about.
That's what she, that's the part that we've turned away from. That's what you talk about. Revival and discipleship needs to come back in because they'll never get discipled if we don't meet them. Right. Where they at, you know what I mean to Tracy Tracy know that, and we understand that because God met us.
Right? Where were we at? We will never turn. I don't care. How far broken you are. What kind of problems do you have? You are just a minute away from God touching you like that and reversing. Your situation and bringing it into his destiny, you know, so we never, we never must would get about people. And I think that's, that's what our ministry is all about.
And when you read our page and everything, my wife goes down. The last sheet, we talk about everything that every child is, you know, we put facts on there about, we know, cause we've been through them. You know, we've been through marriage problems, drugs I've been in prison. You know, I, I lost suspended for baseball.
Everything. Everything you can imagine I've been through, but grace, that's where I started with grace. Come on, understand it. This the grace of God, it's the grace of God that he has for everybody. You know, not just some people, but everybody that decides to make that commitment.
Okay, last question. I always love to ask people.
It's a, it's an advice question to give yourself a piece of advice, except I'm going to take you back to a very specific time in your life. I'm going to take you back to the day after you got to your sister's house and you went to go open that Bible and God told you not to open it. And the next morning, if you have the chance to go back and talk to that younger version of Darryl strawberry what would you say to him?
Why didn't you listen to your mother?
Tony: My wife heard that and she just went. Yes!
Darryl: It's just simple. It's simple for complicated people. It's simple things that mother speaks into your life because. But it takes nothing away from dad because we're working, we're hard, you know, we're hard push driven to make the family go right. But at home and she clearly gonna. Make points to you that, you know, you're not supposed to be doing that.
Yeah. How many times we've heard that?
Tony: Proverbs 31, man. Her value is worth far more than rubies.
Darryl: Far more is more, you know, when you think about it as a mother, it's a, mother's love for a kid, you know? And I think a lot of times we miss we on the estimate that, because what I realized is she carried me for nine months.
Yeah. No. And I think we don't understand that that, that, that, that, that attachment that they have is far greater than we can ever imagine. It doesn't, like I said, it doesn't take anything away from dads dads to understand this. It doesn't take anything away from because we have a different role to play.
We have to become the head. Now we have to become the head, not the knucklehead. So, you know, we can't get it. You know, if we had a knucklehead, we can't get into the head part of it. So there's Mo there's the mother there. That's nurturing. So even, even, even when you're here, even my mother's still telling you, you know, you're not supposed to live like that, but she's like, my mother told me that and she says, what?
I can tell you one thing when she was dying, she said, I could tell you one thing. She said, Gotcha. Won't get it out at you.
She just like clearly told me, Oh, I'm just going to keep praying for all y'all and God's going to get it out of you. And she was right.
Tony: And thank God that she was. Thank God. And and thank you for being so generous with your time today and for your testimony and for your amazing witness. And I'm just praying that God continues to do amazing things through your ministry in this resource that I know is going to bless so many people.
Darryl: Well, thanks for having me, Tony. I appreciate you, man. And it's just a message of hope for everybody and just encourage everybody with God. Just keep it simple. You know, keep it simple with God. I think we go over the top trying to impress him. He's not impressed. He created you.
Tony: Amen. What a great conversation with Darryl.
I am so thankful for his voice, his transparency, his vulnerability. I really loved the way he talked about prayer and how it prayer from the right. It just always comes to pass also his season of waiting what that means and looks like. I know that there are so many of us who are waiting for that next season, and I hope Darrell's words today really inspire you to step in faithfully.
Again, thank you so much for being a part of this community. As a reminder, please leave a rating or review, share the podcast, get the word out about what God is doing here. It means the world to me and continues to inspire me and inspire all of us to continue the work that God's called us to. Thank you so much.
And I look forward to connecting with you guys real soon.
