Darryl Strawberry: Another Life

have I ever dealt with the brokenness on the inside, the reality of not having the father in my life?

“I think a lot of times we as African Americans, we don't have father figures in our life,”

and we have to search for it, and we try to search for it, and everything else, women, cars, money drugs, whatever brings pleasure, but at the end of the day, you still have to go home to you and land on that couch, and you still empty on the inside, and I was no different than anybody else. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Maccomplode and today I'm extremely honored, I'm humbled, because I get to talk to my hero. He is a three-time world series champion

eight-time all-star, one of the most feared hitters in Major League Baseball history, but his life isn't about that. His most remarkable feat is him giving back to communities, helping lead others to Christ, and just making an impact on the world. Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome my hero, Mr. Darrell Stranger. Well, thank you so much, Mac. I'm plugged. I appreciate you having me on your show. Like we were talking before, you said you had reached out to me when

I have some health issues, and I said, one day maybe I have the opportunity to get on your show and sit here and break bread with you. Here we are, brother. Nick and the strawberry. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Nick and the straw man. This is so surreal for me, because when I call you my hero, man, like it's on so many levels, it's because of you that is an African-American kid I played baseball growing up, right? It's because of you that as a college student, I was okay talking about my

faith and not being ashamed to say I love Jesus out loud. It's because of you, man, that I'm a better human being, and so I owe you so much gratitude, and I want to give you your flowers right you're here. Well, again, like I said, it means so much to me to be able to just have an impact for people in general, especially for people of color, African-Americans, and what we come from, because we come from the struggle, and we know how part of it is to get out of the struggle,

but there is a way out, and we must always remind our people that you can't get out. Don't

“stereotype yourself and let people dictate who you are. You have to find out who you are through”

your journey more than anything, and I think the struggle of the journey that one goes through brings you to a greater place. A lot of times people want to project what you should be. I am what I am. I'm where I suppose to be, and I'm grateful for God's grace that He has given me this opportunity. Amen to that brother and to that. And when we talk about your life and we talk about another life in the book that we're going to get into, this amazing book that's released,

I always ask my guest this first question about what is your because

that thing that's deeper than your life, right? Like if I were to say what's your why, you might say, you know, my wife, my kids, but when I say but why that sentence usually begins with well because. So if I were to ask the straw man, like all the amazing things that you're doing today,

“what's your because? Why do you continue to do the things that you do?”

Because of my mother, because of her raised in five of us by herself, not having the mill figure in the house and having to go through your own personal challenges in life. Because of that gave me strength, gave me courage. What I mean by that is to never quit no matter what it may look like. It's just remember quitting in high school, my freshman year in baseball,

and I realized from that day forward that I would never quit again. No matter what came against

me and I had to go through some very difficult challenges through minor league baseball and people called me out of my name and boys and this and I had to deal with some racial things. But I did not quit because if you give up, you never know the miracle that might be on the other side. I wouldn't be sitting here with a successful baseball career plan 17 years and imagine leagues. Even with pain, but still at the same time, great because I wanted to achieve. I wanted to prove

to my father that he was wrong about us and that was my goal. I love that. I love that so much. You know, the standout that you were at Crenshaw High School and almost going to, I think it was Oklahoma State. Like if it were 2026, I would have said, "Dale, Oklahoma State came with a bag in the to LA high." Like walk us through that

saying, "I think I'm going to go to the major leagues." Well, it was pretty cool going to Crenshaw

“High. A lot of people were talking about LA and talking about Crenshaw High. Like they”

really went to school there. But I actually went to school there and walked on those grounds and saw everybody and saw her everything and saw great athletes that came out of there before me, like Marcus Johnson, Ellis Valentine, Winter Tyler, Chris Brown. I just wanted to be another part of that and I was a part of that history with our baseball team. But it started in basketball because of my basketball coaches, Willie Weston, Joe Winkley, Dave Bought discipline. And if you

wasn't disciplined enough, you wouldn't play. You'll sit on the bench. Even though I was good, and if you did any type of infractions in school, you were going to get a serious punishment, you're going to be online, running suicides all day. So that was the learning curves. And it taught me a lot about who I wanted to be. And then when I went into baseball, I just kind of fell back into my lap after my junior year in high school. We played at Dodger Stadium because John L.

went and then we lost the city championship. I got a real taste of it and a lot of scouts from

scouting a lot of players and then my first day back out to play baseball after basketball season

after winning the city championship. There I was in a spotlight, you know, 50 scouts there to see me play. And I like struck out three times. I was like laughing to myself and saying, "Why are you guys here to see me?" And it was just big deal of who I was supposed to be. And I tell you, make I just want to be normal, growing up in South Central, you don't expect yourself to be a person where fame takes over you. Yes, I'm famous and yes, I went on to be that. But at the same

time, I had this great humility about myself because of being raised by a mother who taught me right, which was so important. I thank a lot of times. We disregard that and realize how important that is because you don't forget about that, you're gonna come back to that place of where you was raised and who you were raised by and eventually that will all play out in your life. And I think, you know, the whole journey was incredible journey. We're good at showing our success of what

we have and the stuff and look at me from the outside perspective. But really deep down inside

“who am I and I think we all want to know that. We all asked that question when we reached that”

pinnacle to the top and I reset like nobody know the athlete just like all the same. We know different. We all the same when it comes to what we accomplish. I totally agree and you know, I've got a quote from you that I started reading it in high school and it kind of helped me balance the business life of me. And you said success exposes who you are. And for me, that was so important

to understand. Almost what you're talking about is to always stay grounded, right? Because if you're

not grounded and you don't know who you are having more money, having more fame, having more success is just gonna make that a hundred times worse, better or whatever that is. So talk to us a little bit about that and what you meant by success exposes who you are. Because we truly end up with the wrong identity. I think we all searched for great success to have stuff and a lot of times we all get to stuff but still who am I at the end of the day. I think a lot of us don't ever come to that

“place because there's an empty void on the inside and that's why we accumulate more stuff to try”

to make us feel better. It just doesn't. The car is a car, house is a house. It doesn't matter how big the house here is, how big of a car you have. We just have a little bit more fame, a little bit more

open doors to open things. There's never, no, no, as always, yes, wherever you go, people that you

walk and do whatever you want to do. And I tell people all the time in this life you can pick your sins but you cannot pick the consequences. At some point, the consequences of life are going to come and when they do come, where do you go? And most of the time you can't turn to what you have because it eventually stopped working. I had every lawyer, I had every doctor to go to. Of course, I ended up being healed from cancer twice and had every situation to go through with

lawyers to get me out of his trouble. But still, it's still always trying to feel this empty void on the inside of us. It's a mass style side. The outside is what becomes that, I call it that

have I ever dealt with the brokenness on the inside, the reality of not having a father in my life?

“And I think a lot of times, you know, we as African Americans, we don't have father figures in our”

life and we have to search for it and we try to search for it and everything else, women, cars, money drugs, whatever brings pleasure. But at the end of the day, you still have to go home to you and lay on that couch and you still empty on the inside and I was no different than anybody else. I totally believe that brother, I totally believe that. And I'm going to give you a unplug truth right here. Because you don't know this, you wouldn't know this. You've also said something

that forgiveness is harder than discipline. And I got to understand what that meant this year. And I'm about to say something that nobody really ever knows. But my dad passed away earlier this year

“in March, April, April 1st. But I didn't have a relationship with my dad. I grew up in the same”

household with my dad until I was 18. But he was never there, meaning he was physically there.

But emotionally like what that son needs, like he wasn't there. And I had a chip of my shoulder for a very long time because I didn't want to be him. And I didn't understand forgiveness when he passed until I got a book in the mail called another life. And it helped me understand that I don't necessarily have to forgive him, but I need to forgive myself. I can forgive myself for maybe not trying to have the connection or maybe not trying to check in or whatever.

So I want to thank you for helping me understand forgiveness. But more importantly,

“forgiveness of myself, rather, because another life. And I know that that wasn't the whole theme”

of another life. We'll talk about that. But I needed you for forgiveness, man. Well, thank you for saying it. And that's probably why I'm on your show because I thought of the fact of you reaching out to me. This has to be a real person that really want to have a real conversation. A lot of times people just want to have conversations and I reject a lot of conversations of getting online. And it's about getting to the place of being real with ourselves more than anything.

And being able to unplug all these things that are in our life. Because we have a lot of things that we don't deal with. And that I didn't deal with my entire career was forgiveness of my father. I thought that forgiveness was for him the whole time. But God had to stop me and allow me to go to every stop that I needed to go to before I reinvented my life and became a different person and became a man of faith. And now when I come to this place, I see the difference

and understand the symbol of the cross. That's where forgiveness was at for all. And once you understand that, then you understand you how to go back and extend it to someone else because my

father led me to be a broken, he's a man. So hating him, I only made me suffer. And when I finally

got to the place of going to extend my forgiveness to him, which he received and the conversation on his deathbed and leading him to the Lord at that same time, brought me to a greater place. Because the forgiveness was not for him, it was for me. And that's the reason why so many of us walk around trying to fill these empty plugs inside of us, which stuff and think it's going to heal us and it doesn't. I didn't receive healing until I extended that to my father. I had all

this great success, worldly success in the achievements and trophies and I had done all these great things. But in that moment of time, that's when I experienced freedom. That's when I experienced the

release, like I always been waiting for. I couldn't get it when I was playing baseball. I used to hit

the ball so hard and thinking that was my father's head because I was so angry and mad because I was holding all this stuff inside of me for many years. And when I finally experienced that, I walked out of the hospital and I remember the Lord speaking to me and saying, "The forgiveness wasn't for

and I forgive you? I extend the grace to you." So you need to understand what grace is. So now I truly

“understand grace more than anything. That's why I've been able to move forward because grace is”

something you don't deserve, but he gives it to you anyway. And I'm so grateful that I do know that today. Matt, you just helped me and you didn't even realize it because I've been trying to express what this emotion is and it is freedom, right? It's freedom and it's fulfillment and you just helped me label that emotion, man. Thank you so much for that. Oh, it's a greater freedom than we think of achieving thanks. You've achieved so many of come on your show that have achieved

really stuff like me. I've achieved all that, but have I achieved that freedom that I want to walk with every day, that where I do like today, where I could teach my kids by not talking about it, but living it, being an action bit, living and being a living a pistol for Christ. What does that mean?

“That means Britain, not an ink by Britain, is spirit and truth. And that's how you live your”

life out and everybody looks at it and say, well, well, he needed that. Well, I'm glad I figured it out before it was too late. Because a lot of us just be here and we'll still be chasing after the affirmation of what everybody else wants to be and I don't do that. I only chase after what Christ want me to be and what he's already done and how he's already completed the task for me to be this

man that I always wanted to be, not a baseball player, not an athlete, not what everybody else

think is important, but at the end of the day, it's what type of man are you going to be when God sees you? And that's what I was always concerned about when I was playing baseball and winning and having to success. And even when I was lost in sin like I was, I just always threw it out there because it is important for people to understand that God does not condemn us. I mean, he truly loves the center more than you can ever imagine, but he hates the sin. And it's

myself that make that decision to live a sinful lifestyle. So I am separating myself away from the love of God and I can experience his goodness, his goodness is greater than any home run I ever had. Anything I've ever done and had success with is because it's true freedom, you have victory and freedom is different than just being. And I thank so many people having experience that freedom in their life and I'm just so glad we get the opportunity to share this

“moment in and just have you open up like that because that's how we get free.”

Yes, sir. I needed every moment of that, too. I needed every moment of that. So I thank you so much. I have a segment that I call the hot takes. And here's the hottest take that I have for damn strawberry. Is this right here? I told you that you helped me understand that I could be

outward with my faith, but also to understand and I heard this from you that Jesus was always there.

He was just waiting on you to accept him. Like, talk to us about that journey of you, finally saying yes, okay. Yes, I can't do it on my own anymore. Well, I think so many of us don't recognize that he's already completed the task force. He's already done it. And he's always been there. And he's very patient and he just waits for you. People always ask we walk, how did you find Jesus? Jesus has never been lost. It is us that lost. And when we recognize that and when we look

for him and when we come to the foot of the cross, now we will find him because we are looking for somebody that's totally different than any one of us. Why? Because he's a holy man and he's a righteous man and he's going to verify you and he's going to clean you up and he's going to make you holy. He's going to make you separate then your own natural fleshly body is. And that's the importance of understanding that. And after what it was for me, I didn't understand that until I actually

worldly things. We understand every conversation, every news outlet, every politics that people want to fight over, but they don't understand the Bible. And it's all been there. It's been here forever.

And the problem is, as the Bible said, my people perish because of lack of knowledge.

As we have knowledge about everything else, but we don't have knowledge about eternal life. We don't have knowledge about living. And it wasn't until I actually opened the word for myself and dove in to it. And that's when he poured it down inside of me. And that's when I started to live. That's when you start to live the abundant life. Not the life here. I have homes. I have success. But that's not a abundant life. That's our earthly life. He's talking about a abundant life where this doesn't

have you. I have you. Now you get to experience the purpose of why I created you. And the job that I have for you to do, you thought your job was baseball, you thought your job was football,

basketball, or you thought your job was business. Now he said, I got a job for you to be a light

and darkness, an example of what Christ is. Christ is good. And the thing about what we felt

“that realizes he's never lost a battle. And he's always been on time. So that's what we have to”

learn as people. He's his own time God and his own time for you. And he was right on time for me. I'm grateful for every storm that I had to go through because it got me to this place where I'm out today. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And that's a great segue to a question that my high school baseball coach has Brian Swartz. He wanted to ask you this question of, you know, being a baseball player at the highest level and all the discipline that it takes to be a professional athlete, plus the

struggles that you've acknowledged. How is that shaped your life now as a minister to to help reach other people? Well, training is so important to train yourself and learn how to be disciplined. You don't need anybody else to teach your coaches to do teach you that. But you

“have to eventually grab a hold of it and you have to really put it down inside of you to learn”

what discipline is if you want to be great. I didn't need nobody to go out to the ballpark with me when I needed to train. I needed to go out there and run the bases by myself. I needed to go out there and talk to myself and look up in the sky and tell myself how great I want it to be. And it's sort of the same thing when you get a calling upon your life. This is the highest calling that a man can get when God calls you. And I realized that when he called me, it was

time to go. It was nothing to play with anymore. So I had to separate myself from all the worldly people. Not that I'm any better than now. I just made a better decision for myself. And when I made that decision, I became a different person because that's when you start discipline yourself and that's when the transformation starts to come into your life. That's when he starts to go out and start to train you up. Now you start hearing from God instead of hearing outside noise.

Of others opinions. If you continue to listen to the opinions of others, you're going to always

stay stuck in the same place and you're not going to grow. And I needed to grow. I was already great at what I was doing from an earthly standpoint. But I was nowhere close where I needed to be from a kingdom standpoint. So I had to discipline myself. I had to start to read myself in the word. I had to turn off the television. I had to turn off the cell phone and I had the lay and I had to wait to hear from the Holy Spirit to teach me the Bible, which he taught me

to Bible supernaturally. I didn't go to school, but I went to the school of the Holy Spirit.

“And I think a lot of people think all these things are spooky, but that's how you learn”

who you are and that's how you learn all God wants to put you in a place to be His masterpiece. He takes you from a mess to a mess. The mess is as greater than the mess you ever been in. And I think that's what happened to me and people look at my life and say, well, maybe that's something he needed. No, we all really needed. It's not saying that you need to be a preacher, but at least we need to be in that example of what Christ really is all about. And

that's what I live today. I don't try to preach up people. I just try to live my life according to the Scriptures and what the Word of God has taught me. Amen to that, brother. Amen to that. Was there a room, a dinner and meeting a moment

it was just the fact of my wife who led me back into church where I needed to be. Because I was out doing all kind of worldly things. And like I said, having everything and still living sand, Christ, but I'm still not living what Christ is. I'm not living the right way,

“not living the holiness of Christ. I'm not living being married. I think it was a moment where”

me and Tracy came together and we were born for the girlfriend and she finally looked at me and said,

I can't do this anymore. I said, what do you mean? She says, I'm not living like this anymore. We were talking about living for Christ. When I married, she says, I'm not having sex with you anymore. I said, what? And that was a defined moment. That was a defined moment in my life because it changed me forever because that sent me off to go get right with God and give my heart in the right place and realize that God is not about a blessing when you're shacking up and you're saying

you this and that. He's about what His principles are and we did that. We came back together and we got married and we lived in the principles. Now we're blessed. We're not talking about stuff.

We're not talking about having this and that. We're talking about being blessed by God, being used by God.

And God uses you, you might only force kingdom when you live according to His principles the right way. A lot of times folks think they are getting away with things and no one gets away with God. Just put it like that. He sees everything. He knows everything. I used to think I was getting away and he told me that when he called me the preach. He says, by the way, I need to let you know. I saw everything you were doing. I was like everything. It's like, yes, everything.

And I explained to him, I explained to him, I said, God, why are you calling me? I'm not qualified. To do this well. He says, no one is qualified. I qualify to call. And when I realized that and God took the place and I surrendered to that, my life became whole. And I mean, holdness. And I mean a different person and I stopped thinking, I'll slide it a box and I'll start thinking inside of the box and I started using the scriptures to continue to

set me in my wife free that we would live a bonded life that he talks about. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. The book is called another life. What does another life mean to Darrell Strawberry? It's not how you start. It's how you finish this life. I think a lot of times people think it's about how you start and what you have accomplished. That's just quote unquote man thing when you accomplish all these things and people see.

But your finished part and your finished product is so important to the Lord that you finish strong and you finish with him and you finish on the right road, the right journey.

“And that's what another life is all about. Another life is the detail of everything about”

love, compassion, understanding others, helping others, going into places, communities, and working with communities and helping young kids to stay away from drugs, telling them how serious it is to direction it's going to lead them as a dead end. Been there done that. Going into a maximum security process where a guy's got life, not going in there to try to tell them what to do but try to show them that Christ loves you no matter what you are.

There were mistakes made in my life. There were mistakes made in their life. Nobody's a mistake.

We just made a bunch of them. I think people fairly realize that people always want to point

different things that people have fallen short. But falling short is a really a great thing.

“And that's what another life is all about. Teach a people because God will give you”

this whole different life and it has nothing to do with what you accomplish from a earthly thing. It's more about what you accomplish from a kingdom thing of his way of going back to show people that he is the one that cares. He is the one that has to plan at the end of your life because we all won't die. And it's where you're going. I think a lot of folks think, well, you're just getting into heaven just because you were good here and you play sports and you did this.

No, that's not the way it worked. You better read the Bible. It's been here forever, you know, when he and John three when he tells Nicodemon that's one is born again. He cannot enter

in it here. And I think we've been I think we've been brainwashed more here from our earthly standpoint.

“Instead of picking up the Bible for ourselves and reading it so we can get the revelation of it.”

And then we'll know that we can have another life. Amen. I love that.

Here's what I'm going to do. Mr. Strawberry, because I owe you that respect now.

I want to buy 50 copies of the book. And the first people that message me another life. So whether it's LinkedIn and Instagram, whatever it is, message me another life. And I'm going to send you a copy of this book because it's amazing. It's almost like for me it helped me on my journey to forgiveness and to understand me much better. And like I said earlier, I know that

“that's not why the book was written or how was written, but that's what I get out of it. And I”

go to this book like twice a week. Right. And so I want everyone to get this book. So I'm going to

give it to the first 50 that message me. If you're number 51, you got to go buy it. But you can get

it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble is your local bookstore, whatever. But this book is so important. We all know about Darrell Strawberry's illustrious career. You're going to get to know the person, his passion, and more about the journey of love, compassion, and forgiveness. So thank you, brother. So thank you so much for your support. Much love and respect. I appreciate

that. And my message is just clear for folks is just to break hope at the end of the day.

You're not too far off where God cannot meet you and transform you, rescue, redeem, and restore you. And they need to know that. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right. I'm going to get you out of here with this rapid fire. Quick five. You ready? Yes. Unpluged five. All right. Better memories, meds or Yankees. Meds. There we go. This is from the best leader. I know one of my football coaches in school principal, Danny Merck, the toughest braves picture you

faced in Las Vegas. Great Maddox. Great Maddox. There we go. What's one word that Miss Tracy would use to describe you? Gophie. I love it. What's your favorite meal? Put together your favorite meal was on the plate. Ox tales, yams, and collar greens. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Last question. The legacy of Darrell Strawberry. Give it to me in one sentence. The legacy of Darrell Strawberry is to leave that Jesus is Lord for my children. Not being a great baseball player, but being

a man of faith, and being a man that live the principles the right way. There we go. I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been my goat, my hero, the greatest of all times, Mr. Darrell Strawberry. You too much, brother. I appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for

“poking us up. Absolutely. And to all the viewers and listeners, remember, your becauas is your”

superpower. Go on, mission.