Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 27 - 1986 Mets - Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden
16 Plays11 months ago
We wrap our coverage of the vaunted 1986 Mets by running through the lives of their greatest stars - Darryl and Doc. Just what comparisons can be made between them and the world of Pro Wrestling, and how can we keep that joke going for an entire episode? Tune in to find out!
Anton and the satanic texts stop by, we get Rick's Razor Ramon impression, Harry stops by too. Oh, and we get into the finer details of how to avoid pink eye.
Join us on PATREON: www.patreon.com/thewholeballgame
Email us: thewholeballgame@mail.com
Follow on Twitter/X : www.x.com/wholeballgame
Recommended
Transcript
Mets and Wolfpack: Larger-than-Life Crews
00:00:22
The Whole Ballgame
The 1986 New York Mets and the NWO Wolf Pack were two larger-than-life crews that dominated their respective worlds with swagger, controversy, and an appetite for excess.
The Talent and Troubles of Hall and Gooden
00:00:37
The Whole Ballgame
Both squads were built on raw talent, fueled by chaos, and carried an aura that made them the ultimate antiheroes. Scott Hall, like Dwight Dot Gooden, was the stylish, supremely gifted playmaker who could single-handedly change the game, but battled demons that often threatened to derail his greatness.
Antiheroes: Brilliance and Nightlife
00:00:59
The Whole Ballgame
Kevin Nash, much like Daryl Strawberry, was the towering force, the freak athlete who seemed destined for the Hall of Fame, but never quite reached the stratosphere his natural gifts suggested.
00:01:12
The Whole Ballgame
Though he remained an icon nonetheless. These two duos were the rock sellers of their respective teams flashing brilliantly on the field
00:01:26
The Whole Ballgame
flashing brilliance on the field and in the ring while indulging the nightlife that would later become part of their lore.
00:01:27
Diesel Strawberry
Oh.
Colorful Characters and Must-Watch Entertainment
00:01:33
The Whole Ballgame
Beyond Holland Nash's resemblance to Goodman's Strawberry, the Mets and the Wolfpack shared a lot of colorful, unpredictable characters that made them must-watch entertainment. Letty Dykstra was very much the Sean Waltman of the group, scrappy, relentless, a performer who thrived despite being undersized and seemingly out of place in a world of giants.
Intensity of Ray Knight vs. Macho Man Randy Savage
00:01:53
The Whole Ballgame
Meanwhile, Keith Hernandez... Stingroll, a veteran leader who tried to be the voice of reason but ultimately got swept up in the madness around him and shit on many women's heads, from what I understand.
00:02:07
The Whole Ballgame
And let's not forget Ray Knight, who, with his hard nose, take-no-prisoners attitude, had a bit of that macho man Randy Savage energy, capable of flipping from cool confidence to absolute fury at a moment's notice, as evidenced by his infamous brawl with Eric Davis in 1986.
00:02:25
The Whole Ballgame
Both in the 86
Embracing the Bad Guy Role
00:02:26
The Whole Ballgame
Mets and the N.W. Wolfpack weren't just teams. They were movements. They reveled in being the bad guys who were somehow impossible to root against. They partied like kings, played with reckless abandon, and left a trail of destruction in their wake.
Downfall and Legacy of Mets and Wolfpack
00:02:39
The Whole Ballgame
Whether it was the Mets brawling with the Red Sox and tearing through Shea Stadium's postgame clubhouse or the Wolfpack running roughshod over WCW while making red and black the hottest look in wrestling, the most both of the groups represented the perfect storm of talent, attitude, and excess.
00:02:56
The Whole Ballgame
The Mets eventually flamed out due to injuries, egos, and personal struggles, just as the Wolfpack and the Larger NWO faction crumbled under its own weight, but for a brief glorious moment, they were the most electrifying shows in sports and entertainment, and their legends continued to grow decades later.
Casual Banter and Humor
00:03:15
The Whole Ballgame
Speaking of legends, how we doing, Blakers?
00:03:26
The Whole Ballgame
Hmm...
Teaser for Keep On Dancing Show on Patreon
00:03:35
Diesel Strawberry
This bed is on fire with the children's law. neighbors complain the fact that noise is so far. But she only comes when she's top.
00:03:48
Diesel Strawberry
That's good for me, baby, because I can only come when I'm on the bottom.
00:03:48
The Whole Ballgame
as
00:03:52
Diesel Strawberry
going to keep on, keep on, keep on dancing,
Return to Baseball: Terror Twins
00:03:54
Diesel Strawberry
Joe. going to keep on dancing, Joe, all night long. Hey, baby.
00:03:57
The Whole Ballgame
Wonderful. So... ah
00:03:59
Diesel Strawberry
If you didn't know, fuckers, we don't talk about anything ever. So that's, you didn't figure it out by that.
00:04:04
The Whole Ballgame
Correct.
00:04:07
Diesel Strawberry
um Here on the Keep On Dancing show, as it as it were. We're going to get that over, by the way.
00:04:15
The Whole Ballgame
K-O-D-S coming to a Patreon feed near you, I'm sure.
Modern Attitudes and Self-Interest Critique
00:04:19
Diesel Strawberry
Hashtag.
00:04:22
The Whole Ballgame
ah Baseball is back on the docket today, and we are heading back to finish up the storied story, the storied story of the 1986 New York baseball Mets.
00:04:36
The Whole Ballgame
And ah we we saved the best for last, didn't we?
00:04:40
Diesel Strawberry
We're, uh, we got the, the, I guess the, the terror twins, uh, 1.0 we have, we had Steven and, and, uh, Joe Perry, and then we have Daryl and doc. And then in our modern world, we were graced with the newest generation of the terror twins.
00:05:00
Diesel Strawberry
I believe that was Damien Priest and Rhea Ripley because that is what you deserve
Consequences of Selfish Decisions
00:05:05
Diesel Strawberry
in your 2025 life, you stupid fucking bitches.
00:05:05
The Whole Ballgame
Correct.
00:05:10
Diesel Strawberry
You're fucking this all up. Okay? You got that? Do you understand? Let's get this out of the way here. yourre You're out there and you're making bad decisions.
00:05:24
Diesel Strawberry
in, in what you believe to be your best self-interest.
Staying Positive Amidst Chaos
00:05:28
Diesel Strawberry
But what, what you're failing to see here is that the things that, um, are in your self-interest are going to lead to, uh, the entire, ah your background, your, your, the, the platform you stand on your existence, everything that surrounds you.
00:05:50
Diesel Strawberry
It's going to look like a garbage dump. If, you don't get un-fucking-selfish and stop being a bitch. And what I'm saying is keep on dancing, baby.
Historical Journey of the 1986 Mets
00:06:06
Diesel Strawberry
And yeah, so, you know, the 86 Mets, they were just the fucking... The final story in this journey that we've... I don't even know when this thing...
00:06:19
Diesel Strawberry
It's probably been close to, I don't know, it's got to be eight months. and But
Intrigue and Humor: The Satanic Bible
00:06:24
The Whole Ballgame
you're you're It's over a year. Yeah.
00:06:26
Diesel Strawberry
since we did the first one, you know kind of tried to sprinkle them in there with just a little something to go back to here and there between what we were doing and you know you you ah you died and were brought back in a resurrection ah of sorts, as it were.
00:06:44
Diesel Strawberry
um You got a book there that explains that, right?
00:06:47
The Whole Ballgame
yeah ah Hold on. Let's see here.
00:06:50
Diesel Strawberry
You people have no idea.
00:06:50
The Whole Ballgame
the roman The Roman god Lucifer was the bearer of light, the spirit of the air, the personification of enlightenment in Christian mythology. Got that? He became synonymous with evil, which was only to have been expected from a religion whose very existence is perpetuated by clouded definitions and bogus values!
00:07:11
The Whole Ballgame
exclamation point It is time to set the record straight. False moralisms and occult inaccuracies must be corrected. Entertaining as they might be, most stories and plays about devil worship must be recognized as the absolute absurdities, the obsolete absurdities, rather,
Satirical Skepticism of the Satanic Bible
00:07:29
The Whole Ballgame
that they are. It has been said the truth will make men free.
00:07:32
The Whole Ballgame
The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only doubt which will bring mental emancipation.
00:07:39
Diesel Strawberry
Beat your ass and hide the Bible of God watching.
00:07:43
The Whole Ballgame
ah That is straight from the satanic Satanic Bible of one Anton Sandor LeVay ah that was dropped off on my doorstep under mysterious circumstances at some point this week.
00:07:57
The Whole Ballgame
um The mystery being i there was a van that pulled up in the driveway, the sliding door on the side opened, and the only oh sort of defining characteristics of the van is there's a strange
Humorous Reflections on Religion
00:08:11
The Whole Ballgame
word, six letters long, on the side of it said Amazon.
00:08:16
The Whole Ballgame
Very strange. I don't understand exactly what that's about, but but yeah, we've got...
00:08:21
Diesel Strawberry
It wasn't my band, Gabe. I'm dead.
00:08:27
The Whole Ballgame
So, uh,
00:08:28
Diesel Strawberry
Joni making her second appearance on the show.
00:08:32
The Whole Ballgame
ah Oh God. Uh, so I will be, uh, uh, uh, sharing this obviously with Bob, uh, pretty regularly.
00:08:42
The Whole Ballgame
And, and some of you will, will likely get, uh, uh, get remnants from the satanic Bible as, as time wears on you, pay you Patreon folks.
00:08:43
Diesel Strawberry
Ugh.
00:08:52
Diesel Strawberry
el
00:08:52
The Whole Ballgame
Uh, we'll find some fun things to do with that.
00:08:55
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, i'm I'm sure the the Hall of Famers over on the Patreon will definitely probably find bits and pieces of that Bible in their mailbox as time goes on.
00:09:07
Diesel Strawberry
Let me tell you exactly what's going to happen here, folks. And they make no...
00:09:11
The Whole Ballgame
Stop. Stop
Criticism of Religious Absurdities
00:09:13
The Whole Ballgame
it.
00:09:13
Diesel Strawberry
no make No, make no mistake about it.
00:09:15
The Whole Ballgame
God damn it.
00:09:17
Diesel Strawberry
Because he's already proven this and he's told you his story. You just need to believe him because he's not lying to you. This man, is is he's reading this and I can tell in the way and what he's saying back to me that that what he he's reading and he's going, you know...
00:09:34
Diesel Strawberry
He's got a point. This makes sense. And you know what? He's not wrong. there's That's some of the most logical stuff I've ever heard printed in my life. And quite frankly, if you can't take a look at it and and realize the that that is nothing but a troll Bible to the Christians.
00:09:51
Diesel Strawberry
then you're probably not that fucking smart because the stuff in there is just absolutely ridiculous and outlandish.
Logical Critique of Satanism
00:09:59
Diesel Strawberry
And I assume the unintended negative consequence of it is some crazy fucker would see it and really take it to heart. But this anyone with a brain looks at this and this is nothing but just a giant fuck you to organize Christianity, in my opinion.
00:10:16
The Whole Ballgame
yeah Yeah, I read this one to to Blake before we went on the air, and this is what what made him believe.
00:10:21
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, this is the one that shaped it. Yeah.
00:10:23
The Whole Ballgame
Satanism represents kindness to those who deserve it.
00:10:26
Diesel Strawberry
No, not that one. Not that.
00:10:28
The Whole Ballgame
Oh, you you want you arere the one I sent you?
00:10:29
Diesel Strawberry
That. Yes.
00:10:31
The Whole Ballgame
Okay, all right.
00:10:31
Diesel Strawberry
Give it to that. They need that one because that's the one that drove it home.
00:10:33
The Whole Ballgame
I...
00:10:36
The Whole Ballgame
Buckle in, pals, and understand that this thing is replete.
Satirical Black Mass and Ritual Absurdity
00:10:40
The Whole Ballgame
um Let's just say Elaine Bennis did not edit ah did not edit this, as the exclamation points here are all over the place.
00:10:48
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah. that's That's a key point. the the The number of exclamation points in this, that that should tip you off very much. But yeah.
00:10:57
The Whole Ballgame
That it's all troll bullshit. Yeah. So here we go. um This is entitled The Black Mass. Okay. No other single device has been associated with Satanism as much as the Black Mass.
00:11:09
The Whole Ballgame
To say that the most blasphemous of all religious ceremonies is nothing more than a literary invention is certainly a statement which needs qualifying, but nothing could be truer. The popular calm concept of the Black Mass is thus.
00:11:22
The Whole Ballgame
A defrocked priest stands before an altar, consisting of a nude woman. Her legs spread-eagled and vagina thrust open.
00:11:31
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, baby.
00:11:32
The Whole Ballgame
each of... Come on. yeah
00:11:41
Diesel Strawberry
You're pro.
00:11:41
The Whole Ballgame
ah new ah nude...
00:11:41
Diesel Strawberry
Come on. got
00:11:46
The Whole Ballgame
A nude woman, her legs spread-eagled and vagina thrust open, each of her outstretched fists grasping a black candle made from the fat of unbaptized babies.
00:11:58
The Whole Ballgame
And...
00:12:01
The Whole Ballgame
and a chalice containing the urine of a prostitute, or blood, reposing on her belly. An inverted cross hangs above the altar, and triangular hosts ergot-laden bread or black-stained turnip are methodically blessed as the priest dutifully slips them in and out of the altar lady's labia.
00:12:23
Diesel Strawberry
Thank you.
00:12:28
The Whole Ballgame
Then, we are told, an invocation to Satan and various demons is followed by an array of prayers and psalms chanted backwards or interpreted with obscenities, all performed within the confines of a protective pentagram drawn on the floor.
00:12:44
The Whole Ballgame
If the devil appears, he is invariably in the form of a rather eager man, wearing the head of a black goat upon his shoulders. Then follows potpourri of flagellation, prayer book burning, cunnilingus, fellatio, and general hindquarters kissing, all done to a background of ribald recitations from the Holy Bible and audible expectorations on the cross.
00:13:14
The Whole Ballgame
If a baby can be slaughtered during the ritual, so much the better. For as everyone knows, this is the favorite sport of the Satanist.
00:13:23
Diesel Strawberry
Exclamation point.
00:13:23
The Whole Ballgame
Exclamation point.
00:13:24
Diesel Strawberry
Yes. yes Now, I am left with two questions.
00:13:26
The Whole Ballgame
am, yep.
00:13:29
Diesel Strawberry
Only two. Now, you're ordained, right? You told me that.
00:13:33
The Whole Ballgame
i am ye
00:13:34
Diesel Strawberry
Are you frocked or defrocked?
00:13:37
The Whole Ballgame
I mean, now that i'm i'm I'm dabbling here, I imagine that that I have some sort of
00:13:48
The Whole Ballgame
stain.
00:13:49
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
00:13:49
The Whole Ballgame
Whether defrocked or not, I do not know.
00:13:50
Diesel Strawberry
This... the uh the proverbial scarlet s as it were for satan huh uh second question um what about general anal angus
00:13:55
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm.
00:13:59
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm.
00:14:05
The Whole Ballgame
Well, I think that is ah the the general hindquarters kissing that they they they they missed out.
00:14:07
Diesel Strawberry
yeah all right i was uh-huh
00:14:11
The Whole Ballgame
I know, Colonel Angus, it's a fantastic Saturday Night Live skit.
00:14:15
Diesel Strawberry
i I threw it out there. i was going to let you go. we went but where you took us, so that's fine. let's We'll go get back to Colonel. What do you feel? How you feeling about that?
00:14:25
The Whole Ballgame
ah I mean, it's it's it's vulgar and um intense, but like, it just... it reads as, as satire.
00:14:39
Diesel Strawberry
It does, doesn't it?
00:14:39
The Whole Ballgame
Right. I mean, it's just like, yeah it's, it's, it's like the, the version of Satan, uh, satanic worship that, um, that fills the, the minds and hearts of, uh, single Christian mothers in the Midwest in the early Right.
00:14:56
Diesel Strawberry
Mm hmm.
00:14:56
The Whole Ballgame
Right.
00:14:57
The Whole Ballgame
right
00:14:57
Diesel Strawberry
It's how a boy of my age, about 10 years old, ends up with a packet that thick on satanic lore and rituals and logos.
00:15:09
Diesel Strawberry
I was terrified of the Procter and Gamble company for. many years by elementary school because their logo you see had these stars in this it's insane shit man so you can kind of see why this is sort of like strikes a nerve with me um i i mean fuck man i think
00:15:16
The Whole Ballgame
Oh my God.
00:15:30
The Whole Ballgame
It's, I mean, they were talking about having like, like essentially fucking this poor woman on the altar with a, with a rotten turnip.
00:15:38
Diesel Strawberry
it was a turnip yeah yeah how are gonna even penetrate with a turnip
00:15:40
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah. i very I mean, it's not not easily. so I mean, it's similarly to ah our are text chain about the giant shits we both took yesterday, you know?
00:15:45
Diesel Strawberry
Just.
00:15:52
The Whole Ballgame
Like, just that kind of forcing out that pain, you know, followed by the sweet relief.
00:15:53
Diesel Strawberry
Mm hmm.
00:15:57
Diesel Strawberry
Well, it's forcing in actually. It's not.
00:16:00
The Whole Ballgame
ah the Vice versa, the ah the other way.
00:16:01
Diesel Strawberry
The turnip is going in.
00:16:03
The Whole Ballgame
Gotta come back out, though.
00:16:05
Diesel Strawberry
Does it?
00:16:08
The Whole Ballgame
Okay. Well, Daryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden...
00:16:09
Diesel Strawberry
What if it's absorbed by the body? Well, no, I'm not done with this yet. um
00:16:18
Diesel Strawberry
I don't know. I forgot what I was going to say. Anyway, are you, are you doing okay having that book near you?
00:16:27
The Whole Ballgame
I mean, Stella was reading it yesterday. It's fine.
00:16:29
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
Critique of Societal Issues and Hypocrisies
00:16:30
Diesel Strawberry
Well, look, I think here's the thing that, you know, the stuff, like you said, that the Midwest mom gets in their mind and all that, that,
00:16:30
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
00:16:41
Diesel Strawberry
that is the, the yin and the yang, the other side to the, just the shitty, awful Christian that, that, you know, beats their family and, and pedophiles their child and whatever else.
00:16:56
Diesel Strawberry
Like, you know, it's, it's just shitty, crazy motherfuckers that make the world suck. And you know what, there's probably some decent-hearted Satanists out there, just like there's some decent-hearted Christian folk out there.
00:17:12
Diesel Strawberry
And those are the people that should be on the same fucking page, you know? But we can't get there because we got this goddamn fairy tale right in the middle of us. That's the mountain.
00:17:24
The Whole Ballgame
and It's a little nuts, too, because like you you mentioned the pedophilia thing, and I think this week alone, there's been like four or five of these assholes in the news um that are dyed-in-the-cloth pedophile chasers ah that have come out and and and you know been caught ah being pedophiles, right?
00:17:30
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:17:45
Diesel Strawberry
The one dude as was the guy that ah introduced the the bill to classify the Trump derangement syndrome as a fucking mental illness or whatever. And then fucking three days later, he gets busted for trying to fuck a kid.
00:17:59
The Whole Ballgame
yeah ah Yeah, I mean, they tell on themselves constantly.
00:17:59
Diesel Strawberry
think it's just...
00:18:01
Diesel Strawberry
Hmm?
00:18:02
The Whole Ballgame
We see it over and over and over and over and over and over. Like, how many times does it have to happen for people to recognize the pattern? Our brains, as human beings, are built to recognize patterns.
00:18:17
Diesel Strawberry
Yes.
00:18:18
The Whole Ballgame
unless you are actively working against your own brain, which we've proven here time and time again, that they are, they are acting ah actively against themselves and their own self-interests.
00:18:18
Diesel Strawberry
If...
00:18:25
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:18:29
The Whole Ballgame
And, ah it wouldn't surprise me if they were working against their own instincts as well.
Conspiracy Beliefs and Ideological Entanglement
00:18:36
The Whole Ballgame
um It's, it's hard to deny that, that this is the case.
00:18:40
The Whole Ballgame
Instead, they look for conspiracies and ah interesting reasons to be upset or unhappy ah that, that make their otherwise meaningless lives have some inkling of meaning because they, they're the ones that know.
00:18:43
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:19:00
Diesel Strawberry
this These fucking people, look, this is why we can sit here and we can just fucking go. Because there's not any kind of goddamn... and shit to fucking sell other than the Patreon, you know, which you need to do But there's no fucking ideology.
00:19:16
The Whole Ballgame
True.
00:19:17
Diesel Strawberry
There's no whatever. It just so happens that most of the decent stuff tends to fall on the left side of the aisle and not the right when it comes to actually giving a fuck about your fellow human beings.
00:19:29
Diesel Strawberry
So ah it is what it is there. But like, I... I don't have any kind of path. I got to fucking walk. I can sit there and talk every single fucking thing you want on an individual basis. And I can say, yeah, that, Oh, they shouldn't have done that. That was fucked up and wrong. And yeah, whatever.
00:19:47
Diesel Strawberry
I'm like, I say, well, you know, whatever, what about no, no. Like if it's fucking just the, the, the right thing and the truth, it's very simple and it's very direct and it should be guiding you.
The Importance of Honesty and Transparency
00:19:59
Diesel Strawberry
It's not a complicated thing.
00:20:01
Diesel Strawberry
And, and, they They do tell on themselves all the fucking time because they have they're intellectually dishonest. And they their whole lives become entangled in this sea of shit that they have to keep up for various fucking reasons.
00:20:19
Diesel Strawberry
And they eventually get taken down because that's not easy to do. And it's really not easy to do when you're a dumb fuck.
Humorous Skepticism of Satanic Fear
00:20:30
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, Gabe. Hey, ah ah did you put that book away?
00:20:31
Diesel Strawberry
oh god jesus rick are you reading it
00:20:35
The Whole Ballgame
ah ah I can. No, no. i am I've been hiding. You know, normally I sleep under the couch. I've been sleeping behind it so that there's been ah like ah a separate barrier separate because it's been sitting on his desk over here.
00:20:52
Diesel Strawberry
oh
00:20:52
The Whole Ballgame
then And I can feel the the bad the badness just reverberating off of that book. And i needed i needed some distance.
00:21:04
The Whole Ballgame
You know, it's been, i mean, look at how green it is, you know.
00:21:04
Diesel Strawberry
That couch is protecting you from Satan.
00:21:10
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, that's what does it, the color? thought it was the thickness or maybe something else. It pulls... Come on! Damn it! Damn
00:21:23
The Whole Ballgame
Well, you know, uh, the green is the most godly of the colors.
00:21:27
Diesel Strawberry
That's true, grass.
00:21:27
The Whole Ballgame
Um, you know, other than white, of course. Um,
00:21:31
Diesel Strawberry
Come, yeah.
00:21:35
The Whole Ballgame
well, I mean, I, that isn't where I was going with it, but I understand.
Character Humor and Wrestling Nostalgia
00:21:39
The Whole Ballgame
Um, is Jimmy around by, by the way?
00:21:41
Diesel Strawberry
Hey, who's that guy, baby? I like him. What's his name?
00:21:44
The Whole Ballgame
This is, hi, hi, Jimmy, Jimmy. I'm, I'm, I heard tell of your, your appearances here on the program and I've been hoping that we were going to meet one day and, I'll tell you, it's it's always been my dream to to call a match or two with you.
00:21:57
The Whole Ballgame
ah um I'm a big wrestling fan from way back. My daddy and I would, you know, when we were fresh after juicing a girl, we'd watch WCW Saturday night on, um well, Saturday nights back home on the farm in Effingham.
00:22:13
The Whole Ballgame
It was an early afternoon ritual with the juicing, and then we'd come on upstairs and gather around the television and We loved watching you in the faces of fear. See, I knew that that was all ah an act. You know, it wasn't as satanic as it looked or nothing.
00:22:30
The Whole Ballgame
um But I sure did like that megaphone you carry around. It was pretty pretty similarly pretty similarly shaped to to to to my phallus.
00:22:43
The Whole Ballgame
ah And so... um yeah We're getting off track here. My point is i would I would love one day, maybe the boys can arrange it for us to call a match or two together and and just, ah you know, vibe, as the kids say.
00:22:56
Diesel Strawberry
he he He had to run out. He was coming, Rick. But I did have a question for you, though.
00:23:01
The Whole Ballgame
oh
00:23:03
Diesel Strawberry
because
00:23:03
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, okay.
00:23:05
Diesel Strawberry
So when you and dad were watching WCW Saturday Night 1996, how old were you?
00:23:06
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
00:23:14
Diesel Strawberry
How
00:23:19
Diesel Strawberry
old was dad?
00:23:32
The Whole Ballgame
Well, you understand,
00:23:39
The Whole Ballgame
age is really just a construct.
00:23:41
Diesel Strawberry
Sure, it times that
00:23:42
The Whole Ballgame
um
00:23:46
The Whole Ballgame
At the time, i was, i mean, 1996.
00:23:54
Diesel Strawberry
I think you're tired.
00:23:58
The Whole Ballgame
I was 46 at the time. 96. Yeah. 46 years old. Cause I'm, I'm 75 now. And it wasn't until summer that we were really getting into it. Dad was 72, but look, that doesn't matter much.
00:24:13
The Whole Ballgame
If I'm being honest with you, he
00:24:13
Diesel Strawberry
No, no, it's it's just my picadillas.
00:24:14
The Whole Ballgame
he you know he um He was ah an ox of a man.
00:24:16
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:24:18
The Whole Ballgame
as you can I mean, look, he sired both me and Paul and we were big boys.
00:24:23
Diesel Strawberry
Sure.
00:24:23
The Whole Ballgame
I mean, I still am, as you know.
00:24:25
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
00:24:26
The Whole Ballgame
ah ah But yeah, I was 46, he was 72. And I mean, we've been doing it for, I mean, hell, all through my playing days since I was 12. So I mean, at that point it was 34 years of killing.
00:24:43
The Whole Ballgame
And I mean, they ain't caught us yet, but you know, the authorities, they haven't been been listening to this podcast neither, but not many high have. So
Humor in Sponsorship and Advice
00:24:50
Diesel Strawberry
The autoblow guy was.
00:24:50
The Whole Ballgame
it's fine.
00:24:53
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, yeah. Auto Blow, if you're listening, ah we we should we should pick up those conversations.
00:24:55
Diesel Strawberry
They'll hear this one now.
00:24:59
The Whole Ballgame
I know you're listening, sir. ah Thank you for reaching out to us and letting us know that you appreciated our impromptu advertisement a couple weeks ago here on the program. But ah please ah feel free.
00:25:12
The Whole Ballgame
Send one my way. Send one Blake's way.
00:25:13
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, I'm fine.
00:25:15
The Whole Ballgame
ah we will ah we will We will use the Auto Blow live on the air if that's what it takes.
00:25:21
Diesel Strawberry
Sure, yeah. I'll be hey Jimmy.
00:25:22
The Whole Ballgame
ah We'll just turn the video off. It'll be fine.
00:25:26
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, baby, it's Autoblow on the Keep On Dancing show.
00:25:30
The Whole Ballgame
That's it. ah That's a real story, by the way. They actually reached out to us because they have some kind of thing monitoring all podcasts for mentions of there their device. and um Who knows? we To hell with dick pills. We might just be sponsored by the blowjob machine.
00:25:48
The Whole Ballgame
So let's hope so.
00:25:49
Diesel Strawberry
You know, brah, you know who else has got a monitoring device on the podcast? That's me, brah. And you know why i got that, brah?
00:25:55
The Whole Ballgame
I do Dallas Dally. I owe you a call as a matter of fact, an update because I'm down, I'm down some more
00:26:00
Diesel Strawberry
Brah.
Teasing Upcoming Patreon Content
00:26:03
The Whole Ballgame
weight.
00:26:03
The Whole Ballgame
So I think you'll be very proud of me.
00:26:06
Diesel Strawberry
You know how you can get down about 20 more pounds, brah?
00:26:09
The Whole Ballgame
How's that bud?
00:26:10
Diesel Strawberry
Pull your head out of your ass, brah.
00:26:11
The Whole Ballgame
Hmm.
00:26:12
Diesel Strawberry
You're gonna fucking die.
00:26:15
The Whole Ballgame
uh, that's coming soon to Patreon as well. Uh, the, uh, the original, we, we haven't posted it yet, but we will. Um, also, in the very near future, um, for those of you that also listen to the lapsed fan, we'll be having a, uh, a little tête-à-tête there, with the, the gentleman on the program, uh, sponsoring that guy as well and giving a little preview of the Patreon.
00:26:22
Diesel Strawberry
Thank you.
00:26:40
The Whole Ballgame
Uh, if you haven't heard uh, And if you're not on the Patreon, and you haven't, but if you haven't heard, we're going to drop ah on their feed at some point in the near future here the the game between the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz from that that triple header in 1995, that Saturday during the playoffs, um mainly because...
00:27:07
The Whole Ballgame
Because Blake pretty much single-handedly ruined the entirety of my childhood and NBA fandom. in and Not the entirety, we won't say that.
00:27:14
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, come on.
00:27:17
The Whole Ballgame
The Jordan stuff remains, but certainly we went two for two ah in terms of killing heroes on that particular program in both John Stockton and Carl Malone.
00:27:31
Diesel Strawberry
You cannot blame me for anything, Gabe. I am only a southern truck driver known as Carl Malone. And I did not, and I have not, had sex with no kids.
00:27:42
The Whole Ballgame
It's true. and's ah that's that's That's the story that Carl tells.
00:27:47
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:27:47
The Whole Ballgame
um And the reason we're picking that particular episode, not just for the hero worship, Peach, but for the fact that ah I realized about halfway through when when when our ubiquitous Carl Malone, ah truck driver from Louisiana, ah mentioned one Dally Page,
00:28:07
Diesel Strawberry
Mr. Dally Page, we did the wrestling in the WCW when I was driving my truck, you see. You remember, a Gabe, you were watching. I drove my truck to Atlanta, Georgia.
00:28:18
The Whole Ballgame
He did. He absolutely did. And i I remembered at that point that I had ah Mr. Page's phone number in my phone from a chance meeting at a comic book convention ah some years back that I was running in New York.
00:28:33
The Whole Ballgame
And so right there, live on the... on the, the, the, the podcast, I went ahead and called him and put her on speaker phone. He did not answer, but we left him a message.
00:28:43
The Whole Ballgame
And then four days later, ah he called me back and I happened to be in front of my computer.
00:28:48
Diesel Strawberry
Yes!
00:28:50
The Whole Ballgame
I did some quick thinking, uh, uh, opened up my webcam and recorded the entirety of that conversation about 16 minutes worth, uh, where we run through, to, to Blake's astute point, uh, that I need to get my head out of my ass, that I'm going to die.
00:29:11
The Whole Ballgame
ah And then we eventually get into his new accountability crib, uh, construction in Tampa or St.
00:29:16
Diesel Strawberry
yes
00:29:19
Diesel Strawberry
It ain't cheap, brah.
00:29:20
The Whole Ballgame
Pete, I believe actually but somewhere. It's not cheap. He's got about $2 million dollars wrapped up in it. From what I remember, 6 million, there you go.
00:29:26
Diesel Strawberry
Six. Six. It was six.
00:29:29
The Whole Ballgame
Um, and, uh, you know, uh, how, you know, maybe I can get down there, but it's not going to be free because yeah.
00:29:36
Diesel Strawberry
free, brah. It's six million.
00:29:39
The Whole Ballgame
Uh, ah but he also wants me to update him monthly on my progress.
00:29:44
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, that's right. He owns that ass.
00:29:44
The Whole Ballgame
So he does indeed.
00:29:47
Diesel Strawberry
He's the guy monthly updates, man.
00:29:47
The Whole Ballgame
And um I absolutely cannot wait to share this with you all. um So we'll be we'll be doing that in the very near future as well. ah So, so far on the program, we're 30 minutes in We've touched on Anton LaVey and Satanism. We've touched on Diamond Ellis Page and My Imminent Death.
00:30:08
The Whole Ballgame
ah And we've we've introduced you to the topic this week, which will be Daryl Eugene Strawberry and Dwight Eugene Gooden, interestingly enough.
Respect and Comparison: Daryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden
00:30:21
The Whole Ballgame
ah And ah that's correct.
00:30:22
Diesel Strawberry
My cousin Eugene.
00:30:25
The Whole Ballgame
ah Double Eugene's on the ballgame this week. um it when we were trying to figure it out how we were going to work both Daryl and Doc, um and, you know, although we very rarely shy away from problematic accents on this program, we kind of decided that um that perhaps the fact that Daryl and Doc were both Black men, that we probably shouldn't um go down that path.
00:30:45
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:30:53
Diesel Strawberry
now look like
00:30:56
The Whole Ballgame
You really can't, especially with these guys. There's a lot of respect there on both of our parts. ah But what we can do is ah what we we started talking about in the intro of the program today, and that's the fact that these two men, the more you dig in, and as you'll see, ah we will dig into their lives here, the more these two men are very clearly Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
00:31:21
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, look, it's it's the Wolfpack, the Outsiders, it's Daryl and Doc, it's Hall and Nash, it's, you know, they they probably, they weren't as thick as those guys, but there's, like you said, the similarities are striking.
00:31:37
Diesel Strawberry
And, too, we had to do something because, like, you just, you can't do it. And as... as Men of our age and white guys, I say it's probably you get one.
00:31:54
Diesel Strawberry
You get to do one black guy, maybe. And And I know who my one guy is because here's the thing. Cause here's what you'll do. You'll, you'll, every fucking black guy you do is going to sound the goddamn same because you've grown up watching fucking eighties and nineties shit.
00:32:08
The Whole Ballgame
Correct. That's right. Mm-hmm.
00:32:13
Diesel Strawberry
And, and that's what imprinted on you. And, and, These are men of that time. So you're, especially when you get into their stories and stuff, and that's what you would do. And then you would expose yourself to be a stupid dipshit.
00:32:29
Diesel Strawberry
So by the way, for the record, my one is JYD. I can do a decent JYD, I think. And it, it doesn't, you know, cause Jake, look, cause here's the thing.
00:32:41
Diesel Strawberry
Cause JYD himself is a caricature. So you can, you can do that.
00:32:44
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. we will We will very soon, I'm sure, grab them cakes.
00:32:52
Diesel Strawberry
I'm not, ain't gonna do it.
00:32:53
The Whole Ballgame
Thank you. No, no you got to save it. You got to save it.
00:32:55
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Yeah. I, this is the first time I've ever saved it. I think it's been over a year and it's the first time I've ever saved anything on this goddamn forsaken fucking show that we do together.
00:32:59
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm. Good for you. Good for you.
00:33:07
The Whole Ballgame
Speaking of this goddamn godforsaken show that we do together, ah we need you and we need your help. ah We want to keep doing this show. Things keep coming up, right? Life.
00:33:21
The Whole Ballgame
ah I've got a two-year-old in about a month. She'll be two. It's just insane that she's already at that point. um She's running around here like a chicken with her head cut off most days. Yeah.
00:33:32
Diesel Strawberry
She's reading satanic verses for God's sake.
00:33:32
The Whole Ballgame
ah She's reading satanic verses. You know, we got to keep her in line. She's summoning demons. It's it's a real mess. You should see the fireplace.
00:33:42
Diesel Strawberry
I saw the video of her speaking and it sounded like she was speaking in tongues.
00:33:43
The Whole Ballgame
um
00:33:47
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, ah but she does.
00:33:47
Diesel Strawberry
She said Hulk Hogan backwards.
00:33:52
Diesel Strawberry
Brother, dude.
00:33:52
The Whole Ballgame
I have this picture up at the side of my desk here with the the True World Order, myself and and the Hulkster and the Blakester ah right next to each other in Philadelphia last year.
00:33:59
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:34:07
The Whole Ballgame
And she loves this picture so much, right? And so I've introduced her to exactly who's in the picture. And I sent a video to Blake the other day. And I said, who's this? Who's that? Who's this?
00:34:17
The Whole Ballgame
See if I can get the audio off of it here. This is, I should have done this before. I didn't think about this. um
00:34:23
Diesel Strawberry
Hulkster's high as fuck in the picture, by the way, for the folks that haven't seen it.
00:34:23
The Whole Ballgame
That would have been good. ah Absolutely out of his mind. Correct.
00:34:29
Diesel Strawberry
We've put it on the Twitter before, but it's probably buried back there under me yelling at Cat Turd and some fucking bots.
00:34:39
The Whole Ballgame
Who's this? It's Gordon. Nope, this guy. who's that Blake. That's the second one. Here we go.
00:34:49
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:34:50
The Whole Ballgame
Look at me. Look at me. Who's this? Who's yeahta is that And who's that? And who's that?
00:35:01
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:35:02
The Whole Ballgame
It's Hulk Hogan is now known as cocaine.
00:35:02
Diesel Strawberry
Yep. It's... Uh-huh. Cocaine beware. Y'all, brother, dude.
00:35:08
The Whole Ballgame
That's right.
00:35:09
Diesel Strawberry
That shit's no good, dude. is yeah It's ah is is is's a trap rope. Oh, baby, I do the cocaine, Terry. I carry, baby. Keep on, keep on, keep on dancing. On the keep on dancing show.
00:35:21
The Whole Ballgame
ah Fantastic. I even got jazz hands on that one.
00:35:24
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
00:35:24
The Whole Ballgame
One day I'll convince them to do the video podcast. It'll be great.
00:35:27
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:35:28
The Whole Ballgame
Um,
00:35:28
Diesel Strawberry
Better read this fucking story. Oh, you were still in middle of the story. but got sidetracked.
00:35:31
The Whole Ballgame
So anyway, ah that's that's where we are. that's oh Oh, we have a bunch of shit going on is my point. I've got that thing with my kids. Blake's got a dipshit boss that he's going to kick in the nuts and probably set the place on fire where he works.
00:35:47
Diesel Strawberry
Nah.
00:35:48
The Whole Ballgame
Hopefully that's not the case and this isn't used to state's evidence against you. But it's correct.
00:35:52
Diesel Strawberry
This is all entertainment.
00:35:54
The Whole Ballgame
100% entertainment.
00:35:54
Diesel Strawberry
People...
00:35:54
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
00:35:55
Diesel Strawberry
I mean, we got the devil, for God's sakes.
00:35:55
The Whole Ballgame
um And then correct. Yeah. I mean, we're talking about black mass and and vaginas and we, yeah, turnip black and turnips.
00:36:01
Diesel Strawberry
Turnips.
00:36:04
The Whole Ballgame
Um, sounds like it'd make a good, like Cajun stew. Um,
00:36:08
Diesel Strawberry
I could put a bird with it, maybe.
00:36:12
Diesel Strawberry
Louisiana bird.
00:36:16
The Whole Ballgame
God damn it, Blake.
00:36:17
Diesel Strawberry
yeah We're never getting this one going.
00:36:19
The Whole Ballgame
I tell you, I didn't ah didn't want to show up today, i tell you right now. ah This one hurts, hurts, gave his throat so bad, I can't tell you. Oh, by the time we're done with this program, I'm going to be hoarser than a eating a horse on the side with a horse his horse's horse's horse.
00:36:36
Diesel Strawberry
All right, well, I won't keep you then, Marvin, but I do need to to to let you know, though, that I got to talk to you in the near future because I got a question for you about a picture I saw of you today holding a small little fella in your arms, and I got some questions for you.
00:36:36
The Whole Ballgame
Oh, my God. Yeah. a
00:36:53
The Whole Ballgame
Oh, you talking about that one where I'm holding that poor black child? Am I right? Okay, well, we'll talk about it down the road. I'll tell you I'll be back. It's no problem. Okay, bye-bye.
00:37:01
Diesel Strawberry
Yes, child isn't a 40-year-old man, but yes.
00:37:06
The Whole Ballgame
ah Yeah, yeah. So we'll we'll we'll come back to that one, I'm afraid. ah Here's my point. Blake and I want to keep doing this, and so we need your help over on Patreon, right? A couple different tiers available to you. can Get the baseball shows ad-free because I know how annoying those advertisements are.
00:37:23
The Whole Ballgame
ah just $4.94 a month. And you don't have to worry about pressing that 30-second skip button seven times in a row every 15 minutes.
00:37:34
The Whole Ballgame
And then the next tier up is the Huff Stuff, ah where Charlie Huff leads you on ah journey into the best professional wrestling in the history of professional wrestling and And how Blake and I exactly break that down, and of course with cameo appearances from all your favorite ballgame characters, like of course Rick Russell and Marvin Davis and Charlie Huff himself, as well as our good old friend Jimmy Hart.
00:38:07
The Whole Ballgame
And then the top characters.
00:38:09
Diesel Strawberry
I ain't gonna show you my butthole though. You can't see it.
00:38:13
The Whole Ballgame
I I'm working on it, everybody. Uh, hopefully one of these days, one of the relics for the hall of famers will be just that a picture of Charlie's butthole, um, with button firmly in place.
00:38:23
Diesel Strawberry
Maybe I'll just cut it off and send it to you.
00:38:25
The Whole Ballgame
There you go. Perfect. Just a balloon knot on the way. Uh, so, uh, and then of course the top tier, uh, is all of that shit that I just mentioned on top of all of that, you'll get a, uh, a bonus show every month, uh, which will be, who knows, and NBA, NFL, some random crazy bullshit, some sports movie, something like that every month, plus, uh, a chance to pick a show every month. And we'll throw your name in a hopper. And every month we'll do a bonus show specifically picked by one of our hall of famers, uh, Harry's hall of famers, as a matter of fact, for $19.94 month,
00:39:04
The Whole Ballgame
ah That 94 is no coincidence, and if you've been listening to the show for any period of time, you know exactly why. 1994 is the nexus of the universe. It is the place where everything went wrong. Worlds collided, and this is why we are where we are because of that baseball strike in 1994.
00:39:22
The Whole Ballgame
So now that that good business is out of the way, it's patreon.com slash the whole ball game. ah Check that out when you get a chance. And let's get into the baseball. First up today ah is the story of one Daryl Eugene Strawberry written by our pal at Sabre, ah Sean Morris.
00:39:45
The Whole Ballgame
You ready to go? All right, there it is.
00:39:47
Diesel Strawberry
Fuck it.
00:39:51
The Whole Ballgame
For many African-American males growing up in poverty-stricken households throughout Los Angeles, sports offered a chance to break away from the cultural and economic restraints imposed on them by their surroundings.
00:40:03
The Whole Ballgame
This was no different for a young Darrell Eugene Strawberry, born March 12, 1962, in Los Angeles. Daryl was the third boy born to Henry and Ruby Strawberry and would be followed by two sisters.
00:40:20
The Whole Ballgame
By 1970, the family was residing in a small house in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. Strawberry recalled his father as being a negative influence early in his life.
00:40:31
The Whole Ballgame
Henry Strawberry, Hank, held down a steady job as a postal clerk, but suffered from many of the same vices that would plague Daryl's life. He would often come home in drunken rages and physically assault Ruby, as well as Daryl and his older brother Ronnie.
00:40:48
The Whole Ballgame
Much of Daryl's younger years were spent in fear of their father until one night when he was about 10 years old. On that night, Henry came home intoxicated and began to verbally and physically assault Ruby.
00:41:00
The Whole Ballgame
The police showed up, and just like that... Henry was gone from his children's lives, only to reappear when it was evident Daryl was a remarkable talent on the baseball field and would be a top pick in the Major League Draft.
00:41:15
Diesel Strawberry
You know, it's sad. I never never had a real relationship with him. He never sat me down and talked to me kindly. He never and gave me a word of fatherly advice or counsel.
00:41:27
Diesel Strawberry
He never even taught me to tie my shoe or hit a baseball. None of those things a father and son are supposed to do. He either ignored me or he beat me, period.
00:41:39
The Whole Ballgame
What Henry did give his youngest son was a love for sports and athletic abilities. Like many of the other children in the Crenshaw neighborhood, Darrell went to the local park to watch his father play on one of the many softball teams in the area.
00:41:54
The Whole Ballgame
His father who could...
00:41:57
Diesel Strawberry
You could whip the ball across the plate so fast you wouldn't know where to start your swing. He did the long ball over and over again every time he came to bat. It's like, fuck it.
00:42:09
The Whole Ballgame
After his father disappeared from his life, Daryl felt an absence and turned to sports as a refuge and escape from everything bothering him.
00:42:19
Diesel Strawberry
You know, i was very good at every sport I tried. I'm not bragging. It was just in me. I loved it. It was a pure joy for me to play baseball, basketball, and football.
00:42:31
Diesel Strawberry
While I was playing, I could almost forget my anger and my troubles. Almost.
00:42:38
The Whole Ballgame
Ruby was devoted to her family, held a full-time job at a local telephone company, and supported Daryl playing baseball. She knew how happy it made him, and she was shocked to see that on the field he was not the same lazy Daryl she knew at home.
00:42:54
The Whole Ballgame
After attending numerous junior high schools, Strawberry attended the predominantly African-American Crenshaw High School. Crenshaw was an athletic powerhouse. Scouts came to Crenshaw Games. It was Daryl's chance to get noticed, to gain the fame and notoriety so many young athletes from similar circumstances were searching for.
00:43:11
The Whole Ballgame
Basketball was his first love, and his gangly frame gave him an advantage on the court, but baseball came the most natural to him.
00:43:21
Diesel Strawberry
Right from the start, I could pitch. I could hit home runs. I could steal bases. I could field. didn't think much about it. and didn't study the game. I just fucking went out there and did it.
00:43:34
The Whole Ballgame
By the time he reached Crenshaw, Strabri had earned a reputation throughout the Los Angeles Little League, but none of that mattered to Crenshaw baseball coach Brooks Hurst. When Daryl entered Crenshaw High for the 10th grade, he was already 6'3".
00:43:50
The Whole Ballgame
He was long and lean and covered with sinewy muscle.
00:43:54
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, baby.
00:43:58
The Whole Ballgame
Not the type created by hours in a weight room or supplements, but the real thing. He had the body of a basketball forward and the natural baseball swing, powerful loop and uppercut of a historic home run hitter, a writer said of him.
00:44:17
The Whole Ballgame
To Brooks Hurst, Darrell was just like many of the young black men he had coached, full of talent lacking discipline. At Crenshaw, Hurst did his best to instill the qualities his players were lacking to help them succeed on and off the field, and in back talk any backtalk mouthing off to him and he would make them run until they dropped from exhaustion.
00:44:38
The Whole Ballgame
For many of his players, Hurst was the only stable male figure in their lives. He was familiar with Daryl and his situation. Both older brothers had played for him at Crenshaw.
00:44:49
The Whole Ballgame
Hurst did his best to watch over Daryl and guide him to make the right choices during his three years at Crenshaw. Strawberry struggled in his first year at high school, although there was no denying his talent.
00:45:00
The Whole Ballgame
He was given no special treatment under Hurst. He tried to drill Daryl into... Beat the ball to the spot when playing the outfield and run hard for balls that fell in base hits.
00:45:13
The Whole Ballgame
In for base hits, not just glide to them and let singles turn into extra bases. Coach Hurst often found himself annoyed with Daryl and his approach of only giving half effort. I had to sit him down and talk to him a lot.
00:45:28
The Whole Ballgame
I had him run laps. I'd tell him, the scouts are going to come in here with assumptions about inner city ballplayers. You have to counteract that. Don't give him the ammunition.
00:45:41
The Whole Ballgame
But finally, I just ran out of patience. Finally, Daryl's first high school season ended early when he was kicked off the team. I just said to him, This isn't working out.
00:45:53
The Whole Ballgame
I hope you want to come back next year, Hurst recalled. Daryl took it pretty well. He still came to the games. He helped lug the equipment.
00:46:03
The Whole Ballgame
Despite his talent, when Strawberry came back for the 1979 season, there were some who thought he was not the best talent on the team. He also had to contend with Corey Dillard and another player who would go on to the major leagues, Chris Brown.
00:46:18
The Whole Ballgame
Besides those three, the rest of the Crenshaw team was also talented, so much so that the second stringers would end up with professional contracts. On the playing field, the 1979 Crenshaw team was in the midst of a spectacular season. Strawberry was having an outstanding year at the plate, in the outfield, and when he took them out.
00:46:37
The Whole Ballgame
The team easily defeated many of its inner-city opponents. Early in the season, the Los Angeles Times reported, After a 15-5 mugging of Hamilton, Crenshaw was now now has now scored 31 runs in its last two games.
00:46:53
The Whole Ballgame
Many of Daryl's relatives, who had largely been absent from his life, began to peer at his games as well, including his father. Coach Hurst did his best to shield his players from the circus, enveloping them and keeping their focus on the game itself.
00:47:07
The Whole Ballgame
Throughout the season, the team kept playing at a high level, and by the time the regular season was drawing to a close, Crenshaw had lost only a handful of games, and in each of those cases, Hurst had benched one of his star players for disciplinary reasons.
00:47:23
The Whole Ballgame
When the regular season finished, the Crenshaw High Cougars entered the Los Angeles Unified School District baseball playoffs. Anchored by senior Chris Brown and junior Darryl Strawberry, it was the first inner-city school in many years that had the talent to compete against those in the San Fernando Valley that benefited from manicured fields, booster clubs, and year-round instruction.
00:47:45
The Whole Ballgame
Playing the way they had many times during the regular season, the Cougars cruised their way through the first two rounds of the playoffs by a combined score of twenty three to four Nothing, it seemed, could keep Crenshaw from hitting.
00:47:58
The Whole Ballgame
In the semifinal round, they powered their way over Monroe High by a score of 10-7. In the three playoff game, Strawberry hit three triples in addition to a home run and was the winning pitcher in two of the contests.
00:48:13
The Whole Ballgame
Next stop for Crenshaw was the championship game at Dodger Stadium.
00:48:20
The Whole Ballgame
On June 6, 1979, the Cougars boarded the bus for the short trip to Dodger Stadium. Their opponent was Grenada Hills, a team that played with a few mistake with few mistakes and relied on the small ball approach.
00:48:33
The Whole Ballgame
Wiggy ball. ah Lots of bunting and good defense.
00:48:35
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
00:48:37
The Whole Ballgame
Their third baseman was a high school football standout, Stanford-bound John Elway.
00:48:43
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, no.
00:48:45
The Whole Ballgame
The Crenshaw players had their work cut out for them, and when Grenada Hills jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, their task became much more difficult. A strong third inning put Crenshaw back on top by a run, and the Grenada Hills coach pulled Elway from third base and put him in his pitcher.
00:49:02
The Whole Ballgame
After his eight warm-up pitches, Elway struck out the next batter to end the inning. On the mound, Strawberry began to crumble. Unnerved by the little league tactics of fake bunts, he began to become erratic, and after walking several batters, he was pulled and sent to the outfield.
00:49:19
The Whole Ballgame
By the end of the fifth inning, Grenada had scored another six runs on three hits because of Crenshaw's bad pitching and sloppy fielding, and the Crenshaw hopes were in rapid decline.
00:49:30
The Whole Ballgame
Elway shut the Cougars down.
00:49:34
The Whole Ballgame
the team that scout George Genovese considered from top to bottom the most talented assemblage of high school talent ever could not win the l LA City Championship.
00:49:44
Diesel Strawberry
Now, are you familiar with the John Elway's, i guess, is story of, I want to i guess his beginning, how he was baseball and football, and he he did not want to go to the the Colts at the time, and so they kind of held him hostage and said he's going to go play for the Yankees.
00:50:10
Diesel Strawberry
That way the Colts wouldn't draft him, and then he ends up on the Broncos.
00:50:15
The Whole Ballgame
The Yankees pieces, the Yankees pieces, what just triggered it in my head.
00:50:15
Diesel Strawberry
created or whatever.
00:50:19
The Whole Ballgame
I knew I remember talking about something like him with the Yankees at some point with Steinbrenner or something.
00:50:24
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
00:50:26
The Whole Ballgame
um i didn't know the full story though, no.
00:50:29
Diesel Strawberry
He basically uses his leverage. He uses the Yankees and baseball leverage to not go to, at the time, Baltimore, ah which I think they moved to Indianapolis like the next year or whatever, but Yeah, I don't blame him, but still, just such a bitch thing to do.
00:50:47
The Whole Ballgame
For sure.
00:50:48
Diesel Strawberry
Just go to the fucking town and kick ass. But whatever.
00:50:52
The Whole Ballgame
when strawberry returned to crenshaw for his senior year all the attention was lavished upon him without brown to share the spotlight it became the season of strawberry coach hirsst was continuously chasing agents off the baseball field and out of the crenshaw hallway strawberry often found himself surrounded by an entourage and those looking for any piece of star um that association with him broad as his ego grew His attitude only seemed to worsen.
00:51:19
The Whole Ballgame
According to some teammates, George Cook recalled, Daryl Strawberry didn't listen to Coach Hurst. The press buildup surrounding Strawberry and the baseball draft.
00:51:30
The Whole Ballgame
Nope, that's not a quote. The press buildup surrounding Strawberry in the coming baseball draft overshadowed anything else he accomplished his senior year. Sports Illustrated published a feature on Strawberry late in his senior season with a picture caption that said, Daryl, 18, is likened to Ted Williams.
00:51:49
The Whole Ballgame
He's got a Williams-type physical makeup, tall, rangy, good leverage. Scout Phil Pote told Sports Illustrated, he's got bat quickness. He can drive the ball.
00:52:00
The Whole Ballgame
The ball just jumps off his bat.
00:52:02
Diesel Strawberry
He's lithe, as you would say.
00:52:04
The Whole Ballgame
He is. He's lithe. He is and he remains. Although he did have a heart attack recently.
00:52:10
Diesel Strawberry
yeah he's fine.
00:52:12
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry had dreamed about being the first overall pick in the draft, and in June of 1980, the New York Mets made that happen. The Mets were hoping he could help turn the franchise around.
00:52:23
The Whole Ballgame
Not only did he have the potential to help on the field, He could provide them with a much-needed box office revenue as well. The team provided him with a $200,000 signing bonus to forego college and flew him to New York to show him off to the press.
00:52:39
The Whole Ballgame
But before Strawberry was able to play in Shea Stadium, he had to first prove himself in the minor leagues. A few days later, Strawberry found himself in a landscape vastly different than that of Manhattan or Los Angeles.
00:52:53
The Whole Ballgame
Kingsport, Tennessee. was home to the Mets team in the rookie-level Appalachian League and Strawberry's first step in the Mets farm system. During that 1980 season, ah in 180 played appearances, he batted.268 with five home runs.
00:53:10
The Whole Ballgame
His work ethic was still sloppy, according to some, and he was often late arriving to the stadium.
00:53:17
The Whole Ballgame
One time even missing a game. What's that about, Darryl?
00:53:22
Diesel Strawberry
You know, look, when I was down and in the miners and in Kingsport and in fucking Lynchburg and all those podunk fucking towns down in the south, you know.
00:53:34
Diesel Strawberry
I was usually taking 75 and see what happens is down around Dalton, it, it it switches to two lanes and you're, you're going to be late. If you got to give yourself, you know, 45 to an hour extra, if you don't know what you're doing, uh, you're going to blow your fucking spot. And, and that's, you know, it's like anything else, you know, shit happens.
00:54:04
Diesel Strawberry
that good enough for you, G. Gordon Liddy?
00:54:11
The Whole Ballgame
ah Player not a Strawberry status would have had harsh repercussions for missing a game, but not Strawberry. His absence was largely ignored by those in the organization. The following season, Strawberry was assigned to the High A Lynchburg Mets.
00:54:26
The Whole Ballgame
He continued to struggle and failed to...
00:54:28
Diesel Strawberry
You know what else is in Lynchburg?
00:54:31
The Whole Ballgame
I do Do you?
00:54:34
Diesel Strawberry
I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't, genius.
00:54:36
The Whole Ballgame
Well, I mean, you never know. Okay.
00:54:39
Diesel Strawberry
It's Jack Daniels, pal.
00:54:42
The Whole Ballgame
Did you spend a lot of time at the Jack Daniels distillery?
00:54:45
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, me and Michael Hayes would go down there and just tear shit up. I mean, we're talking. yeah One time, ah was down there eating Bea Arthur out from behind, and Freebird was getting her sucked off.
00:55:02
Diesel Strawberry
And she was wearing us like a pair of fucking Chinese finger cuffs. Me, Daryl Strawberry, Bea Arthur, and Michael P.S.
00:55:06
The Whole Ballgame
Wonderful.
00:55:11
Diesel Strawberry
Hayes at the Jack Daniels factory. Can you believe that shit?
00:55:25
The Whole Ballgame
Oh, the follow, the let's see. um Off the field, 19 year old strawberry was homesick, called his mother every day. On the field, he was struggling against many of the pitchers he faced.
00:55:38
The Whole Ballgame
They easily fooled him with hard fastballs inside and breaking balls. Strawberry possessed the power to put the ball into play, but he struggled to make the contact that had made him a legend at Crenshaw. In 123 games with Lynchburg in 1981, Strawberry managed to hit 13 home runs and bat.255 the season.
00:55:59
The Whole Ballgame
The next spring, Strawberry continued to climb the farm system ladder and started the season with Double A Jackson. It was in Jackson, Mississippi, where he became locked in at the plate and began to flash the talent the Mets saw in him when they drafted him.
00:56:14
Diesel Strawberry
think they had a clash down there one time.
00:56:14
The Whole Ballgame
He began to... Yeah, you big fan of Jackson?
00:56:22
Diesel Strawberry
What?
00:56:23
The Whole Ballgame
Did you enjoy yourself in Jackson? You like Jackson?
00:56:28
Diesel Strawberry
You know, Johnny Cash wrote a song called Jackson.
00:56:31
The Whole Ballgame
Fantastic. Thank you, Daryl. He began to see the ball better and figure out opposing pitchers. Although he struck out 145 times, by the end of the season, he had driven in 97 runs and hit 34 homers.
00:56:44
The Whole Ballgame
Rather than take the winter off, he the Mets had Strawberry extend his year by playing winter ball for the team in Caracas, Venezuela.
00:56:53
Diesel Strawberry
yeah oh
00:56:54
The Whole Ballgame
He credited the experience with speeding up his development. Speeding up, is that right? And better preparing him for the coming seasons. Javi remarked.
00:57:05
Diesel Strawberry
You know, before I tell you what I said, I feel it's important to let you know that although, you know, I was in Venezuela, I'm not one of those Venezuelan gangbangers that Donald Trump's out there rounding up.
00:57:17
Diesel Strawberry
And by the way, did you see he rounded up a gay hairstylist from California and sent him down there? Did you see that, Gabe?
00:57:26
The Whole Ballgame
I didn't see that.
00:57:27
Diesel Strawberry
This poor little fella. All he wants to do is ladies' hair, and now he's down there in fucking Gitmo with his head shaved.
00:57:38
Diesel Strawberry
You know, if I ever see that guy in the Hall of Fame, I'm gonna give him a fucking jackknife through the table.
00:57:38
The Whole Ballgame
Sad state of affairs, isn't it?
00:57:45
Diesel Strawberry
Anyway. I'll tell you what I said now because I feel better. I felt confident after my season in South America because I'd been able to hit some of their best pitchers. See, aren't you glad I made you wait for that?
00:57:58
The Whole Ballgame
I am, thank you. To start the 1983 season, the Mets sent Strawberry to their top affiliate, the AAA Tidewater Tides. The organization wanted to keep him in the minors for one more season before bringing him up to New York, but many believed he would see the Big Apple before the year was over.
00:58:15
The Whole Ballgame
Under manager Davey Johnson, Strawberry got off to a great start at alea
00:58:20
Diesel Strawberry
you My first 10 games or so at Tee Water were spectacular. Whether I had improved to the point where I could hit anything any AAA pitcher could throw, or yeah whether AAA pitching wasn't as good as it was supposed to be, I don't know.
00:58:39
The Whole Ballgame
At the same time, the the Mets were off to a dreadful start, and the New York newspaper headlines began to call for Strawberry. In early May, Darrell was summoned from Tidewater. Mets general manager Frank Cashin regretted having to call him up ahead schedule, but Strawberry had the potential to help fill the empty seats, and on May 6, 1983, he made his major league debut.
00:59:01
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry stood an imposing 6 feet 6 inches tall with a playing weight of 190 pounds. He batted and threw left and was a right fielder for most of his career.
00:59:13
The Whole Ballgame
His debut against the Cincinnati Reds was... Less than spectacular, with three strikeouts and a foul pop during a six plate ah six plate appearances and an extra innings win by the Mets.
00:59:25
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry also worked a couple of walks worked a couple of walks and stole a base late in the game. The Mets manager, George Bamberger, encouraged the rookie to go out onto the field and have fun.
00:59:39
The Whole Ballgame
However, Bamberger resigned on June 2nd and was replaced by Frank Howard, one of his coaches. Howard began to demand more out of Strawberry and assigned hitting coach Jim Frey to help.
00:59:52
The Whole Ballgame
Under Frey's tutelage, Strawberry began to blossom and adjust to major league pitching. His struggles at the plate began to disappear, and in September, Strawberry... found his groove.
01:00:03
The Whole Ballgame
It was also at this time that Strawberry began to succumb to the New York lifestyle and started experimenting with cocaine.
01:01:12
The Whole Ballgame
His immaturity and desire to be liked left him vulnerable to negative influences. Daryl was someone who always wanted to be liked, said his mother, Ruby. During his rookie campaign, Strawberry was introduced to cocaine by two Mets veterans who told him it was the right thing to do in the big leagues.
01:01:32
The Whole Ballgame
Despite his off-field habits, Strawberry continued to produce quality numbers. His 108 hits, 26 home runs, 74 RBI, and 19 stolen bases were enough for him to be voted National League Rookie of the Year.
01:01:46
The Whole Ballgame
After the season, Howard was replaced as manager by Davey Johnson. Under Johnson, Strawberry and the Mets became a powerhouse franchise for the rest of the decade.
01:01:56
Diesel Strawberry
Now, let me stop you. Can I ask you something here?
01:02:00
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm.
01:02:00
Diesel Strawberry
What do you think the chances are this? Now, let me rewind here when this was said that it sounded something like this. This is the thing to do in the big leagues, my friend. We are the guys.
01:02:17
Diesel Strawberry
Do you think he might have been one of those two that introduced Daryl to the cocaina and said, hey, hey, I do not like it, my friend. I just like the way it smells. Ha ha.
01:02:29
The Whole Ballgame
ah Without question, not only that, but he also heard, if you're not going to take the take the blow, move on.
01:02:37
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, Wally.
01:02:38
The Whole Ballgame
Move on.
01:02:40
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah. I think that's a good, good chance.
01:02:42
The Whole Ballgame
Take the line and move on.
01:02:46
Diesel Strawberry
Yep.
01:02:48
The Whole Ballgame
that's going to get That's going to get edited out, but it was me sniffing very loudly.
01:02:52
Diesel Strawberry
Gabe just blew a rail.
01:02:56
Diesel Strawberry
The drip is the best part.
01:02:57
The Whole Ballgame
once once so Once Johnson was at the helm, the Mets began to turn things around on the field and pursue produce wins with regularity.
01:03:09
The Whole Ballgame
The attendance at Shea Stadium began to increase, and it was becoming clear throughout the city that the Yankees were not only not the only show in town any anymore. Rookie Dwight Gooden was a stud on the mound.
01:03:20
Diesel Strawberry
How...
01:03:20
The Whole Ballgame
and and Strawberry was continuing to rise to stardom in the outfield, being named to the All-Star team in July. He also began to use amphetamines with regularity during the 1984 season.
01:03:34
The Whole Ballgame
Most members of the hard-partying Mets team already were, as amphetamines were allowed oh and sorry as amphetamines allowed the players to go drink and abuse drugs all night and play the next day with no hangover or real feelings.
01:03:48
The Whole Ballgame
By the end of the season, Johnson had guided the Mets from a team that came in last place the previous year to a second-place finish in the NL East. See, now it's getting good.
01:03:59
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh. Yeah, it's the drugs.
01:04:01
The Whole Ballgame
The 1985 season again saw an increase in the number of Mets victories. The team that won only 68 games in 83 rang up 98 victories in 1985.
01:04:13
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry continued to produce at the plate and help put fans in the seats. Attendance at Shea Stadium was now more than double that of his rookie year. 2.7 million versus 1.1 million.
01:04:25
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry was also married that year to Lisa Andrews, a tumultuous relationship that resulted in court appearances and ultimately divorce. Although he appeared in 30, you think the drugs might have anything to do with him having ended up ah divorced from Lisa Andrews?
01:04:43
Diesel Strawberry
Who are asking?
01:04:44
The Whole Ballgame
let me ask you, Daryl. Let me ask you, Daryl. Do you think that the the the rampant drug abuse that you were partaking in in the Mets clubhouse during the the the mid early to mid 80s resulted in, um you know, ultimately the the dissolving of your first marriage?
01:05:05
Diesel Strawberry
I mean, you know, look, it's really like anything else. And the fact that, like, you know, you're married and you see each other and you get tired of one another and you know, it's it's this, it's that, it's it's everything, it's nothing, it's, you know, it's the way you look, it's how you're breathing.
01:05:33
Diesel Strawberry
So, did it help? yeah Probably not. But, you know, if it if the left one don't get you, the right one will, you know.
01:05:44
The Whole Ballgame
Although he appeared in 37 fewer games than he did in 1984 due to minor health issues and slight injuries, Strawberry still scored 79 runs, hit 29 homers, both more than his previous year's total.
01:05:56
The Whole Ballgame
While it was enough to earn Strawberry a trip to his second consecutive All-Star game, his performance was not enough to help power the Mets into the postseason. But that would change the next season.
01:06:10
Diesel Strawberry
We had a sense of destiny in 86, you know, a belief it would all come together for us and, you know, really a great historic display of baseball power.
01:06:24
The Whole Ballgame
The expectations were high for the Mets as early as spring training. They had won 98 games the season before and were, in almost every aspect, more skilled, more intense, and more arrogant than the Cardinals, Cubs, and the rest of the NL East.
01:06:38
The Whole Ballgame
After an indifferent start to the season, things began to turn around for the Mets. They went on one of the greatest runs in franchise history, reeling off 11 wins in a row before losing a game, then winning another seven in a row.
01:06:51
The Whole Ballgame
The Mets were on fire through May. Although he was having a great year on the field, off it, Strawberry continued to alienate himself from teammates as his ego grew. His head was as large as the Goodyear blimp, and with each new magazine cover story and autograph request, it only got bigger.
01:07:09
The Whole Ballgame
His teammates felt he was vicious and selfish, taking a great deal of pride in making others feel inferior. By now, Strawberry was routinely abusing drugs and drinking heavily in the clubhouse.
01:07:22
The Whole Ballgame
Under the MLB drug policy in place in the no team could compel a player to take a drug test. And with the Mets winning in amazing fashion on a regular basis, no one was willing to rein Strawberry in and get him under control.
01:07:38
Diesel Strawberry
You know Gabe, my friend, i I feel like I can call you a friend, right?
01:07:44
The Whole Ballgame
Sure.
01:07:45
Diesel Strawberry
So, this is around the time that I was at a party of a princes and I ate out Felicia Rashad from behind. And you know what happened?
01:08:00
The Whole Ballgame
What's that?
01:08:01
Diesel Strawberry
Fucking Claire Huxtable farted in my eye and I got fucking pink eye
01:08:07
The Whole Ballgame
a
01:08:09
Diesel Strawberry
And Davey tried to blame it on me being hungover and drunk, but the truth was, I couldn't see out of my fucking right eye because Ma Huxtable dropped a shitbox on it.
01:08:20
Diesel Strawberry
You believe that?
01:08:23
The Whole Ballgame
I don't...
01:08:26
Diesel Strawberry
You don't think I can fuck Claire Huxtable?
01:08:28
The Whole Ballgame
I don't. i think I think you're lying to me, Darryl.
01:08:33
Diesel Strawberry
Daryl Strawberry, 1986, New york And you're telling me i can't fuck Claire Huxtable?
01:08:42
The Whole Ballgame
The Huxtables lived in Philadelphia.
01:08:45
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, you're a smartass. Okay. Well, I got news for you, pal.
01:08:51
The Whole Ballgame
nobody likes a dumbass.
01:08:52
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Well, I am the walrus, Goo Goo Kachoo.
01:08:56
The Whole Ballgame
Okay.
01:09:01
The Whole Ballgame
Fantastic. ah For most of the 1986 season, the Mets were the first place team and the others in the division futilely chased them. The 108 win Mets were heavy favorites to capture the World Series.
01:09:15
The Whole Ballgame
The National League Championship Series went six games and included two thrilling extra inning contests before the Mets emerged victorious over Houston. Strawberry hit a crucial home run in Game 3 to propel the ah ah the Mets to victory and finished the NLCS with two home runs and five RBI.
01:09:34
The Whole Ballgame
The 86 World Series, putting the Mets against the Boston Red Sox, opened at Chase Stadium on October eighteenth After six games, the teams were tied with three victories apiece, and Strawberry was a non-factor at the plate.
01:09:47
The Whole Ballgame
But in Game 7, when it came time to deliver, Strawberry stepped up. Boston had mounted a mini-rowly in the top of the eighth inning to pull within one run of the Mets, but when Strawberry led off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run,
01:10:01
The Whole Ballgame
There was no doubt it was New York's night. The miracle season of 1986, highlighted by so many late-game heroics and the team's never-say-die attitude, concluded with the Mets as the world champions.
01:10:14
The Whole Ballgame
The Mets' descent from a World Series height started before the 1987 campaign, when ace pitcher Dwight Gooden was admitted into a drug treatment center a week before the start of the season.
01:10:26
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry was able to hide his demons throughout the season and produced the plate. He had career highs with 108 runs scored, 104 RBI, 36 stolen bases, and 39 home runs.
01:10:40
The Whole Ballgame
Despite his increased offensive output, though, the Mets finished second in the division and missed the playoffs.
01:10:48
Diesel Strawberry
Gabe, I'll have you take note right there. If you look as you read my stolen bases and my homers, I was almost the first 40-40 guy, not that fucking freak Canseco.
01:11:03
The Whole Ballgame
Very, very close. Very close.
01:11:06
Diesel Strawberry
And I would have got it if I wouldn't have the fucking pink eye from Claire Huxtable's fart.
01:11:16
The Whole Ballgame
How long did the pink eye last, Dwight?
01:11:19
Diesel Strawberry
I would hit one more homer and stolen four more bags. Exactly. If you do the math, go in there, do me a favor, take my stats and then divide them by the number of games played.
01:11:35
Diesel Strawberry
And you tell me i wouldn't have had one more homer and four more stolen bags. I'm a fucking 1099.
01:11:42
The Whole Ballgame
No.
01:11:43
Diesel Strawberry
All right. I know how to do math.
01:11:47
The Whole Ballgame
great That's great. 33 and a third or something. In 1988, Strawberry again reached the century mark in runs scored and RBIs, smashing a league-leading 39 homers and led the National League in slugging and OPS.
01:11:51
Diesel Strawberry
yeah
01:12:03
The Whole Ballgame
He was named to his fifth straight All-Star game and was runner-up to Kirk Gibson for the MVP. The Mets finished in first place.
01:12:10
Diesel Strawberry
How's his territory doing now?
01:12:11
The Whole Ballgame
That's good point. ah First place in the NL East, winning 100 games. However, they failed to recapture the magic of 86 and fell to the Dodgers in seven games in the NLCS.
01:12:27
The Whole Ballgame
In 1989, Strawberry was unable to repeat the success of the previous two seasons. and Across the board, his numbers fell off dramatically, and the turmoil in the Mets clubhouse spilled out in front of the media when Strawberry and teammate Keith Hernandez got into a scuffle during a team picture day with the cameras rolling.
01:12:47
The Whole Ballgame
Tim, you wanna to talk about that, Daryl? What happened that day? What was the problem?
01:12:53
Diesel Strawberry
Look, Keith was all geeked up, you know. and He's back there and he's in the clubhouse and he's smoking his cigarettes like he's some fucking Frenchman just walking around with that mustache and and talking about how, you know, it's the Mets are about this and the Mets are this and that.
01:13:14
Diesel Strawberry
And I looked at him and I said, listen, Keith, it's not always about you, motherfucker. And that's when he came at me. And I fucking hit him with a big boot. Jackknife, one, two, three.
01:13:29
The Whole Ballgame
As Strawberry suffered through his worst year with the Mets statistically, 225 batting average, the team began to falter and failed to make the postseason. When David Johnson was fired early in the 1990 season, Strawberry declared he would leave the Mets at the end of the season as a free agent.
01:13:47
The Whole Ballgame
He performed well and earned a seventh consecutive All-Star appearance. His last season as a Met concluded with 37 home runs, career-best 108 runs batted in. That offseason, Strawberry was true to his word and left the Mets to return home to Los Angeles, signing a five-year contract for $20.25 million whi the dodgers Strawberry's first year in 1991, was his best in Dodger blue, but even though he was named to his eighth All-Star contest in July, he batted just.265 and his other numbers were down. In 1992, Strawberry played in only 43 games before injuring his back.
01:14:29
The Whole Ballgame
He had back surgery in September. He tried to return far too soon and was off and on the disabled list for much of 1993, getting just 100 at-bats as his batting average tumbled to a disappointing 140.
01:14:44
The Whole Ballgame
As he fell apart on the baseball field, his personal life was no better. He was going through a messy and public divorce from Lisa, and the ever-present drug and alcohol abuse rumors swirled around him despite his claims of sobriety.
01:14:59
The Whole Ballgame
Eventually, Strawberry came clean to the Dodgers about his addiction, and they placed him on the disabled list, sent him to the Betty Ford Clinic. When he was finally released from treatment, the Dodgers cut tide cut ties with the once-hailed hometown hero.
01:15:14
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm.
01:15:15
Diesel Strawberry
Now I must stop here because i will, you know, as I have the, the, the baseball deviants as we've established, I will remind ah our audience and you, pardon me.
01:15:32
Diesel Strawberry
Look, the, the Dodgers not only got Daryl strawberry, they also got Eric Davis at the the same time. And they were going to win every world series from the,
01:15:44
Diesel Strawberry
the the rest of the 90s on, basically. like It was over. and That did not fucking happen because both of those men completely fell apart. and It goes to show you.
01:15:56
Diesel Strawberry
i i remember I remember specifically there was a fucking Sports Illustrated for kids. I think I was in fifth grade, so it would have been 91, 92.
01:16:11
Diesel Strawberry
and I remember and it had both of them on there. and Yeah, like, dude, the fucking Dodgers were... Daryl and Eric Davis, that would be like if you had, maybe not today, but I don't know, say six years ago, you had fucking Mike Trout and Bryce Harper on the same team.
01:16:32
Diesel Strawberry
that's That's what it was, but you know it didn't work out.
01:16:37
The Whole Ballgame
After being away from the game for a little over a year, Strawberry found a team willing to take another chance on him, and he signed with the San Francisco Giants on June 19, 1994.
01:16:48
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry was now 32 and promised the team that he was ready to live a drug-free lifestyle. The Giants felt his guarantee of sobriety was genuine and took a chance on the slugger.
01:16:59
The Whole Ballgame
With Strawberry in the lineup, the Giants flourished and won nine straight to come within four and a half games of the division-leading Dodgers. Despite his less than overwhelming numbers, four home runs, 17 RBIs, and a.239 average and.92 at bats, the Giants were impressed.
01:17:16
The Whole Ballgame
The player strike of 1994 interrupted the team's plans to capture to the division from the Dodgers, but the Giants were left with a positive impression from Strawberry and his recovery, and he had a job waiting for him in 1995 in San Francisco.
01:17:33
The Whole Ballgame
what What do you remember about your time in San Francisco?
01:17:40
Diesel Strawberry
ah You know, I go to the Cow Palace every now and then, but you know other than that, I i enjoyed the local fair at a Fisherman's Wharf. That was great.
01:17:52
Diesel Strawberry
Lots of interesting culture. ah i ah tell you, one of my favorite things to do was to go down to that what do they call it? The height, is it height Ashbury? I can't tell you. Cause I was so fucking high smoking so much crack down there, but it's where Jerry Garcia and the grateful dead used to hang out.
01:18:15
Diesel Strawberry
Anyway, the hate Ashbury district, I think it was called. So, uh, I like that.
01:18:19
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:18:20
Diesel Strawberry
And then, uh, Oh yeah. I'd go by the house where they, uh, they filmed full house. You remember that show?
01:18:28
The Whole Ballgame
I do.
01:18:29
Diesel Strawberry
I'd go by there and, uh, I'd eat out the chick that played Becky from behind, but she didn't fart in my face, so my eyes were good.
01:18:41
The Whole Ballgame
That's good. That's, yeah, it sounds fun.
01:18:42
Diesel Strawberry
was a fun town.
01:18:45
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, big, big, that's, ah what's her name? Lori, Lori Loughlin.
01:18:50
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, I think she yeah she fucking went to prison or something.
01:18:51
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:18:54
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, she did for helping her kid with SAT this or that or some bullshit, some white person bullshit that like rich white person problem stuff that she was just made an example of.
01:19:04
Diesel Strawberry
You know, it's...
01:19:08
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:19:10
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, it's the SAT on the S-A-A-P-S-C-A, I think. Holler.
01:19:17
The Whole Ballgame
Sure.
01:19:18
Diesel Strawberry
We were listening to Pac, you know.
01:19:18
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry... Yeah, but Strawberry would not get the chance to get back back to the Bay Area. Troubles with the IRS arose over...
01:19:25
Diesel Strawberry
fucking Fucking Rotunda. Yeah, let me tell you about Rotunda. This asshole. So he comes up to me it this and he says, you know, I i think yeah you made a little bit more of a payoff at this card show than I did.
01:19:42
Diesel Strawberry
I said, hey, fuck you, Mike. You know what? hope your fucking boy doesn't live to be an old man. That's right. Fuck it.
01:19:54
The Whole Ballgame
Did he also wish the same to you?
01:20:01
The Whole Ballgame
Yep.
01:20:01
Diesel Strawberry
Brother.
01:20:02
The Whole Ballgame
How about it? Troubles with the IRS arose over unreported income from card show appearances and facing facing the prospect of jail time.
01:20:08
Diesel Strawberry
He just gave me a right off.
01:20:13
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry relapsed into using hard drugs and began to fail drug tests and display erratic behavior.
01:20:19
Diesel Strawberry
Drugs.
01:20:22
The Whole Ballgame
Well, he was, if you could see the cloud of smoke raising from Blake's microphone right now. Well, he was prepared to go to jail. I'm sorry, va vapor, not not smoke.
01:20:33
The Whole Ballgame
Well, he was prepared to go to jail for the income tax charges. Strawberry was let off with probation, community service, and a hefty bill for back taxes. But once again, he would get another chance to turn his baseball career around, this time with the New York Yankees.
01:20:49
Diesel Strawberry
No hot dogs! I'm not there, so I guess you can hot dog. Fuck it.
01:20:55
The Whole Ballgame
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner believed he could rehabilitate Strawberry and that the 296-foot porch in right field was no match for his uppercut swing.
01:21:06
The Whole Ballgame
From 1995 through the 1999 season, Strawberry was a member of the Yankees, but the dreams of Strawberry home runs landing in Yankee Stadium's right field porch with consistent regularity were never realized.
01:21:21
The Whole Ballgame
Assistant to the traveling secretary, George Costanza, ah helped Strawberry work on... time I gotta to plan that out next time. He was never able to recapture the glory he had experienced across town at Che Stadium.
01:21:33
Diesel Strawberry
it You know, know, you know, George did teach me how to incorporate salted meats into my erotic behaviors.
01:21:43
The Whole Ballgame
Pastrami is my my favorite and and probably the most erotic of the salted cured meats.
01:21:48
Diesel Strawberry
That's where I landed.
01:21:50
The Whole Ballgame
The 1995 season was, hello to Pauly, 1995 season was full of setbacks for Strawberry. His ah legal troubles resulted in court-ordered restrictions that dictated where he could reside, the hours he was able to be away from his residence.
01:22:06
The Whole Ballgame
Steinbrenner's determination to help Daryl turn his life around resulted in the Yankees appointing a full-time guardian to shadow strawberry at all times, as well as regular drug testing to ensure that he would not slip up again.
01:22:20
The Whole Ballgame
After rehabbing at the Yankees facilities in Tampa, Strawberry was ready to hit the field. In 95, he played 31 minor league games for the Tampa Yankees, Gulf Coast League Yankees, and the Columbus Clippers before rejoining the big league club for 32 games towards the end of the season.
01:22:41
The Whole Ballgame
Strawberry spent 63 games in 96 with the big league club and hit 11 homers. He helped the Yankees defeat the Orioles in the ALCS, hitting three home runs and collecting five RBIs, and then went on to win another World Series so over the Atlanta Braves, alongside former Mets teammates David Cohn and Dwight Gooden.
01:23:01
The Whole Ballgame
In 1997, injuries derailed Strawberry. played only 16 minor league games and 11 for the Yankees. For the first time in his career, he failed to hit a home run that season. And then 1998 was a bounce-back season for Darryl to plate, as he played in over 100 games for the first time since the 1991 season.
01:23:20
The Whole Ballgame
In a part-time role, he belted 24 homers, had 57 RBIs to go along with a 247 average. And for the third time in his career, he became a World Series winner.
Darryl Strawberry: Triumphs and Tribulations
01:23:30
The Whole Ballgame
But that accomplishment was overshadowed by a diagnosis of colon cancer that kept him from playing in the World Series.
01:23:38
The Whole Ballgame
In 1999, after cancer treatments, after a 140-day MLB-mandated suspension for possessing cocaine and soliciting an undercover police officer for sex.
01:23:53
Diesel Strawberry
Look, let me tell you what happened there.
01:23:55
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, would you?
01:23:56
Diesel Strawberry
So, you know, it's 99, right? right
01:24:01
The Whole Ballgame
Were you at the Jiffy Park?
01:24:04
Diesel Strawberry
No, didn't have any popcorn. and No, we, uh, it's 99.
01:24:06
The Whole Ballgame
Oh, okay.
01:24:10
Diesel Strawberry
So, you know, TLC is big at the time, right? And I like, uh, you know, I like, uh, I'm talking about T-Boz left eye and chili pal.
01:24:20
The Whole Ballgame
Tables, ladders, and chairs.
01:24:26
Diesel Strawberry
um tykin um talking t lc I'm talking, I'm talking, I'm talking pussy.
01:24:26
The Whole Ballgame
Okay. I got it. All right. Sorry. Sorry.
01:24:32
Diesel Strawberry
All right. Pussy or Pimento Loaf? Which one are you, pal? Shout out to Nasty Nate and JB. They're the only two people in the world that'll understand that.
01:24:45
Diesel Strawberry
But that's fine. Because that's the kind of show this fucking thing is. It's a real shitbox, like I said. Anyway, so I say, hey,
01:24:57
Diesel Strawberry
how much is it going to cost for me to eat the three of you out from behind? And have you not fart in my eye. And turns out one of them was a fucking cop.
01:25:12
Diesel Strawberry
She was a trailer.
01:25:12
The Whole Ballgame
You're telling me one one of the one of the the three members of TLC was a police officer?
01:25:15
Diesel Strawberry
She was the T. No, they just look like TLC. They weren't really them. It was just three chicks that looked like it.
01:25:22
The Whole Ballgame
oh I see.
01:25:24
Diesel Strawberry
They were Chinese, though, was not even black. But other than that, it looked exactly like them. But the one that was a cop, you know what her was? She was the T. The T stood for?
01:25:35
Diesel Strawberry
Stood for Trailer. was Ray Trailer's Chinese daughter. He had her in a over... but you it's What What?
01:25:48
Diesel Strawberry
a He was in a tour of all Japan. is You know, fuck it.
01:25:57
Diesel Strawberry
Don't worry about the timeline on it. You know, it's an alternative to universe, that kind of shit.
01:26:04
The Whole Ballgame
The 37-year-old Strawberry returned to the Yankees in limited playing time. He managed only three home runs. However, he was able to recapture postseason glory once again when he hit a decisive three-run home run that played a critical role in helping the Yankees sweep the Texas Rangers in the division series, then hit another homer, as then the Yankees knocked off Boston in the ALCS before moving to another World Series championship over Atlanta.
01:26:32
The Whole Ballgame
When the season concluded, Strawberry retired from baseball as an eight-time All-Star with four World Series rings. Not a bad accomplishment for an inner-city kid from an impoverished neighborhood. After baseball, Strawberry continued to struggle with addiction and run-ins with the law. In 2000, his cancer returned, and he started chemotherapy.
01:26:53
The Whole Ballgame
However, this setback was not enough to quench his desire for drugs, and he spent most of the next three years
01:27:04
The Whole Ballgame
Sorry, dog issues. He spent much of the next three years in and out of treatment centers and prison on drug-related charges. As of 2015, Strawberry was married to his wife, Tracy, and was an ordained minister.
01:27:18
The Whole Ballgame
Not, I believe, in the Church of Satan.
01:27:20
Diesel Strawberry
A frocked one, by the way.
01:27:23
The Whole Ballgame
Nice.
01:27:23
Diesel Strawberry
Not defrocked like you.
01:27:25
The Whole Ballgame
He devoted a great deal of his time. well You've never been part of a black mass. That's wonderful news. He said he remained remorseful.
01:27:32
Diesel Strawberry
Hey, look, pal. Every mass I do is a black mass.
01:27:36
The Whole Ballgame
I see what you did there. He devoted a great deal of his time to his family, church, and his charity work for those affected by autism. He said he remained remorseful for his past actions and was fully aware of the impact they had on his career.
01:27:49
The Whole Ballgame
With his natural talent, Strawberry could have been one of baseball's greatest hitters if it were not for his naive nature, immaturity, and ultimately his substance abuse. In a book published in 2009, admitted...
01:28:04
Diesel Strawberry
You know, I made some good choices and I made some really bad ones. I mean, it's like anything else. Fuck it.
01:28:15
The Whole Ballgame
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Daryl Eugene Strawberry on the whole ballgame.
01:28:20
Diesel Strawberry
What a masterful tale you told there, Gizl. Thank you for that.
01:28:25
The Whole Ballgame
ah Yeah, it is interesting, isn't it? like Like, as we were going through the kind of... And look, he clearly... till you hear this next one, because, like, you think he he was fucked up and had some issues with the jurors.
01:28:43
The Whole Ballgame
ah old Doc is is certainly a little bit more screwed up. and
01:28:48
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
01:28:49
The Whole Ballgame
And it's it's it's really fascinating the the similarities between
01:28:50
Diesel Strawberry
You see why he is Razor.
01:28:59
The Whole Ballgame
And, uh, and where they ended up landing. It's, it's shocking to me. Like the numbers are there, especially if you look at who else, I mean, look at, you know, I Blake and I, especially in in early episodes of the program would joke about Harold Baines, but like the fact that Harold Baines is a hall of famer and, and Daryl Strawberry is not a hall of famer is a little, little suspect.
01:29:15
Diesel Strawberry
worst Hall of Favor ever.
01:29:24
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, you know, he just lost too many of his good years to all this shit. So he, ah, there's no reason, you know, but if Daryl would have stayed healthy, he would have ended with 500 plus homers and all that bullshit.
01:29:41
Diesel Strawberry
But it, you know, he, like he said, he made some good choices and some really bad ones. I'd forgotten about all the World Series rings that rings he won and, yeah, I didn't.
01:29:51
The Whole Ballgame
With the Yankees, yeah. Yeah, three of them.
01:29:54
Diesel Strawberry
I didn't remember him being there for four years. I knew he was there towards the end in the nineties, but I don't know. He didn't play a whole lot. So except for a few years, but anyway.
01:30:07
The Whole Ballgame
You know, me and Darryl, we never crossed paths on the same teams, but we played for a lot of the same teams.
01:30:15
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Yeah. Let's see. You, uh,
01:30:17
The Whole Ballgame
i was I was a Yankee, and I was a giant, and i was ah ah giant
01:30:23
The Whole Ballgame
I was a cub too, but Daryl wasn't ever a cub.
01:30:27
Diesel Strawberry
You know, I think you guys, well, maybe he he might, no, no.
01:30:32
The Whole Ballgame
No, I checked. I went back and double checked my own records. I didn't remember much, but ah you know, I think the, the year that I started ah the all-star game, I think that was 1989.
01:30:37
Diesel Strawberry
What about all-star games?
01:30:44
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:30:46
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah.
01:30:47
The Whole Ballgame
yeah He was in the all-star game that year. Um, and nice guy. Uh, but you know, uh, a little little wild-eyed when I remember meeting him.
01:30:56
Diesel Strawberry
Well, you gotta remember, too, where the 89 game was. That was out there in Anaheim, so you're close to home. So he was undoubtedly fucked up, you know, Rick. That's just playing the wild-eyed.
01:31:10
The Whole Ballgame
Well, we're we're all a little fucked up here and there, aren't we then?
01:31:11
Diesel Strawberry
right Or was he a southern boy?
01:31:15
Diesel Strawberry
Well, no, you're really fucked up.
01:31:18
The Whole Ballgame
Whether it's cocaine or, you know, homicide.
01:31:20
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Juice. Sure, yeah. Hernandez.
01:31:24
The Whole Ballgame
You understand. there's you know There's addictions all over. i don't know. look Gabe here, I think he's addicted to gambling again. hea
01:31:31
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, Izzy.
01:31:32
The Whole Ballgame
he's been on the He's been on the MGM app a lot and betting on this March Madness nonsense. he He put together a parlay the other day that was supposed to win him something like $9,000 to $7,000 on a $20 bet, and he was up all night, so excited about it.
01:31:45
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh.
01:31:47
The Whole Ballgame
We were talking, and he was just all through.
01:31:48
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Yeah.
01:31:50
The Whole Ballgame
the And he won the first four games of the eight-game parlay, and then
01:31:52
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:31:54
The Whole Ballgame
It all came crashing down and hurt inside.
01:31:57
Diesel Strawberry
I was going to say, it was at four what last I knew. ah you telling me it immediately fell off after that?
01:32:05
The Whole Ballgame
um I don't know where the fuck the two of you get off talking about my bullshit, but, you know, hey, you know, if I can throw $20 at something and come back with $97,000, that's great.
01:32:16
Diesel Strawberry
Sure.
01:32:17
The Whole Ballgame
The issue, of course, is that that never happens.
01:32:20
Diesel Strawberry
can't win it if you're not in it, you know?
01:32:20
The Whole Ballgame
I understand.
01:32:25
Diesel Strawberry
That's the philosophy.
01:32:25
The Whole Ballgame
You make a real valid point. Like, thank you for that.
01:32:26
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Uh-huh.
01:32:27
The Whole Ballgame
Appreciate your, uh, your help and your support, uh, in this endeavor.
01:32:32
Diesel Strawberry
That's why I'm here.
01:32:33
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:32:34
Diesel Strawberry
Should we visit the good doctor?
01:32:39
The Whole Ballgame
Uh, yo.
01:32:41
Diesel Strawberry
oh hold Hi, doc. All right. Oh, shit. I just noticed the name of the person that's written this.
01:32:52
Diesel Strawberry
ah So, our story by... Q Marvin. ah This article was written by Lee Cluck.
01:33:00
The Whole Ballgame
I tell you, Roy Boy, i bet he tastes like a savory duck on a Saturday night at a Japanese restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, hanging in the window.
01:33:11
Diesel Strawberry
Like the Chinese TLC that Darrell met.
01:33:15
The Whole Ballgame
I had no idea that Ray Traylor had a Chinese daughter.
01:33:19
Diesel Strawberry
Half Chinese.
01:33:20
The Whole Ballgame
Half Chinese, of course, yeah. Oh, man.
01:33:23
Diesel Strawberry
If you ever take a trip down to Shanghai, China, you better watch yourself because I'll be doing TLC.
01:33:24
The Whole Ballgame
I bet she was a big girl. Mm-hmm.
01:33:35
Diesel Strawberry
All right.
01:33:35
The Whole Ballgame
It's all about Chinese finger cuffs in there somewhere.
01:33:38
Diesel Strawberry
Chinese finger cuffs. Whoa. whoa
01:33:41
The Whole Ballgame
He carries a... He carries some finger cuffs and...
01:33:45
Diesel Strawberry
And they're Chinese, too.
01:33:46
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, there you go.
01:33:47
Diesel Strawberry
He carries some finger cuffs in the Chinese too.
01:33:47
The Whole Ballgame
Anyway.
01:33:51
Diesel Strawberry
You're looking for trouble, he's gonna come inside you.
01:33:54
The Whole Ballgame
No. You're looking for Chow Mein.
01:33:56
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, if you're looking for Chow Mein, he's gonna come inside you.
01:33:57
The Whole Ballgame
You're looking for Chow Mein.
01:34:01
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, baby!
01:34:01
Diesel Strawberry
Hard times.
01:34:02
The Whole Ballgame
Oh! Keep on dancing on the Keep On Dancing Show.
01:34:03
Diesel Strawberry
Hey, hey baby. Oh shit, that's gimmick at Fridgeman. I don't know what's happening. There is no doubt that Dwight Doc Gooden should be considered one of the baseball's biggest stars of the 1980s.
01:34:18
Diesel Strawberry
There's also no doubt that he should be thought of as one of the game's largest cautionary figures of the same period. Dwight Gooden was the youngest of three children born to Dan and Ella Gooden on November 16, 1964 in Tampa, Florida,
01:34:37
Diesel Strawberry
where Dan, who had only a third grade education, worked for the Cargill Corporation and coached youth baseball, while Ella, his second wife, worked in a nursing home and a pool hall.
01:34:51
Diesel Strawberry
According to Gooden, baseball was one of his father's great passions, and it permeated the relationship between the father and the son from the beginning. Often this meant that Dan and Dwight would spend countless hours talking practicing, or watching the game in order to make Dwight the best player possible.
01:35:12
Diesel Strawberry
This treatment paid off very quickly and as the lanky Gooden aged. At seven, he learned the overhand curveball that would help him dominate hitters during his big league career.
01:35:26
Diesel Strawberry
At nine, he was an integral part of a 10 to 14-year-old Little League team that qualified for the Little League World Series. though Dwight couldn't play in the tournament because he was too young, and also playing softball against adults who played semi-pro baseball for his father.
01:35:46
Diesel Strawberry
Despite this early success in what Gooden considered a fairly idyllic, nurturing childhood, his home life was also full of turmoil that would foreshadow many of the pitcher's struggles later in life.
Dwight Gooden: Rising Star with Struggles
01:36:00
Diesel Strawberry
Most importantly, Gooden was exposed to a heavy dose of substance abuse, His father was a heavy drinker, adultery, and violence. This a included being present the day his sister was shot five times by her husband while five-year-old Dwight played with his cousin, Derek.
01:36:19
The Whole Ballgame
You know, we we were at the club and the guy had the gun in his hand. And I'm like, Kev, Kev, come here, help me out.
01:36:34
The Whole Ballgame
And before I knew it, she was gone.
01:36:41
Diesel Strawberry
Still good and continued to excel on the baseball diamond, eventually becoming a standout picture for Hillsboro High School in Tampa. He was scouted by teams, including the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and the Chicago Cubs.
01:36:56
Diesel Strawberry
Hey, there you go, Rick. You could have had Doc on your Cubs.
01:36:59
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, hey, I'm glad you brought me up there. I appreciate it. um
01:37:03
Diesel Strawberry
Sure.
01:37:03
The Whole Ballgame
I've been sitting here just waiting. I've been chomping at the bit. I heard Gabe walking around the house all week this week trying to to get down this. Well, as you know, you know, we've talked about this before. Razor Ramon was my favorite ah when I was watching the wrestling in the early 90s.
01:37:15
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, yeah.
01:37:18
The Whole Ballgame
And so, you know, the fact that you're you're equating –
01:37:19
Diesel Strawberry
Sure, sure.
01:37:22
The Whole Ballgame
ah you know, one of the better African-American pitchers in the history of baseball ah witha with a professional wrestler from the 1990s. I thought, I thought, who better to help out in this case than than a ah ah up ah a white pitcher ah from baseball in the 80s and the early, the late 70s.
01:37:42
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh. Sure.
01:37:44
The Whole Ballgame
And I've been working on it. And that's so I thought I would, I would maybe help out if if you're okay with it a little bit. And if Gabe wants a little break.
01:37:52
Diesel Strawberry
Well, I got to tell you, Rick, I've been... It's...
01:37:58
Diesel Strawberry
I'm at a loss a little bit. i I'm so excited that you've decided to become more of a part of the creative endeavors here at at the whole ball game. And the way you just shove your nose into it and just get right in there, whether you're wanted or not, is something to just be admired.
01:38:17
Diesel Strawberry
You know that? and And you live on a couch, or behind a couch, I'm sorry, but you just, you don't stop and you don't let that def define you.
01:38:28
Diesel Strawberry
And I appreciate that. So yes.
01:38:30
The Whole Ballgame
well Well, look, at 75 years young, you know, you you've got to keep on keep on keep on going every day.
01:38:33
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:38:38
The Whole Ballgame
You thought I was going somewhere else with that, didn't you? I know you did. um
01:38:42
Diesel Strawberry
I was going to say this.
01:38:42
The Whole Ballgame
ah listen.
01:38:42
Diesel Strawberry
Give me a fridge, motherfucker.
01:38:44
The Whole Ballgame
I listen to the program and I love Jimmy's eyes. But anyway, especially when he's got his when he's got his glasses off, it makes me real.
01:38:48
Diesel Strawberry
I'm going to wear my glasses. Okay.
01:38:53
The Whole Ballgame
but It makes me feel some certain kind of way. Anyway, so before we get into it, you know, it doesn't seem that there's a lot of quotes in this one so that I'm going to have a lot of chance. But um certainly I'm going to play the part here of Doc.
01:39:05
Diesel Strawberry
Okay. Yeah.
01:39:07
The Whole Ballgame
But here, yeah I've been working on this one all all week for you.
01:39:07
Diesel Strawberry
Well.
01:39:10
The Whole Ballgame
So here we go. You ready? Here.
01:39:10
Diesel Strawberry
Oh.
01:39:14
The Whole Ballgame
Say hello to the bad guy.
01:39:18
Diesel Strawberry
Oh. That's wonderful, Rick. You're very good.
01:39:27
Diesel Strawberry
Thank you. You can tell that you watched a lot of that 90s wrestling with with your dad like we were talking about earlier.
01:39:35
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, we sure did. Oh, man.
01:39:36
Diesel Strawberry
Razor, the face is a fear.
01:39:37
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:39:39
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:39:39
The Whole Ballgame
And when they were on they were on, I mean, eventually we, you know, Saturday night, WCW Saturday night wasn't the one to watch no more.
01:39:50
Diesel Strawberry
Sure.
01:39:50
The Whole Ballgame
we would be watching on Monday evenings and, you know, we didn't really.
01:39:51
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:39:54
Diesel Strawberry
Right. Razor makes the jump.
01:39:56
The Whole Ballgame
it wasn't quite as easy ah a transition, right? You know, you got to wait two and a half days to, to get your wrestling fix after a good, good juice.
01:39:59
Diesel Strawberry
Right. Yeah.
01:40:04
Diesel Strawberry
Sure.
01:40:05
The Whole Ballgame
And so, you you know, you, what we would oftentimes do is we would, we would cut on the girls for two days before, before letting them go entirely.
01:40:06
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh. About the same, but...
01:40:17
The Whole Ballgame
So we spread that, that adrenaline out a couple of days so that we could have a proper come down on watching the wrestling show.
01:40:26
Diesel Strawberry
So what we've had here is a real full circle moment in the show because as, as Rick just laid out, these poor girls suffered for two days longer because Ted Turner told Scott Sassa to give Eric Bischoff two hours on Monday night and look at the butterfly effect that that caused in Effingham on the farm.
01:40:52
Diesel Strawberry
My God, that's what we do folks.
01:40:55
The Whole Ballgame
I tell you, you know, I ah sent Donnie a couple of fingernails from my girls in the mail this week, so he should he should be on the lookout there as well.
01:40:57
Diesel Strawberry
is what we do.
01:41:06
Diesel Strawberry
oh
01:41:09
The Whole Ballgame
um ah One of them is the one I used on your boss, too, so should he should hold on to it. and I mean, use it if you want to. you know If that's your kink, I'm i'm not here to kink shame nobody.
01:41:22
Diesel Strawberry
use it as if it just is known and needs to be unsaid is how you would use that fingernail and in the sexual manner
01:41:30
The Whole Ballgame
Well, sure, you got to slide it in between. You got to slide it in between the gap. And even if you don't have a gap, just the space in between your teeth, you know, and sometimes that resistance, that pain that comes from sliding it through is is all you need to go over top the plateau that you're looking for.
01:41:36
Diesel Strawberry
ah
01:41:43
Diesel Strawberry
yeah to come that's what you're saying
01:41:48
The Whole Ballgame
You understand?
01:41:52
The Whole Ballgame
Well, I mean, I don't like to be quite as vulgar as all that, but sure.
01:41:55
Diesel Strawberry
Sure, now why would you be vulgar?
01:41:56
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:41:57
Diesel Strawberry
You're just juicing girls.
01:41:57
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm.
01:41:58
Diesel Strawberry
That's right.
01:41:59
The Whole Ballgame
That's right.
01:41:59
Diesel Strawberry
Okay, let's get back to your story, Chico.
01:41:59
The Whole Ballgame
That's right. All right. Thank you. Thanks for letting me be part of it.
01:42:04
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah, no problem, bad guy.
01:42:05
The Whole Ballgame
Okay.
01:42:08
Diesel Strawberry
Still good and continue to excel in the baseball diamond, eventually be cutting his standout. I feel like I read that, did I? No. Hillsborough High and Tampa. He was scouted by the Mets, Reds, and Cubs.
01:42:22
Diesel Strawberry
He also received scholarship offers. The Mets took Gooden with the fifth overall pick in the 1982 amateur draft, and he signed a deal worth $40,000 with an $85,000 signing bonus.
01:42:36
Diesel Strawberry
Like most prospects, Gooden started out in the low minors. In this case, the 17-year-old Gooden was assigned to Kingsport, in the rookie-level Appalachian League, and after just two starts, was promoted to Little Falls in the Class a New York Penn League.
01:42:53
Diesel Strawberry
Overall, he went 5-5 with 2.75 ERA in 11 starts and was promoted to Lynchburg in the High Class a Carolina League for 1983.
01:43:06
The Whole Ballgame
This is where I met Daryl.
01:43:11
Diesel Strawberry
What about his other brother, Daryl?
01:43:15
The Whole Ballgame
Daryl and I thought of our ourselves as outsiders.
01:43:20
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, yeah. Great.
01:43:29
Diesel Strawberry
I can just, I can see you in every different red and black
01:43:36
The Whole Ballgame
Wolfpack is back causing mass destruction. It's to see the bad boys are wrestling. and said didn It's a man of the mission. man is do he'll do the jey Wolfpack.
01:43:50
The Whole Ballgame
Let me prove a point. Believe that. Yeah. That's a good song.
01:43:58
Diesel Strawberry
I can...
01:43:58
The Whole Ballgame
Don't turn your back on the Wolfpack. You might wind up in a body bag or on Rick's table. Rick's, I mean, Rick's dad's table.
01:44:09
Diesel Strawberry
i can see you in every single NWO Walmart shirt ever made, Rick. Just all of them. Just hanging off of you somehow, even as big as you are.
01:44:20
Diesel Strawberry
They're still like three times too big.
01:44:23
The Whole Ballgame
I'd always buy a 5X, you understand?
01:44:25
Diesel Strawberry
That's the place to get At Lynchburg, it looked as if Gooden's progress may have stalled. Like most young pitchers, he tried to survive purely on his fastball and was beaten around by the more advanced hitters.
01:44:38
Diesel Strawberry
At that point, Gooden said it took the tutoring of his pitching coach, John Cumberland, to get him back on track brother by teaching him to set up hitters by throwing outside.
01:44:50
Diesel Strawberry
From that point on, Gooden was dominant on the mound. Off the field, a number of incidents foreshadowed the problems he would face later in his career. At Lynchburg, Gooden became a frequent drinker. How about that?
01:45:04
Diesel Strawberry
wonder what he was drinking. At the time, he thought this was a normal part of being a young professional. However, when he missed a bus after partying with teammate Darryl Strawberry, the Mets brass became concerned for the young righty.
01:45:20
The Whole Ballgame
I mean we were outsiders.
01:45:24
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah, you are. That's right.
01:46:18
The Whole Ballgame
Of course it is early, he said. and don't know if you heard that.
01:46:22
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah.
01:46:24
The Whole Ballgame
Like, he's he's supposedly straight at the time. That's from 2009, I think, um that clip. And yeah, like right in the middle of him saying, I'm straight today. And then just off to the side of the camera, looks the camera and goes, of course it is early.
01:46:39
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, well, you know, it's one of those things where you're like, you know, smoking weed doesn't count, this doesn't count, whatever. But, God, I got such a problem with, like, just that whole sentiment, because here's the deal.
01:46:52
Diesel Strawberry
uh so i got i don't know probably maybe i've never come up but so i got a master's in social work so i got a little bit of a background with some knowledge of this kind of shit and i don't i can't i don't know how the fuck anybody could go through that many rehabs and that whatever and you know take you said the last two or three were different but for it to take eight nine ten rehabs before you figured out about the whole treating the root cause and all this like what are you doing just going someplace and getting like fucking an abuse or something like because it just it just it just sounds like such horse shit there's like just these little like you know pieces of truth in there and then
01:47:39
The Whole Ballgame
Well, look, that's interesting because of what I'm going through currently with my brother. It's the same concept, right? Is um like, yeah, maybe you're right. Like to for some, this doesn't apply to Scott Hall ah because he was at least in the wrestling era of his life.
01:47:59
The Whole Ballgame
And I think that's what caused most of this problem anyway. He was never in danger of being homeless.
01:48:07
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:48:07
The Whole Ballgame
um But like,
01:48:09
Diesel Strawberry
Makes it all worse.
01:48:10
The Whole Ballgame
I would say 90% of the issue right now with my brother is it's not even about the fact that he's an addict, although he is, and he's been on methadone for 12 years or something like that on and off.
01:48:26
The Whole Ballgame
But he's been in and out of rehab three times in seven months, mostly because he's not got anywhere else to go that's that can provide a warm bed outside of a homeless shelter.
01:48:40
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:48:40
The Whole Ballgame
Right. Like, so that aspect of it, I think is strong as well. And so this time, apparently he's finally going to get moved out to a three quarter house. But like, I think that's, that's part of the, that vicious cycle of going back and going back and going back is that they just can't get their feet underneath them enough to have consistent housing and a job to pay for that housing.
01:49:05
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. That's certainly, you know, I did a lot of would, Not a lot my semester at my undergrad was at the with agency that worked with the homeless. And it's a I it's a fucking it's a nightmare because.
01:49:24
Diesel Strawberry
and to get one thing, you need these two things that you can't get without this thing that you can't have without these. And they don't have any of it because they've, they're fucking homeless.
01:49:35
Diesel Strawberry
Okay.
01:49:35
The Whole Ballgame
correct
01:49:35
Diesel Strawberry
Like it's, so yeah, like trying to navigate that is a nightmare and of itself. Cause like you try to figure out how to get somebody their ID or whatever, their birth certificate, or they need this or that. And it's just,
01:49:49
The Whole Ballgame
yeah i mean all of this comes back again to the bullshit this full circle bullshit that we're we're dealing with now you know with something as simple as you know people going on Twitter and complaining about how anybody could possibly um be against the idea of having to show ID at the polls, right?
01:50:14
The Whole Ballgame
Like, because they have no forethought or or ability to think about any situation that isn't their own situation, right?
01:50:18
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh.
01:50:24
Diesel Strawberry
yep
01:50:25
The Whole Ballgame
The reason the laws are in place that say, You don't have to bring your ID with you to the polling place is because that is tantamount to a poll tax because it costs money, not just to go and get an ID, but to get to the DMV, to leave your house, to it's so it's discriminatory against people who aren't homed.
01:50:48
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, and no, they don't think about anything like that.
01:50:50
The Whole Ballgame
No. No.
01:50:51
Diesel Strawberry
They don't. Fucking half of the shit in the world doesn't even cross their mind because the only thing you really need to know is that you don't fucking know everything and in everything, ah there are things out there that don't affect you that you don't even fucking know or understand and You know, that's not for you to know or understand. So just sit that the fuck out and maybe listen to the person that it is.
01:51:22
Diesel Strawberry
Anyway, the point being, I was like, i can't, I just can't.
01:51:23
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah.
01:51:28
Diesel Strawberry
i mean, maybe it's a product of the time or whatever, too, but he's going to rehab, like even in, you know, the 2000s shit. I just, I can't see any fucking place that they would get sent to that just, that wouldn't understand right off the bat that like what you're doing is you got to treat the root cause or nothing's going to work.
01:51:51
Diesel Strawberry
And I, that's what just didn't jive to me. Like what the, where the fuck is, are these guys going or, you know, whatever. But also it's Scott Hall. So who the fuck probably have this horse shit.
01:52:01
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, he's lying.
01:52:03
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:52:04
The Whole Ballgame
I mean, there's that.
01:52:05
Diesel Strawberry
That does change it. so Let's see ah Despite these problems, the future was bright for Gooden at Lynchburg. He finished the season 19-4 and struck out 300 hitters in 191 innings.
01:52:22
Diesel Strawberry
That's nuts. This earned him a promotion to AAA Tidewater in time for the International League playoffs. Gooden got two starts for manager Davey Johnson's team.
01:52:33
Diesel Strawberry
The first was a loss to Columbus in the semifinals. Gooden then started the decisive game in the playoff finals and defeated the Richmond Braves 6-1 to win the International League title.
01:52:46
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden finished the season by pitching a complete game win against Denver as Tidewater won the AAA World Series, round-robin event.
01:52:57
Diesel Strawberry
The biggest event that propelled Gooden's career coming into 1984 occurred off the field. 1983 Mets went through two managers. nineteen eighty three mets went through two managers the aforementioned George Bamberger and Frank Howard, and finished sixth in the NL East.
01:53:16
Diesel Strawberry
General Manager Frank Cashin embarked on a rebuilding. At the heart of the rebuild was the core of the 1983 Tidewater team, including manager Davey Johnson and playoff call-up Dwight Gooden.
01:53:32
Diesel Strawberry
As for whether he felt he belonged at the big league level, Gooden was up and down on the idea. He made his Major League debut on April 7th at the Houston Astrodome.
01:53:43
Diesel Strawberry
That's my fucking anniversary. How about that?
01:53:46
The Whole Ballgame
How about it? Hey, you know, they introduced me. They talked about round robin. You know, there's a girl that used to live in Lynchburg. We called her round robin.
01:53:58
Diesel Strawberry
No doubt.
01:54:00
The Whole Ballgame
She would, a lot of the times, we'd we'd hang out after games and we'd go down the street. There's a strip club called Lickety Splits. We'd end up there, and Round Robin was a dancer there.
01:54:15
The Whole Ballgame
little overweight, but had a dump truck on her, right?
01:54:16
Diesel Strawberry
sure because she's around ah oh no
01:54:19
The Whole Ballgame
ah she'd ah she'd She'd back her ass into my face and ah pretty regularly would fart right in my eyeballs. and Well, you did I bet you didn't know you can actually build up a tolerance to pink eye.
01:54:36
The Whole Ballgame
crazy.
01:54:37
Diesel Strawberry
i can't
01:54:37
The Whole Ballgame
I don't get it anymore. My wife here in, well, no, I'm Doc Good and I'm not Scott Hall. So I'm still alive. My wife farts on my face regularly. It's great.
01:54:50
Diesel Strawberry
ah It sounds like it. I can't believe.
01:54:52
The Whole Ballgame
Another win for the good guys.
01:54:57
Diesel Strawberry
I can't believe Daryl didn't tell me about it. He's usually so he wants to make sure that you you know all the facts like that that medical one about the tolerance to the pink eye seemed like something.
01:55:08
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, yo.
01:55:12
The Whole Ballgame
Daryl's a bullshitter, and we both know it.
01:55:17
The Whole Ballgame
He'll tell you the same thing, I promise. It's early, though.
01:55:25
Diesel Strawberry
You know, Scott, not that. wait, no. Doc? What?
01:55:32
Diesel Strawberry
However, Gooden was little unsure his pending success after a rough... Oh, wait, no. He made his Major League debut April 7th at the Astrodome and won, surrendering one run in five innings and striking out five.
01:55:45
Diesel Strawberry
After the game, Gooden told his father he felt he would...
01:55:50
The Whole Ballgame
Win a lot of games.
01:55:52
Diesel Strawberry
At the big league level, if he... What a weird place for a fucking... At a big league level, if he continued to pitch the way he did that day. However, Gooden was a little unsure of his impendence.
01:56:02
The Whole Ballgame
Oh, Clucky Boy here. He's not the best writer, is he?
01:56:05
Diesel Strawberry
That's right. That'll get cut out.
01:56:10
The Whole Ballgame
Probably.
01:56:11
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden was a little... I becocked, for those of you that were unsure of his impendence.
01:56:16
The Whole Ballgame
the cock.
01:56:17
Diesel Strawberry
There it is. After a rough outing, at his next start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. He pitched three and one-thirds innings and gave up six runs.
01:56:29
Diesel Strawberry
This time, he told his father that he,
01:56:33
The Whole Ballgame
May not be ready yet.
01:56:35
Diesel Strawberry
for life in the big leagues, luckily for the Mets, Gooden was wrong. During the rest of 1984, the young right-hander dominated the National League on the way to a seventeen to nine record with a 2.60 ERA.
01:56:51
Diesel Strawberry
His weapon of choice? The strikeout. During his rookie season, Gooden averaged 11.4 strikeouts for nine innings and struck out a total of 276. Fans the media took to calling him Dr. K or Doc.
01:57:08
Diesel Strawberry
His performance earned him Rookie of the Year honors in the National League. In 1985, Gooden was even better. He continued to rack up wins and strikeouts. He would go eighteen and one during one stretch of the season and ended that season 24-4, mowing down hitters with an overpowering fastball and devastating curveball.
01:57:30
Diesel Strawberry
He struck out 268 hitters innings League Cy Young Award. and finished with an era at one point five three all of this would earn in the national league sc young award His dominance on the field helped the Mets begin to look like contenders and made Gooden a proven commodity for advertisers.
01:57:49
Diesel Strawberry
By the start of the 1986 season, Gooden was a spokesman for Polaroid, Kellogg's, Spalding, and Toys R Us.
01:57:56
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, look, I love to take pictures, right?
01:57:59
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah.
01:58:00
The Whole Ballgame
Especially of round robin.
01:58:02
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh.
01:58:04
The Whole Ballgame
I'd eat cornflakes off of her dumper at home. So Kellogg's natural fit, and you know, Everybody loves Battle Creek, right, Billy?
01:58:15
The Whole Ballgame
ah Spalding, right?
01:58:16
Diesel Strawberry
what if i can
01:58:17
The Whole Ballgame
likes but It's baseball, right? so And then Toys R Us. I'm a Toys R Us kid, man. I'm a big kid. Look what I can do. I can take more drugs than you.
01:58:32
Diesel Strawberry
thanks scott you really nailed that humor
01:58:34
The Whole Ballgame
Daryl, wow. I'm a big kid now.
01:58:49
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, you like my G unit t-shirt?
01:58:52
Diesel Strawberry
I do. and also like how you have your bandana tied in a knot on the front of your head at a, yeah, it's at an angle.
01:58:58
The Whole Ballgame
It's just over to the left-hand side. That's the crip side. You understand?
01:59:03
Diesel Strawberry
You guys listening to Pac back then, right?
01:59:06
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, that's right.
01:59:10
Diesel Strawberry
You need to understand people that's this lean that, that Gabe has done as he's answering this question of, yeah, that's right. Like, Like, he's going, he's he's waiting to jump, a jumping off point here, and he's going to lace me with something.
01:59:27
Diesel Strawberry
So, what can you tell me about the...
01:59:29
The Whole Ballgame
The only thing I lace is fentanyl in my Coke, bro.
01:59:33
Diesel Strawberry
What about your Kool-Aid?
01:59:37
The Whole Ballgame
Orale Viva La Raza.
01:59:40
Diesel Strawberry
Vis-a-vis.
01:59:43
Diesel Strawberry
By Gooden's admission, during the 1985 season, he began to sample the nightlife of Major League Baseball with the help of some of his Mets teammates. For Gooden, who was 20 at the time, this meant a continuation of his heavy drinking.
01:59:58
Diesel Strawberry
Then, while in Tampa, fucking teatown after the season, Gooden experimented with cocaine.
02:00:09
The Whole Ballgame
write down a one a Right right? You could drive all the way from Tampa down to Daytona. And that's where all the good Coke was. is there's this There's this old school Highly Court that's right there off of A1A in Daytona, real real near to actually Orange, Port Orange.
02:00:30
The Whole Ballgame
ah and there's a bunch of dudes that would line up outside the highlight courts and they'd sell coke to the old men the old Cuban dudes that went to go see highlight and those Cuban guys they were serious enough about the drugs that nobody was gonna sell them like fucked up dope right so Dwight and I would go there on the way down to Dayton
02:00:55
Diesel Strawberry
Incredible detail. I appreciate that.
02:00:59
The Whole Ballgame
yeah
02:01:00
Diesel Strawberry
The, uh...
02:01:04
The Whole Ballgame
They would never, but Dwight, Daryl would never let me drive. I was ah was a real shitty wheel man.
02:01:13
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, you know, there's no fucking way I was gonna let Doc drive. He drove once and fucking nails shit his pants.
02:01:24
Diesel Strawberry
So... Nah, no way. Plus, he doesn't he didn't know where the fuck he's going. he doesn't know the highways like I do. didn't know all the best routes. know the best places to stop.
02:01:36
Diesel Strawberry
know Doc's a great wingman, but you know a wheelman? Nah, I don't think so, pal. Anyway.
02:01:47
Diesel Strawberry
Cocaine use in the majors was no huge shock at this time. It permeated clubhouses throughout the league, as much as performance-enhancing drugs would a generation later. Gooden became a seasoned user during the 1986 season, all while he continued to dominate on the field.
02:02:06
Diesel Strawberry
In 1986, he went seventeen and six struck out 200 hitters, and led the Mets to the National League pennant, all while falling deeper into drug addiction amidst the party atmosphere that was 1986 Mets.
02:02:21
Diesel Strawberry
In the World Series, Gooden was less successful. In his first start, in Game 2, Gooden earned a loss as he struggled and was chased after, giving up six runs and five innings to the Boston Red Sox.
02:02:34
Diesel Strawberry
Then, in Game 5, Gooden lost again. This time, he gave up four runs and four innings. Still, four nights later, the Mets won the World Series, and Gooden celebrated by doing cocaine until the sun came up.
02:02:49
The Whole Ballgame
I mean, what else is there to do, right? We drove up to Canada. I mean, it was as a hell of a celebration.
Gooden's Ongoing Battle and Redemption
02:07:00
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden's drug use continued in the offseason. He began to have troubles at home despite fathering his first child, Dwight Gooden Jr. Rumors of his drug use spread like wildfire throughout baseball in his hometown of Tampa.
02:07:17
Diesel Strawberry
All of this led Gooden to suggest that he would submit to a drug test to quell the talk. Gooden was arrested later in the offseason in Tampa. Then, early in 1987 spring training, he failed a test for cocaine.
02:07:32
Diesel Strawberry
At the med surgeon, he entered the Smithers... The Wayland Smithers Alcoholism and Rehabilitation...
02:07:38
The Whole Ballgame
Smithers!
02:07:40
Diesel Strawberry
Get in the moose.
02:07:41
The Whole Ballgame
Talking baseball, Maine to San Diego.
02:07:46
Diesel Strawberry
Daryl... Rehabilitation Center in New York City. New York City? Okay.
02:07:53
The Whole Ballgame
Get a rope.
02:07:55
Diesel Strawberry
This first stint in rehab cost good in the first two months of the 87 season and did not cure him of his addiction.
02:08:01
The Whole Ballgame
No.
02:08:03
Diesel Strawberry
Off the field.
02:08:03
The Whole Ballgame
well it's as we know, 12 times anyway, so
02:08:08
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He finally got there. Off the field, by his own admission, he continued to drink throughout the 87 season, though he did stop using cocaine for a prolonged period.
02:08:21
Diesel Strawberry
On the field, Gooden was still the dominant pitcher of the Mets had counted on since 1984. In 25 starts, he went fifteen and seven with an ERA at 3.21 while striking out 148.
02:08:35
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden was also on form through the end of the 80s, though there were signs that all the innings and possibly the hard living were catching up with him. In 1988, with still a strong Mets squad, Gooden stayed clean and was 18-9 with a 3.19 ERA as the Mets won the NL East.
02:08:55
Diesel Strawberry
He was still off cocaine in 1989, though he missed two months with a shoulder injury and made only 17 starts.
02:09:05
Diesel Strawberry
As the 1990s opened, there was changing a changing guard with the Mets. Gone, or about to be so, were many of the key players from the playoff runs of 86 to 89. Gooden, however, was in great shape and pitched like it. In 1990, he went 19-7 while striking out 223 in 232 innings.
02:09:25
Diesel Strawberry
His number fell off the next three seasons, though he remained somewhat sober. That changed in 1994. Well, didn't it? Didn't a lot of things change in 1994,
02:09:38
The Whole Ballgame
ah Well, you know it's you know, that day Wrigley Field, you guys you guys covered it already. There's not really much to say about it. but
02:09:47
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, that was the Harry's game, right? Harry was...
02:09:50
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, hey, hey, there's a reason i wanted to take part in the program today.
02:09:52
Diesel Strawberry
There he is.
02:09:56
The Whole Ballgame
I knew it. knew you were going to bring up the toughy game.
02:09:59
Diesel Strawberry
that was our... That was where we met you for the first time, wasn't it, Harry?
02:10:05
The Whole Ballgame
It's true. Hey, i was ah I was happy to bring myself along to the ballgame. I got to tell you, though, I've been listening to this guy talk about all of his exploits of drugs and alcohol abuse, and I got to tell you, I got to tell you, ah what a hero, what a champion he is.
02:10:15
Diesel Strawberry
Uh-huh.
02:10:22
Diesel Strawberry
You big fan of that? I see. I was.
02:10:24
The Whole Ballgame
Big fan of, look, at the end of the day, we're only around on this this this rock for a short amount of time, and you got to make most of it, you understand.
02:10:33
Diesel Strawberry
Sure. I ought but see.
02:10:34
The Whole Ballgame
Hot dogs and beer is just my drug of choice.
02:10:36
Diesel Strawberry
Right. Right. No, I get that.
02:10:39
The Whole Ballgame
Whether it's hot dogs and beer or cocaine and barbiturates, doesn't really matter, does it?
02:10:43
Diesel Strawberry
Sure. No, no. i did that But what I was going to say is I see, I thought you were going to find issue with these men and the way that they let their their predilections get out of hand, whereas you Right,
02:10:57
The Whole Ballgame
Now, yeah, I mean, look, at the end of the day, You got to be a man. You got to take control of your addictions. Hold on to Make them work for you, you know, as opposed to working actively against you ah the way these two men have.
02:11:06
Diesel Strawberry
Right.
02:11:11
The Whole Ballgame
and And then make jokes about it for some reason, you know.
02:11:14
Diesel Strawberry
sure
02:11:14
The Whole Ballgame
ah I make jokes about my addictions because I have that shit under control like Gabe does with the gambling, you know.
02:11:18
Diesel Strawberry
right right And as long as you keep your eyes closed, it all works, right?
02:11:27
The Whole Ballgame
i what do you i don't got my glasses handy. I don't know what to tell you.
02:11:31
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, you're just...
02:11:31
The Whole Ballgame
ah It's close my eyes and shake my head, and you make fun of me either way. So ah why don't you tell your story walking, motherfucker?
02:11:41
Diesel Strawberry
Hey, don't talk to me like I'm stony.
02:11:46
Diesel Strawberry
I gotta tell you, Harry, though, I always appreciate you as Stoney more than... I hate hearing Hawk call him Stone Pony.
02:11:56
Diesel Strawberry
Why he call him Stone Pony?
02:11:59
The Whole Ballgame
Well, I think it's because Hawk Harrison's a dumb bitch, frankly.
02:12:02
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, okay.
02:12:03
The Whole Ballgame
yeah
02:12:04
Diesel Strawberry
Great.
02:12:04
The Whole Ballgame
I mean, he spent so much time with Wimpy, and Wimpy got raped so many times.
02:12:04
Diesel Strawberry
Okay.
02:12:10
The Whole Ballgame
You know, he he he's got to call him Stone Pony, because ah what what was you can't call him Wimpy, you know, ah because Stoney, if a man tried to rape Stoney, Stoney would have him strung up before he could say what.
02:12:25
Diesel Strawberry
That's true. That's a good point. I think didn't really put that spin on it. All right. I'm going to read about the Tuffy game. Okay, Harry.
02:12:32
The Whole Ballgame
Hey, get to it, pal.
02:12:33
Diesel Strawberry
All right. Thank you. That season, Gooden became a historical footnote when he gave up three home runs to journeyman outfielder Tuffy Rhodes on opening day at Wrigley Field.
02:12:45
Diesel Strawberry
He kicked a bat rack and broke his toe.
02:12:48
The Whole Ballgame
are
02:12:51
Diesel Strawberry
The end shh.
02:12:51
The Whole Ballgame
Ha ha ha!
02:12:54
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, God. This is the most pathetic sense I've ever read. The injury required a rehab assignment, and during that time, Gooden began using cocaine again.
02:13:05
The Whole Ballgame
Have you ever broken your toe?
02:13:08
Diesel Strawberry
I hope he just started doing it because you were bored and not for pain management.
02:13:13
The Whole Ballgame
No, man. It's not a joke. like you can You can make fun of me all you want, but outside tooth pain, man, yeah you you break a toe, what's the doctor going to do Put a cast on your toe?
02:13:26
The Whole Ballgame
No, you just got suffer through that shit, man. And the cocaine helped the pain. i don't know what to tell you.
02:13:32
Diesel Strawberry
I know my little girl tore my pinky ligament and it's still like six months later and it's not right. I understand that. It doesn't bend at the end anymore. That's fine.
02:13:47
The Whole Ballgame
We're not the same.
02:13:48
Diesel Strawberry
Nah, we sure not. We sure not. You not like us. Gooden's second relapse coincided with the beginning of the player strike in 1994.
02:14:03
The Whole Ballgame
Here we are again.
02:14:04
Diesel Strawberry
While at home, he continued to use cocaine in his room while his wife and children were in the house. Gooden failed another drug test and was suspended for all of the 95 season.
02:14:19
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden entered Narcotics Anonymous with the help of Ray Negron, a consultant with the Yankees, an assistant to the assistant to the assistant of the traveling secretary, and he began working toward a comeback.
02:14:34
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden's comeback began in the winter of 96. In February, he signed a free agent contract with the Yankees. During his early starts that season, he was largely ineffective, and it seemed that a comeback would be a short one.
02:14:49
Diesel Strawberry
Still, Gooden rallied to pitch a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on May 14. He finished 11-7 with the Yankees and was firmly back in the majors, albeit as a journeyman.
02:15:05
Diesel Strawberry
Gooden was back with the Yankees in 1997 and even made a start in the American League Division Series. He got a no decision as Cleveland defeated the Yankees 3-2.
02:15:16
Diesel Strawberry
After the season, he signed a free agent contract with the Indians and went 11-10 over two seasons. Gooden pitched for Houston, Tampa Bay, and the Yankees in 2000.
02:15:28
Diesel Strawberry
After a tough spring 2001, he chose to retire before the Yankees released him.
02:15:34
The Whole Ballgame
It's been a joyous ride.
02:15:38
Diesel Strawberry
Sounds like it. Gooden said. Gooden worked as a front office assistant for the Yankees, but began using cocaine again. This led to his third attempt in rehab.
02:15:51
Diesel Strawberry
As you know, there were 12. In 2004, drugs were not Gooden's only problem during this period. In March 2005, he was arrested for hitting his girlfriend.
02:16:06
The Whole Ballgame
Robin.
02:16:08
Diesel Strawberry
Not Dana. At which point, yes, yes, not flat robbing.
02:16:09
The Whole Ballgame
Round Robin.
02:16:13
Diesel Strawberry
She doesn't make as much. At which point, he left the Yankees.
02:16:16
The Whole Ballgame
true.
02:16:19
Diesel Strawberry
In August, Gooden led police on a high-speed chase in Tampa that... quickly yo brother i was down i was driving the i was driving the charger down in t-town is going by paul orndolph's house dude and then i saw doc good and fucking he was in a high speed chase it is an orv dude bullet holes and i was like shit this is like the time i ate way to godfathers and then brooke td was like dad you're full of shit that didn't happen and i said no but her sister did dude what
02:16:50
The Whole Ballgame
You
02:16:51
Diesel Strawberry
He missed a court-ordered domestic abuse prevention class, which triggered a 10-day incarceration in Hillsborough County Jail. Gooden was sentenced to three years probation and community service stemming from the traffic stop and fugitive arrest.
02:17:08
Diesel Strawberry
As part of this, he underwent rehab for a fourth time in 2006.
02:17:13
Diesel Strawberry
After three months of sobriety, Gooden relapsed in the spring of 2006. This relapse was a parole violation, and Gooden's been sentenced to a year and a day at a maximum security state prison in Lake Butler, Florida.
02:17:31
The Whole Ballgame
Ever been to Lake Butler?
02:17:33
Diesel Strawberry
No.
02:17:34
The Whole Ballgame
I don't recommend it.
02:17:36
Diesel Strawberry
Thank you. I'll take that to heart. After the prison stint, Gooden tried to once again establish firm footing in his personal life. This included reconciling with the Mets during the final year play at Shea Stadium in 2008 and the first year of play at Citi Field in 2009.
02:17:55
Diesel Strawberry
He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010 along with Davey Johnson and Darryl Strawberry. Despite this, Gooden relapsed again that year. A string of erratic behavior followed and Gooden was arrested on a litany of charges including child endangerment in new jersey when he operated his vehicle under the influence of cocaine and ambien with his son dylan in the car well he should have been fine then yeah it's fucking you know doc that's just doc being balanced the cocaine and the ambien that's that's what we call dwight that arrest led to more spiraling behavior
02:18:21
The Whole Ballgame
Jesus.
02:18:37
Diesel Strawberry
and Gooden was a recluse for much of the summer of 2010 while living in a hotel in New Jersey. Then, with the help of his Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, Gooden attempted to reclaim his life.
02:18:54
Diesel Strawberry
He appeared on TV's Celebrity Rehab. Gooden continued treatment in Bergen County, New Jersey, and in 2011 was placed on five-year special probation...
02:19:07
Diesel Strawberry
in 2011 on charges stemming from his last arrest.
02:19:10
The Whole Ballgame
ah You know, that Dr. Drew guy, he was he was the guy on Celebrity Rehab.
02:19:13
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, boy.
02:19:17
The Whole Ballgame
I liked him.
02:19:19
Diesel Strawberry
Go figure.
02:19:19
The Whole Ballgame
You've seen him lately, though. I don't know what the hell happened to that guy. Like, a he' he's, like, turned full on, like, Dr. Oz conspiracy theorist, dude. Like, I don't know if you saw him on Twitter or what, but, like, he's he's out there talking about COVID not being real, and he got all Republican and shit.
02:19:40
Diesel Strawberry
I
02:19:41
The Whole Ballgame
I don't know. I think it's, ah like, Adam Carolla's money just, like, warped his fucking brain.
02:19:47
Diesel Strawberry
i was going to say, you think Carolla had anything to do with that? the
02:19:50
The Whole Ballgame
everything He's had everything to do with it. Carolla built something for himself, right? like And congratulations to you, right? You built a studio and you got podcasts. It's good for you. And he's got his buddy along with him. And he just seems to have thrown his his the entirety of his morality out the window just to to to make a quick buck, which is real fucking disappointing, especially for a kid who used to listen to Loveline.
02:20:18
Diesel Strawberry
I'm sure you used to jack off to it, didn't you?
02:20:21
The Whole Ballgame
All the time. Fuck it.
02:20:23
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, fuck it, right? That's right. That's what we say.
02:20:26
The Whole Ballgame
like again It's like anything else.
02:20:29
Diesel Strawberry
um You know who Corolla is to me?
02:20:33
The Whole Ballgame
Hmm.
02:20:33
Diesel Strawberry
He is a shitty, poor man's Norm MacDonald. That's... that's
02:20:40
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, shitty. Yeah, shitty poor man. That's fine. Yeah, he's got the same kind of delivery for sure.
02:20:44
Diesel Strawberry
Like, he's trying to be Norm, but
02:20:46
The Whole Ballgame
Mm-hmm.
02:20:47
Diesel Strawberry
He's not because there is only one norm. You can't and can't do that. and it's he's He's like a... know what he is. He's like if, ah say... Let's see.
02:21:04
Diesel Strawberry
I need one more. Okay. Say Ben Savage, Norm MacDonald, and Adam Sandler did third male procreation. That would be what came out of It would be Adam Carolla.
02:21:15
The Whole Ballgame
pretty good it's pretty good Ben Savage good for you Ben correct
02:21:17
Diesel Strawberry
So let's wrap. Yeah. Not Fred. Ben. Needs to be Ben. Because of the hair.
02:21:26
Diesel Strawberry
When's Topanga going to get naked?
02:21:30
The Whole Ballgame
the other one did and the redhead the redhead redhead from Boy Meets World that dated the older brother Maitland Ward she's doing porn now yeah it's later on in the run you probably weren't watching anymore
02:21:32
Diesel Strawberry
Who?
02:21:39
Diesel Strawberry
I don't know who that one is.
02:21:44
Diesel Strawberry
I remember when Sean gets the girlfriend and they they have to go 90s with it, do the jungle fever deal.
02:21:52
The Whole Ballgame
The black girl, yeah, yeah. She's crazy.
02:21:54
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, is she?
02:21:54
The Whole Ballgame
Like, real life crazy.
02:21:55
Diesel Strawberry
Good.
02:21:55
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, yeah.
02:21:56
Diesel Strawberry
Why do you know this?
02:21:58
The Whole Ballgame
ah Because we we had, like, the cast come to New York Comic Con 2020.
02:22:04
Diesel Strawberry
oh okay. Okay.
02:22:05
The Whole Ballgame
twenty
02:22:08
The Whole Ballgame
I can't remember if it was pre-pandemic or post-pandemic, but it was the first time they ever did a whole cast thing. And it was the last time they did it too, because Ben Savage has recently gone a little nuts.
02:22:16
Diesel Strawberry
Oh yeah.
02:22:17
The Whole Ballgame
um Like he ran for, for democratic office and in California and then like completely cut off all of his co-stars, like has not talked to any of them since. And they all have a podcast and he, he won't return phone calls.
02:22:27
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. Oh. Well.
02:22:30
The Whole Ballgame
Like, um But maybe, you know what, maybe it's not him going crazy. Maybe it's him just not wanting to do deal with celebrity anymore, which I can't really blame him for, frankly.
02:22:41
Diesel Strawberry
I gotta tell you that his buddy's face really pissed me off, so I don't i can't imagine wanting to see him either. He had a gap in his teeth like Dave.
02:22:53
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, well, there you go.
02:22:53
Diesel Strawberry
Ryder Strong. That was his name.
02:22:55
The Whole Ballgame
Ryder Strong. Yes, sir.
02:22:57
Diesel Strawberry
Bitch-ass motherfucker.
02:22:57
The Whole Ballgame
Yep.
02:22:59
Diesel Strawberry
Look, was Topanga there?
02:23:01
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah, it was fucking awesome.
02:23:02
Diesel Strawberry
Did you smell her? What'd she smell like? Look, look, look. Hey, this is for Papa, right? This is what we're talking about here. All right?
02:23:11
The Whole Ballgame
That's fine.
02:23:12
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
02:23:12
Diesel Strawberry
let's Let's do this, all right?
02:23:13
Diesel Strawberry
This is what we were built for. Now tell me.
02:23:16
The Whole Ballgame
You remember Herbal Essences, right? like
02:23:18
Diesel Strawberry
Oh, yeah.
02:23:18
The Whole Ballgame
Like, that's that's what I got out of the deal. Because, like, we were backstage after the main stage thing.
02:23:22
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-mm. That's right.
02:23:23
The Whole Ballgame
and
02:23:25
The Whole Ballgame
I got a picture with her. I got to find it's in my thing. I'll find it and put it on the ah Twitter or something.
02:23:30
Diesel Strawberry
and Send that to me.
02:23:32
The Whole Ballgame
But basically, it's you know, you you take a picture and you You put your arm around them, but like not on the waist because that's inappropriate. So it's like you're kind of just hovering because you don't.
02:23:43
Diesel Strawberry
Right, but you went a little lower this time, didn't you?
02:23:45
The Whole Ballgame
But close enough to smell her. Huh?
02:23:47
Diesel Strawberry
Did you?
02:23:47
The Whole Ballgame
No.
02:23:48
Diesel Strawberry
No.
02:23:48
The Whole Ballgame
Close enough to smell her hair. You know what i mean? that's That was the key. And so, yeah, i I took a whiff and it was very, very like fruity.
02:23:57
Diesel Strawberry
Mm-hmm.
02:23:57
The Whole Ballgame
And you know what i mean? Just really sweet smelling like that sweet shampoo.
02:23:58
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah. That's right.
02:24:01
The Whole Ballgame
Yeah. Very, very.
02:24:04
The Whole Ballgame
Very nice. Not white diamonds at all.
02:24:08
Diesel Strawberry
Now let me ask you this, Gabe. Did she fart in front of you?
02:24:12
The Whole Ballgame
She didn't. No.
02:24:14
Diesel Strawberry
okay
02:24:16
The Whole Ballgame
Look, i'm I'm still in pop culture.
02:24:16
Diesel Strawberry
Hey now.
02:24:18
The Whole Ballgame
there's There's a chance. Thank you, Papa.
02:24:22
Diesel Strawberry
Baba booey.
02:24:25
The Whole Ballgame
all right, let's wrap this up.
02:24:25
Diesel Strawberry
As of 2015, Gooden has been sober since March 11th, 2012. What a weird fucking way to say that. Why couldn't... This is 2015.
02:24:36
Diesel Strawberry
That's right. Living in New York, he is the spokesman for PinkTide.org, a sports charity that helps in the fight against cancer. In 2015, he said he still loved baseball and especially the Mets.
02:24:54
The Whole Ballgame
um Just as an addendum, ah in 2019, Gooden returned to rehab, disclosing that the first time he went, he was just 21. Here's what he said to the New York Post.
02:25:12
The Whole Ballgame
I never thought I'd see myself at 54 going back to treatment. First time was at 21, but you know, uh, basically I'm going away tonight to try to get some help to save my life.
02:25:23
The Whole Ballgame
I'm very embarrassed, very shameful. I feel bad for anybody I disappointed or let down this time. I mean, at my age, I've been doing this for 30 something years.
02:25:36
The Whole Ballgame
And so That's where we currently sit in Dwight's story. He's been sober since 2019.
02:25:46
Diesel Strawberry
OTD, baby, as they say. Wait, no. ODT, baby. One day. ODAT. Fuck it. You know what they say, baby?
02:25:55
The Whole Ballgame
One day at a time.
02:25:56
Diesel Strawberry
They say ODB. They say, this old dirty bitch. I've got it in my pussy. Pussy. Hey, did you have her meat truck?
02:26:04
The Whole Ballgame
That's a good.
02:26:06
The Whole Ballgame
yeah i yes and it was bad like it was a bad barbecue sandwich that's all it was we were both we were both in Schamburg right yeah what'd you get pink eye
02:26:11
Diesel Strawberry
Yeah, that was great. You know what? I got in her meat truck. Yeah.
02:26:20
Diesel Strawberry
I got fucking pink eye because she farted in my eye. This
02:26:25
The Whole Ballgame
and with that we leave you because we can't top it that my friends what is it Blake
02:26:34
Diesel Strawberry
is a whole fucking ballgame.