He lives close by me. He and his wife come into local establishments sometimes talking to people at the bar and stuff like that spreading their message. It's not in your face or anything like that. A few people working there have told me this more than once. I seen him once out and he was very calm and nice guy. Good to see a guy turn his life around trying to help others.
Never thought I would say Darryl Strawberry is the voice of reason, but he is dead on right in his take on Ron Darling's knocking Lenny Dykstra.
Darryl Strawberry is the latest and most emphatic former Met to defend Lenny Dykstra over charges of racism levied by Ron Darling in his new book.
Strawberry insisted Tuesday that he “never” heard Dykstra say the racist things Darling alleges he shouted at Boston pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd before Game 3 of the 1986 World Series, while adding he’s “totally shocked” and “very disappointed” in the SNY analyst for “stepping on a man’s life when he’s down,” referring to Dykstra’s ongoing legal problems in recent years.
“You don’t do that. … You don’t make up things about a person that other players didn’t hear or other players didn’t know about,” Strawberry said on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN Radio. “Of course, I would’ve never … I would’ve jumped on [Dykstra] about it if he ever said something like that.
“I never heard Lenny say anything racist. Never, ever. He’s not. I know this guy. I’ve seen this guy. I came through the minor leagues with him, I’ve had him in my home. This is not true, and it’s not fair.”
Darling had said on ESPN earlier in the day that he stands by what he wrote in his book — “108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game” — but former Mets teammates Doc Gooden and Kevin Mitchell also took Dykstra’s side in separate interviews with Kay the previous day.
“Ronnie said he has some [former Mets teammates] that have his back, but I don’t have his back. I don’t believe it,” Strawberry said. “And I know I was one of the prime players on that team. Doc don’t believe it, Kevin don’t believe it. If we ever thought that, because Lenny hung out with us, so why would we ever put him in a position that he hung out with us?”
Later in the day on SNY, Darling said he had been told by his lawyers to stop speaking about the incident because Dykstra has threatened legal action.
“I’ve been advised not to say anything more about the subject just because I don’t want to bring any more momentum to Lenny and how he feels,” Darling said. “That said, I stand by everything in the book.”
Strawberry, 57, also compared Darling’s literary foray to Jose Canseco’s tell-all book about the steroids era as an attempt “to draw attention to himself.”
“I’m shocked, I’m totally shocked,” he said. “Ronnie is doing well in what he’s doing, and it’s just shocking to me that he would step out in a book and say some things like this about Lenny, knowing we were all there. He’s on the on-deck circle, how far could we be away that we couldn’t hear it at Fenway? The dugouts are not that big, we’re all there together. I’m quite sure if something was said, how many guys would’ve heard it.”
<article class="story-photo-box oversize-headline"> [h=3]Oil Can Boyd says he didn't hear Dykstra 'slurs,' but believes Darling[/h]
</article>
Strawberry also contended that the hard-nosed 56-year-old Dykstra and the Yale-bred Darling, 58, never were particularly close.
“Different personalities, so probably not,” Strawberry said. “Lenny was a different type of guy. He was loud, he talked a lot of trash, but he talked trash in a good way, he didn’t do it to put anybody down. … He was harmless. He wasn’t a person that would say something that would hurt someone. I know Lenny probably called [Darling] Mr. P, Mr. Perfect, but everyone thought it, that’s what Ronnie made everyone believe, that he was Mr. Perfect.”
Asked what he’d say to Darling about the book, Strawberry added: “You know what, I won’t even waste my time talking to him at this point. It’s sad that he would come out and say something like that towards Lenny. We knew Lenny back then when he was just a kid, and we know where he’s at today. Why now? That’s the question I have, why bring this up now about him? Because you’ve written a book to get headlines or whatever it may be? It’s just not right. It’s not right to do a guy like that.”
Strawberry, who has battled his own long list of problems and substance-abuse addictions, stressed that is especially true because Dykstra has dealt with various legal issues in recent years.
“We love Lenny, we care about him, and it shouldn’t come to this,” Strawberry said. “What’s happening to Lenny at this point in time, he needs myself and other players to come and support him. He’s at a different point and time in his life, and for someone to slam him in a book like that, it’s not fair.”
Darryl Strawberry is the latest and most emphatic former Met to defend Lenny Dykstra over charges of racism levied by Ron Darling in his new book.
Strawberry insisted Tuesday that he “never” heard Dykstra say the racist things Darling alleges he shouted at Boston pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd before Game 3 of the 1986 World Series, while adding he’s “totally shocked” and “very disappointed” in the SNY analyst for “stepping on a man’s life when he’s down,” referring to Dykstra’s ongoing legal problems in recent years.
“You don’t do that. … You don’t make up things about a person that other players didn’t hear or other players didn’t know about,” Strawberry said on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN Radio. “Of course, I would’ve never … I would’ve jumped on [Dykstra] about it if he ever said something like that.
“I never heard Lenny say anything racist. Never, ever. He’s not. I know this guy. I’ve seen this guy. I came through the minor leagues with him, I’ve had him in my home. This is not true, and it’s not fair.”
Darling had said on ESPN earlier in the day that he stands by what he wrote in his book — “108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game” — but former Mets teammates Doc Gooden and Kevin Mitchell also took Dykstra’s side in separate interviews with Kay the previous day.
“Ronnie said he has some [former Mets teammates] that have his back, but I don’t have his back. I don’t believe it,” Strawberry said. “And I know I was one of the prime players on that team. Doc don’t believe it, Kevin don’t believe it. If we ever thought that, because Lenny hung out with us, so why would we ever put him in a position that he hung out with us?”
Later in the day on SNY, Darling said he had been told by his lawyers to stop speaking about the incident because Dykstra has threatened legal action.
“I’ve been advised not to say anything more about the subject just because I don’t want to bring any more momentum to Lenny and how he feels,” Darling said. “That said, I stand by everything in the book.”
Strawberry, 57, also compared Darling’s literary foray to Jose Canseco’s tell-all book about the steroids era as an attempt “to draw attention to himself.”
“I’m shocked, I’m totally shocked,” he said. “Ronnie is doing well in what he’s doing, and it’s just shocking to me that he would step out in a book and say some things like this about Lenny, knowing we were all there. He’s on the on-deck circle, how far could we be away that we couldn’t hear it at Fenway? The dugouts are not that big, we’re all there together. I’m quite sure if something was said, how many guys would’ve heard it.”
<article class="story-photo-box oversize-headline"> [h=3]Oil Can Boyd says he didn't hear Dykstra 'slurs,' but believes Darling[/h]
</article>
Strawberry also contended that the hard-nosed 56-year-old Dykstra and the Yale-bred Darling, 58, never were particularly close.
“Different personalities, so probably not,” Strawberry said. “Lenny was a different type of guy. He was loud, he talked a lot of trash, but he talked trash in a good way, he didn’t do it to put anybody down. … He was harmless. He wasn’t a person that would say something that would hurt someone. I know Lenny probably called [Darling] Mr. P, Mr. Perfect, but everyone thought it, that’s what Ronnie made everyone believe, that he was Mr. Perfect.”
Asked what he’d say to Darling about the book, Strawberry added: “You know what, I won’t even waste my time talking to him at this point. It’s sad that he would come out and say something like that towards Lenny. We knew Lenny back then when he was just a kid, and we know where he’s at today. Why now? That’s the question I have, why bring this up now about him? Because you’ve written a book to get headlines or whatever it may be? It’s just not right. It’s not right to do a guy like that.”
Strawberry, who has battled his own long list of problems and substance-abuse addictions, stressed that is especially true because Dykstra has dealt with various legal issues in recent years.
“We love Lenny, we care about him, and it shouldn’t come to this,” Strawberry said. “What’s happening to Lenny at this point in time, he needs myself and other players to come and support him. He’s at a different point and time in his life, and for someone to slam him in a book like that, it’s not fair.”
