Major League All-Star Darryl Strawberry comes to FLC April 19

DURANGO, CO – Nine-time major league baseball all-star Darryl Strawberry will be visiting and speaking in Durango the weekend of April 19th. Strawberry will be speaking in the Whalen gymnasium at Fort Lewis College Friday night, April 19th and admission is free. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

New York baseball fans remember Darryl Strawberry as a clutch postseason hitter; capable of delivering one of his signature “Moonshot” home runs seemingly on command. His prolific postseason appearances with both area teams garnered him loyalty among both fan bases in the business and media mecca. Of the 10 postseason series Strawberry played in, he was on the winning team eight times. In 40 postseason games, Strawberry hit nine home runs with 22 RBIs and 20 runs scored.

Strawberry was the starting right fielder five straight times and appeared at nine All-Star games. Strawberry batted .333 with two stolen bases and two runs in 12 career All-Star at-bats. Interestingly, he had two three-home run games in his career, both of which came against Chicago teams and were almost 11 years to the day between each other. The first came against the Cubs on August 5, 1985, and the second was on August 6, 1996, against the White Sox.

Strawberry is one of only five Major League Baseball players to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in the same season. The others are Davey Johnson of the Philadelphia Phillies, Mike Ivie of the San Francisco Giants, Ben Broussard of the Cleveland Indians, and Brooks Conrad of the Atlanta Braves.

He now resides in St. Charles County, Missouri, with his wife Tracy whom he met in a drug recovery convention. The couple was married in October 2006 and have since founded “The Darryl Strawberry Foundation,” an organization dedicated to children with autism. Strawberry’s son, Darryl “D.J.” Strawberry, Jr., born in 1985, was a star shooting guard with the Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball team and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the 2007 NBA Draft. D.J. currently plays professionally for Cibona Zagreb in the Croatian League.

He will also be dedicating the Alpine Bank Youth Sports Complex Little League baseball fields by the ALP pumping station just north of the Centennial Center on Saturday morning from 9-10 am April 20th. On Sunday morning April 21st, Darryl will be speaking at New Hope Church, which meets in the Stadium Nine Theaters by JC Penney’s at the Durango Mall. Service times are 8:15 and 9:30 am.