Former Mets star Darryl Strawberry thanks Trump for pardon during sermon at Tulsa church

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Former New York Mets great Darryl Strawberry praised Jesus and thanked President Donald Trump for pardoning his past tax evasion and drug charges as he preached Sunday at a Tulsa church.

Jackson Lahmeyer, founder of Pastors for Trump, welcomed the eight-time All-Star to the pulpit of Sheridan Church, where more than 400 worshippers cheered when Strawberry mentioned Trump’s decision earlier this month to issue the pardon.

FILE – New York Mets former outfielder Darryl Strawberry speaks before number retirement ceremony, June 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray, File)

“God just completely set me free when he gave me a pardon from President Donald J. Trump,” said the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year. “Other presidents had opportunities, but they didn’t do it.”

Strawberry hit 335 homers and had 1,000 RBIs and 221 stolen bases in 17 seasons with the Mets, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.

For years, the four-time World Series champion battled legal, health and personal problems. He served 11 months in a Florida state prison for a 2002 probation violation.

Now 63, the retired outfielder credits his Christian faith for turning his life around and allowing him to remain sober for more than two decades.

“All glory to God because he found me in a pit and put me in a pulpit,” Strawberry said during his 45-minute sermon. The devil “should have killed me when he had a chance,” he joked.

Lahmeyer, the independent charismatic congregation’s lead pastor, said he became involved in politics during the COVID-19 pandemic when threatened with arrest for conducting a drive-up service from a rooftop.

A member of the National Faith Advisory Board, Lahmeyer said he and Trump discussed Strawberry while meeting at the White House a few months ago.

“Trump knows all the stats,” Lahmeyer said in an interview. “He’s a huge fan of Darryl Strawberry.”

Lahmeyer said he and Trump did not discuss a possible pardon.

“We were just talking about how Darryl had completely transformed his life and that he was coming to preach at my church, which the president thought was just incredible,” the pastor said.

For his part, Strawberry — who got to know Trump while appearing on his “Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV show in 2010 — said he was surprised to receive a call from Trump on Nov. 6 informing him of the pardon.

“We just talked about my baseball career in the 1980s and what kind of player I was,” Strawberry told The Associated Press. “He was just telling me how great of a player I was … and he just kind of joked around that he couldn’t hit a baseball. I said, ‘Well, the way you hit a golf ball, you can hit a baseball.'”

From there, the conversation progressed to Strawberry’s past crimes. He pleaded guilty in 1995 to tax evasion for failure to report $350,000 in income from autographs, personal appearances and sales of memorabilia.

“He told me, ‘You know you did some very bad things,'” Strawberry said. “But he said, ‘Today, the way your life is and what you’re doing, your faith and helping people and being sober, I’m giving you a full pardon. You’re going to be clean. I’m wiping everything out.'”

Strawberry said the news overwhelmed him.

“I was really thankful to God,” he said. “God has really changed my life and kind of brought me to a really humbling place of doing his work.”

Strawberry, who lives in St. Louis with his wife of 19 years, Tracy, said he travels about 260 to 270 days each year to speak about Jesus and his life’s transformation.

He was scheduled to speak at Sheridan Church in September, but his sermon was postponed after the death of Davey Johnson, who managed the Mets’ 1986 world championship team. Lahmeyer “was kind enough to let me go and do the eulogy for my manager,” Strawberry told the congregation.

Church members and visitors interviewed after Sunday’s assembly said hearing Strawberry’s comeback story inspired them.

“That’s what the power of Jesus does,” said Shirley Carson, a Trump supporter who began attending Sheridan Church two and a half years ago Steve Smith, who lives in nearby Sand Springs, wore a Mets hat and brought a poster for Strawberry to sign.

“I have waited 40 years to meet Darryl Strawberry,” the longtime Mets fan said after posing for a photo with his baseball hero.

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