Darryl Strawberry's "Straw" - a Point of View

I'm halfway through Darryl Strawberry's new Book, Straw, and I have to share some thoughts. For one thing, it is impossible to put down. It is a riveting story of the most talked about athlete in New York sports over the past 25 years. I don't think that is an overstatement. Not Ewing, Messier, Arod, Jeter, Piazza, Rivera, Brodeur, NO ONE has been a bigger topic of conversation on Mike and the Mad Dog and other talk shows than Darryl Strawberry. Unfortunately, it was mostly for the wrong reasons.

I've watched Straw on SNY on and off the past couple years and was intrigued by this book. He is brutally honest about his upbringing and about the mistakes he made. His father was verbally abusive and very physically abusive. That no doubt helped shape the man he became. As a 21 year old he got caught up in the drugs, sex, and drinking that the lifestyle of a mid 80s New York Met provided him. He was so addicted to speed that he would have to take more and more speed in order for it to take any effect. One time he and David Cone were out drinking till 8 am for an afternoon game. Cone wasn't pitching but Straw had to overdo the speed in order to be able to play. At one point he crushed a triple and as he slid into 3rd, he had the worst headache, his world was spinning, and Cone was sitting in the dugout cracking up.

The book is not really about baseball. In his account of the 1986 postseason, the name Bill Buckner isn't mentioned; the whole Astros series takes about 2 paragraphs. The book is much more about his struggles against alcohol and drug abuse, and the part I have yet to read - his victory over those diseases. Much like with Josh Hamilton, one can only hope and pray that his recovery is permanent, and one must respect him for being so honest and open about all of hit setbacks, all of his flaws, and all of his mistakes.

I highly recommend this book.

Sussman