Saved by God’s Grace w/ Darryl Strawberry

Your TEST can become your TESTIMONY! In this interview, I sat down with Darryl Strawberry, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. However, we spend most of our time talking about FAITH. Darryl Strawberry is a world-class 8-time MLB All-Star, secured 4 World Series championships and was named rookie of the year during his 17 years in the league! But even with these great accolades, Darryl was fighting for something much more valuable; his life. This isn’t your regular baseball glory interview. In fact, we don’t talk much about baseball at all in this episode. This is the story of how God’s grace can work miracles in your life as we journey down Darryl’s path to redemption. Although Darryl was a beast on the field, his demons off the field often overshadowed even his greatest sports accolades. With ongoing suspensions from the MLB for substance abuse, dealing with the loss of his mother, and literally fighting for his life, Darryl was able to find salvation through the grace of God. In this interview we’re revealing it all; his childhood, the impact his alcoholic father, and how has the world at his fingertips was a catalyst to a life of addiction. I ask extremely vulnerable questions and he answers so profoundly and with all honesty. We reveal his path to recovery and how to give yourself the one thing most of us need more of in our lives; forgiveness. Darryl is not only a living MIRACLE but a living TESTIMONY. If you are in the trenches now, just getting out, or used to be there...this podcast is for YOU! If you for someone you love has struggled or continues to struggle with substance abuse, this is the EXACT sign you need to listen to this podcast. I promise it will change you. There’s a light about this man, he walks with the Holy Spirit, and I can’t wait for you guys to watch this because it’s not only eye-opening but heart-opening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

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• 0:45Ed Mylett?

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• 1:01Speaker 01

  Mr. President, my company, for me, of the explosion on our rig.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  On October 2nd.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess. And Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and the Revenant.

• 1:18Speaker 01

  What would happen if I stopped moving? You stall, you freeze to death, that's what.

• 1:22Speaker 02

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  I'm not the first nanny.

• 1:27Speaker 02

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a middle without parent.

• 1:38Speaker 03

  This is the Ed Miliband Show.

• 1:45Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to Max Out, everybody. Super excited to have my guest to my right here today. All of you will recognize this man. 17 years in the big leagues, four-time World Series champion, eight-time All-Star, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. And ironically, we're going to talk very little about that today, which is incredible because the rest of your story is so miraculous and so bananas. So this is Darryl Strawberry, everybody. Darryl, thank you for being here.

• 2:09Speaker 04

  Yeah, thanks for having me, man. I appreciate it, man.

• 2:11Ed Mylett?

  It's gonna be very good today. This story is, you know, if you're listening and it's the beginning and you're a baseball fan, you're gonna stick around. But for those of you that aren't, you're driving in your car, you're running on the treadmill right now. We're gonna talk today about faith. We're gonna talk about redemption. We're gonna talk a little bit about prison, drugs, alcohol. Giving up on people, if you've got somebody in your family maybe that's giving up on you, or maybe you're thinking about giving up on somebody, maybe you should revisit all of that today when you hear from this wonderful man, so. I don't know where to really begin with you, but let's start out a little bit. Give them a little bit of a background for those that don't know, because I followed it for a long time. But you had this incredible baseball career, but throughout that career, there was the man behind the uniform,

• 2:53Ed Mylett?

  and that guy was struggling most of the time off of the field. Would you?

• 2:57Speaker 04

  No question. I think it all comes from childhood, you know. A lot of times we see people become successful, but we don't know what happens behind closed doors. And in my life, my father was an alcoholic, and he used to beat me and tell me I would never amount to nothing. I believed that. He came home for the last time when I was 14, and he pulled out a shotgun and said he was gonna kill the whole family. Had it not been for my mother, we would have killed him that night, me and my brothers. Getting us out of the house. Yes. Her getting us out of the house, and that saved him from being a killer. So what I always tell people, I was already bruised on the inside. I was already wounded and scarred on the inside. And my pain of who I was led me to my greatness,

• 3:41Speaker 04

  and my greatness would eventually lead me to my destructive behavior. Because I think what happens a lot of times, people don't understand, if you're not well on the inside, it really doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, because people project what people are from the outside. Here I am, 6'6", power hitter, can do it all, play baseball, but on the inside, I'm broken. So I go on to play Major League Baseball and achieve all these great things, win Rookie of the Year and championships and make millions of dollars. And I've been privileged my whole life, Ed, living behind community gates. There's nothing wrong with that, you know, because I worked for that. But still, at the same time, that did not make me a man. That just made me accumulate a bunch of stuff. And people thought, well, if you have money, you should be okay.

• 4:25Speaker 04

  But what they don't really understand from the inside, it has to be healed. There has to be a healing process of your hurts and your habits and your hangups. And for me, it took me a very long time to come to that place. You know, I stand in a different place today, but throughout my baseball career, I was completely broken, completely empty. I think that's why the drugs took place in my life. The alcohol, I was a womanizer. I was never faithful, you know, I lived a life of, you know... Wanting whatever I wanted.

• 4:58Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 4:58Speaker 04

  Because it was at my fingertips.

• 5:00Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 5:00Speaker 04

  People dangle it at me. I says, okay, I'll take it. I'll taste it, you know, I'll see what it's like and and that's what I I went through as a young athlete, you know, and.

• 5:08Ed Mylett?

  Did you ever know, Darryl, when did you know, because you're this great player, Rookie of the Year, I mean, and and I'll be the fall baseball, just a beautiful athlete to watch play too. So unique, special, one of the most famous people in the world at the time. Was there a point when you started to drink or use drugs that you knew you were in trouble? Where you started to know this has gotten away from me a little bit. Was there a point where you knew?

• 5:29Speaker 04

  Well, I think a point in time comes, comes, you know, I I realized that the at the beginning that this wasn't a good road because I started when I was 14. You know, I was already smoking marijuana at the age of 14. You know, a lot of people get on me about the marijuana maintenance and I really wasn't talking about adults, you do whatever you want, but for a kid to start there. And and and you get to that place and you realize it doesn't work anymore. So you go to the next. You know, and I started at the age of 14 and then I got into the alcohol. And when I got to the big leagues, that's when I got introduced, my first road trip, I got introduced to cocaine, you know, by a veteran player. Well, welcome to the big leagues, sent me to the back of the plane on my first plane ride and and and I just wanted to fit in, you know, I just wanted to be a part. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't care and I went back there and.

• 6:12Ed Mylett?

  What, were you 20 years old?

• 6:13Speaker 04

  21.

• 6:13Ed Mylett?

  21.

• 6:14Speaker 04

  I went back there and I took a line and that was it, you know, I I loved it, just like most people will, you know, and. Uh, I I'm not ashamed to talk about it and so many of us are ashamed to talk about, oh, I never did drugs, I never did this. Uh, well, you've done something, you know, most of us done something, you know, we just don't want other people to know, but. My story of of of my pain and brokenness would lead to, you know, a transformation that would be able to help so many.

• 6:40Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 6:40Speaker 04

  And and I think a lot of times as people, we don't realize because of the platforms that we have. Uh, that it could be used in such a great way.

• 6:49Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 6:49Speaker 04

  Uh, to help somebody else. It doesn't have to, it doesn't have to be used through the fact that. Oh, I'm a great baseball player, football player, basketball player. Yeah, I was a great baseball player, no question about it. I did it all. 30 30 and whatever.

• 7:03Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:03Speaker 04

  You know, I wanted to be on the baseball field, but when I took the uniform off. Who am I?

• 7:07Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:08Speaker 04

  Uh, that's a lot of questions, a lot of us ask ourselves. And yeah, we can walk, run around with our titles and all the things we achieved. But in real reality, one day that's gonna be over.

• 7:19Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 7:19Speaker 04

  The lights will be off.

• 7:21Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:21Speaker 04

  You know, you won't run on the field anymore and, and nobody's gonna be cheering like they used to cheer for you. Now, who are you? And, and I think a lot of times, uh, a lot of athletes and people and, and, and in the different industries, they struggle with that because they can't, they can't come to a place of who am I really? Not with the uniform also.

• 7:41Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you're right. Their identity's tied up in what they do. And I want to talk about a lot of different things as it relates to this. I, everyone hearing this, I want you to understand something. Your test can become your testimony someday. And I remember watching from a distance as the things that, that weren't good in your life were happening. I remember when you got arrested, I heard he, oh, he had to go to prison for a while. And then you had colon cancer. You had all these other things. If you were to think back at that time, how amazing God is, everybody. That during that time, this man's entire story, God was preparing him to change other people's lives during that moment. It's so miraculous, isn't it?

• 8:16Speaker 04

  That is so good, cause that is so true. And that's what it really was all about. Uh, it, it, it was your test to be able to have a testimony.

• 8:24Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 8:25Speaker 04

  Uh, cause you gotta, you must pass the test to really be able to have a testimony. Cause I could talk about my athletic skills and, and achieving that. That, that's different, but the test of life. You know, like you said, ending up in the Florida state prison with a T one seven one six nine.

• 8:39Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 8:39Speaker 04

  Which I'll never forget, which having cancer twice and losing my left kidney. And having God doing for me what I couldn't do for myself in those situations was, was pretty powerful.

• 8:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 8:50Speaker 04

  Because it, it comes to a place later on in my life, the transformation would become real. And it's evidence that, um, his hand is all, was always all over my life and all over my life now. And, and give you the platform, um, you know, and I remember when he called me and I said, I, I said, I'm not, I'm not qualified to do this. He says, no one is qualified. I qualified to call.

• 9:15Ed Mylett?

  I love that. I just love that.

• 9:18Speaker 04

  So it was a, it was a, it was a process that I had to go through. And I think a lot of times people don't under, understand the process. I had to sit for seven years with God to be discipled. Because the Bible talks about it, it says, my people perish because of lack of knowledge. You know, not just, you know, that, that. Most people get consumed with all the earthly things.

• 9:37Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 9:38Speaker 04

  But they never understand the kingdom things. The kingdom is greater than the earth, and I think so many of us missed at it. And I was missing that for such a very long time because I was wondering why the fall. Let me, let me say this to you.

• 9:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 9:51Speaker 04

  Had I not fallen, I probably would have made another fifty million playing, fifty million dollars playing baseball. But I wouldn't have never met Jesus. Because it would have kept me separated in that same place. And, and not saying that you can't live and have.

• 10:05Ed Mylett?

  Sure.

• 10:06Speaker 04

  Uh, wonderful things and live comfortable, because we all do, even, even as a believer. But the things don't have me. You know, I, I, I'm free on the inside, you know, I, I, I live in a home, I have a car. And, and but the joy, you know, the joy is, is, it comes from the Lord. You know, it doesn't come from, you know, the earthly things I have because I've already lived uh, uh, behind the gates and had all earthly things.

• 10:28Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 10:28Speaker 04

  And I remember having all that, but I was never happy.

• 10:31Ed Mylett?

  You said something, I was driving, I was telling you when you came here, by the way, I love what you just said about you can have the things, but they can't have you. There's nothing wrong with chasing material things. I talk about that in my messages all the time, but. Uh, if you want to give yourself a great gift, everybody, I would go to YouTube and I would watch some of Darryl, um, preaching and speaking. Um, I listen to a lot of different people, but I was telling you over the last few weeks. I was already prepared for this interview because I followed you, I know enough about you. I became kind of addicted to listening to some of your testimonies. Um, and one of the couple of things you said, I want you to elaborate on now, but you talked about something pretty magnificent where. You said, everybody had given, can give up on you, but God will never give up on you. And that was something, I was crying, I literally kind of.

• 11:16Ed Mylett?

  A, a man alone in his car, you know, I'm like, you kind of got that face you get, you know, because my eyes were watering because I've always felt the comfort of God in my life. I've always just. Felt like he's had his hand on me, that as much as I love my children, it's amazing to think as a father, as much as you love your children, that the Lord loves you even more than that, right? But would you speak to that for a minute? I just want people to hear the way you say it.

• 11:38Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's so true, because everybody will give up on you on the natural, because they look at you from the natural standpoint, and God looks at you from the supernatural, because He created you, and He knows when He brings you back to the place, it's not, it's not man doing it, it's Him Himself. So now He's created the image of Him inside of you, while everybody else is talking about you and persecuting you and saying negative things about you, and He says, "Well, I'll take you, because I'll mold you and I'll put you back together." And He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you while everybody else is giving you away. I'll use you for My glory." And that's, that's the greatest thing about it, is you get to be used for His glory. And what is His glory about at the end of the day? I think so many of them miss it, it's not about us.

• 12:23Speaker 04

  You know, He molds us back together to go love others and help others and encourage others and build others up to say, "I was this broken piece and I was left for dead, but I was given this grace that I don't deserve." And when we can understand that, when we can understand it as people, the grace that is given to us, you don't deserve it. Now you know, really know who God is. Now you can have this, you know, really comfortable relationship with Him, and I don't have to be a pretender anymore. I got to a place where I just didn't want to straddle that fence anymore and be a hypocrite, talking about, "I know Jesus, but I really don't know Him. I just know His name, but I don't know His power." His power, His name is great, but His power is greater.

• 13:05Speaker 04

  And He brings more to you to be able to do and go back and get somebody else who is hurting, that don't, a lot of times that don't look like you, which we are afraid of as people. There's people that don't look like us, because what we look like, oh, we look like, "I was a millionaire playing Major League Baseball," so that's those people's problem. No, that's not their problem, they didn't sign up for that. You know, and God gives us, God gives us the opportunity, He gives us the opportunity to be able to go back and say, "Your life matters, no matter what you've been through. You're not a mistake, you just made a bunch of mistakes, that's all it is."

• 13:40Ed Mylett?

  That's so good. I think people that tune into the message are like, "Is this Darryl Strawberry and Ed Mylett?"

• 13:47Ed Mylett?

  They'll be like, wow, you're not a mistake, you've just made mistakes. Brother, that's so good. Just let that sit on me for a minute. Hey, everybody needs to hear that, including me. You said something else. This is so good. We're gonna run out of time in 35 minutes from now. I'm gonna be ticked off because this is so good. But you said something else. I'm driving in the car. And I've never heard someone say this before. And this is important for someone like me. Those are having some success right now. Some progress, or you're kind of tied to your career. Whether you're a big league baseball player, a business person, or even whether your identity is you're a mom. That's your career. He said something about that, you know, the adversary, one of his great forms of deception that he'll use on us is

• 14:32Ed Mylett?

  preventing us from ever really getting to know ourselves. Our true selves. That we connect ourselves to what we do or what our career is. And I literally rewinded that part and listened to it again. Would you talk about that for a second?

• 14:44Speaker 04

  Yes, the enemy himself, he sets us up and deceives us and makes us believe that this is good. I'm great because I'm hitting home runs and, you know, I've been successful and I'm making millions of dollars. And what people don't understand, what he keep, what he keep you focused on is I. Yourself. That's what he keeps you focused on, not anything else. So you're never a part of what's important when it becomes team and winning. You know, it becomes about one, one person. What I'm doing. And he deceives us and make us believe that it's all about us.

• 15:25Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 15:25Speaker 04

  And then we take the wrong turns because now the ego's gotten in the way. Okay? What's a man's ego, a three-letter word? Easing God out. That is the ego that the enemy keeps us. Now we can ease God out. Now he knows that I could tear you up because you got an ego. You know, he's very smart, he's very clever. He always have been from the beginning. I, I think a lot of us just never pay attention to it. You know, and yeah, I'm a Christian, I'm an evangelist now, and I know the word of God. And, you know, the Bible's clear to me, and it, and it talks about my people perish because of lack of knowledge. See, people think they're not parishing because they have earthly things. But inside they're parishing because they will never receive the eternal things.

• 16:08Speaker 04

  You know, because all the earthly things have made me feel well, and this is what the enemy does. He, he's the deceiver, where he makes you believe all this is good. You know, that's what he, that, that's what he does to all of us, you know, here, here you can have all this. I mean, he even did that to Jesus, and when I look back in Matthew four, four, he tempted him with all earthly things. I'll give you all this, I'll have you all this, just bow down to me. I'll let you have the stuff.

• 16:35Speaker 04

  But Jesus said to him, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. See, that's the difference in us and him, rebuking him.

• 16:46Speaker 04

  And going, and keep going about the business that he was sent forward to do. And, and that's the same thing that we have to learn. I mean, I'm not over the top, I don't preach, preach to nobody, I love people. You know, I want people to have what God has given to me, because it's freely given. You know, it's his free gift to give to us to be able to go back and, and, and love others and help others, you know. So, we have to be extremely careful about, you know, titles. And success. You know, because it's earthly titles and success, because none of it gets in. You're right. I buried my mom at the age of fifty-five from terminal breast cancer. I buried my sister at the age of fifty-one. They didn't take the house with them, they didn't take the car with them.

• 17:29Speaker 04

  And I've had cancer twice and lost my left kidney in my second surgery. So, you talk about a miracle, you're looking at a living miracle. And a living testimony of what God can really do in a life, and how he can restore a life to wholeness. This is, this is about faith, people, I, I, Ed, this is about having faith. You know, and I think people get it wrong and think, oh, well, that's not important to me. Because if I, if I have to live this way, then I have to live by these principles, you know. And it, it's great to live by God's principles and commandments when you know it. And, you know, I'm a sinner, but I just don't practice anymore.

• 18:09Ed Mylett?

  That's so good. Cause you, you, I met you, you walked in, cause we had not met, we got a bunch of mutual friends, we had not met. Honestly, there's kind of a light about you, brother. There's the Holy Spirit on you. Your goodness shines through. Now, and I'll bet if I met you 25 years ago, that I would not see that exact same light, even though it was inside you, it was not reflecting out of you, because we all have that light in us. But sometimes our sin, our life, I'm a product, by the way, of knowing, I can attest to everybody that, I want you to have an oceanfront house. That's great. I want, you want to have a jet or a nice car, that's great, but I can promise you all, that I know, because I've got the stuff you want, that that's not gonna fill you up, it's not gonna fulfill you. It's not that it can't make you happy, of course, buying a nice pair of shoes, it can make you happy,

• 18:51Ed Mylett?

  but it won't fulfill you long-term. So what happened? So, here's this guy, great baseball player, one of the greats I've ever seen play, and probably what you said is true. If there wasn't all this off-the-field stuff, almost certainly in the Hall of Fame, you already got a thousand RBIs, already hit 350 home runs, was Rookie of the Year, All-Star, four World Championships, and just hit bombs, by the way, just flat bombs. And so, there's this man, and then he starts to have this drug and alcohol addiction problem, cancer twice, and then, and by the way, I bet you even had a couple times where you thought you had it licked, drugs or alcohol, and then you didn't. What happened that has created this man for the last, well, how long you been sober now?

• 19:33Speaker 04

  16 years.

• 19:34Ed Mylett?

  16 years. What happened?

• 19:36Speaker 04

  Well, it's really simple, because it's, it's what God always do, he's not gonna do anything different. He's gonna always use people to help people.

• 19:46Ed Mylett?

  People, okay. People to help people.

• 19:48Speaker 04

  My mother prayed for me when I was a sinner and a heathen and a womanizer, that God would knock me off my throne. She went home to be with the Lord, and her prayers came to pass. God knocked me off my throne and met me right where I was at. Found me in the pit and put me in the poor pit. My wife pulled me out of dope houses 16 years when everybody else, 16 years ago, when everybody else had given up on me. And I was shooting dope, smoking crack, and I wanted to die. And I said, why don't you just leave me here and you and that God and let me die? And she said, you're just not that lucky. It's so good. So, there it is, right there. It's people, it's like, do we respond to people help? Or do we keep our egos and our pride?

• 20:31Speaker 04

  See, my wife was very clear to me about getting well. Cause she was already well and had a relationship with God. And there she was, very clear about taking off the uniform. You're not Darryl Strawberry number 18 anymore. Take the uniform off and become a man. You know, and that's when the promises that are over all our lives. Yeah. See, what you're living in, Ed, and I'm living in, we're living in the promises of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now we get to eat from a land that we don't even know about, it's God's land. And it's good, now we get to taste and see how really good it is. And if you're that way in the natural, and you say you have all this, and why do I need God? You're gonna miss the eternal part after this life.

• 21:13Speaker 04

  I think everybody's more consumed with this life instead of the after ones, after life he's talking about. So, so many will miss that because they don't realize that walking with Him is so much greater than not walking with Him, having Him. So, what does He do in life like mine?

• 21:34Speaker 04

  He rescues me from my sinful ways. He redeems me with His blood, which cleanses me. Now He restores me with His grace, which I understand. He says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness." So, how many times we be weak? And what do we lean on? We lean on stuff, but at the end of our life, that's not gonna save us, you know? That's not gonna, that's not gonna bring us to the place where He's really trying to get us in. And I'm so grateful for, I'm so grateful for the fall. I'm so grateful for my success as a baseball player. Yeah. But at the same time, I'm grateful for going through the pits of life, because I wouldn't have never been able to understand, you know, the love, the true love of Him, because I didn't have a father.

• 22:20Speaker 04

  My father was alcoholic, he beat me in. Never showed up in my life until I was somebody. And that relationship was broken and I also ended up leading my father to the Lord, the man that rejected me.

• 22:31Ed Mylett?

  They gotta hear this because I think this is such a powerful part of your story about with your dad. So share that.

• 22:37Speaker 04

  It's incredible. He rejected me. He was out of my life and all those years and and he was in a hospital and it was like over six, about six years ago, I was doing a men's conference in California and God says, go down to the hospital and he says, he says, repent to your father and not talk about what he did to you.

• 22:56Ed Mylett?

  You repent to your father?

• 22:57Speaker 04

  For keeping him out of my life. And I I I struggled with it and I finally did it and I went down there and I asked my father, I said, would you forgive me? I'm sorry for keeping you out of my life. And a tear came out of his eye and he said, yes, and I lost it. I just laid in his lap and cried so hard. And there I was crying and the man's lap that beat me or rejected me and Lord said, lift up. And I lifted up and I said, would you like to accept the Lord over your life? Because he's changed my life. He said, yes. And there I was. I was leading him, leading my father in the center of prayer. He accepted it. And then the Lord says, I need you to always remember this. It's never about you.

• 23:37Speaker 04

  How dare you not forgive him and I forgave you. And he said, the forgiveness wasn't for your father. The forgiveness was for me. See, because what happened was in that it set me free forever. I was no longer in bondage anymore. I was no longer in chains anymore because it kept me, it kept me bound bound up and in chains because I would, you know, in the chains because I would never get, was able to get free from it. So it it's just a life that.

• 24:04Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 24:04Speaker 04

  I know. It's a it's a life that we live that is short.

• 24:08Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 24:09Speaker 04

  You know, and it's.

• 24:09Ed Mylett?

  Eternity is forever. This life is short.

• 24:12Speaker 04

  It is forever. And a lot of times people don't want to talk about these things. I'm, listen, Ed, thanks for having me on the show. I've I've already talked about all the worldly things I've done. If people need to see clips about that, go back and see the home runs, the trophies, the fights and everything else.

• 24:26Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 24:26Speaker 04

  You know, but you know, today, you know, today, my urgency is to help people who struggle with addiction. There's an epidemic in America, opiates and heroin killing all these kids and.

• 24:37Ed Mylett?

  I know.

• 24:37Speaker 04

  There's bullying, there's depression, there's mental illness, there's suicide and so many different things. And now I get a chance to go back and raise money for programs and love on people and help people.

• 24:51Speaker 04

  My life to date is greater than it's ever been.

• 24:54Ed Mylett?

  Wonderful, brother. That's so wonderful.

• 24:55Speaker 04

  Than it's ever been. A baseball player, trophies, being an evangelist, standing in front of thousands, and preaching the gospel and helping others. I got the greatest life. I mean, I'm not complaining. I'm not forcing this on anyone. This is just who I am.

• 25:09Ed Mylett?

  Praise God, but good for you, brother. I, um, there's a part of me as I'm listening to you.

• 25:19Ed Mylett?

  It's just magnificent, what you're becoming and what you're doing for God. And I know that it's not about you, but there's so many lessons. The reason I'm letting you talk so much is that there's more to be learned from you today, certainly, than from me. And the things you've said here, I just want everyone just to take an inventory about this, about people helping other people. If you're trying to find your calling in life, right? I mean, that's one of the pathways to do that is always going to be towards you serving other people. And this idea of the forgiveness with your father is absolutely beautiful. The idea of the adversary trying to keep us from knowing ourselves. There's so much depth to all of this. And all the topics you just listed, from depression to mental illness to drug addiction, I've covered those things on my show before. And I'd like, just from you, the drug addiction and alcohol,

• 26:03Ed Mylett?

  the substance abuse part of our culture is real and it's pronounced. And there have been people sitting in that chair who, while they were sitting in that chair, I knew were under the influence, various different times. If there's someone listening to this who has a loved one who's struggling with it, who maybe they're getting ready to give up on. Or maybe there's someone listening or watching this who's struggling with drugs or alcohol, who is maybe ready to give up on themselves.

• 26:31Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:32Ed Mylett?

  What would you say to those folks listening?

• 26:34Speaker 04

  I would say to them is never give up on anybody because we don't have a lot to say. Because all the people that had given up on me and even my former teammates and players 16 years ago when I started walking in this way, and they were saying, "Let's see how long this'll last." And, um... It's been sixteen years, you know, because my wife didn't give up on me and my mother didn't give up on praying on me. So at the end of the day, we should love them, but we don't have to tolerate them. You know, I think a lot of times people think we have to tolerate people's situations. We don't. We can love them. See, love is more powerful than anything you can ever imagine. When we love people right where they at and when they hurting. Because we don't never know when the light is gonna come on.

• 27:17Speaker 04

  And we're living in today, Ed, where there's a spiritual brokenness over addiction. That's why we're in an epidemic. Spiritually, people are broken in the inside. That's why they use opiates. You know, to try to escape from what's wrong with me on the inside. That's why they drink alcohol to drown themselves in alcohol. Because I was the same way. I was spiritually broken on the inside and it wasn't until I got healed on the inside. And that's where the real victory come when one gets healed on the inside. And so, we have to learn as people, it's to love each other right where they at. And not point fingers. I always tell people when I'm preaching.

• 28:00Speaker 04

  I says, when you pointing fingers at somebody, guess what? Three are pointing right back at you. And they don't realize that, but because that's what we do. We point that one finger and all the three are pointing back at us telling us, "You got problems too." Right, right. You're right. You're right. So it's nothing wrong with having problems. Because if I sat here and said to you, Ed, that I was a victim over everything that happened to me, I wouldn't have never been able to get well. Yes. I'm not a victim. I'm an overcomer. You know, people sitting there, victim mentality of, they done this to me. Well, you're black, you're white. God's not looking at color. People are looking at color, but he's not. He's looking at the heart of a man. He's saying, if I can take this man's heart here and I can use it for my good,

• 28:44Speaker 04

  I know greatness will come out of it. But if I don't give him my heart, because see, most people wanna punch him with their head. That's right. And try to... Oh, I got head knowledge. Well, where has the head knowledge gotten you? You know, it's the heart. It's the heart that he looks at, you know, for us that he knows that I can use you now because your heart is right. I've gotten you in the right place. I can give you everything. Nothing wrong with that. And he does give us everything.

• 29:10Ed Mylett?

  Sure.

• 29:10Speaker 04

  But is my heart still right? Do I still really love people? Do I meet people right where? Do I judge people? No, I don't judge anybody. I know they judge me, but you know, God has changed my life, you know, and there's no judgment on people.

• 29:20Ed Mylett?

  I love what you said about, um, I just want to say this because you just say so many good things. But I love what you said about you can love people, you need to tolerate them. There's a big distinction between those two things. Like, I can love you through your addiction, but I'm not tolerating your addiction. I can love you through your sinning, but I don't need to tolerate the fact that you're sinning in my life. That's a huge distinction. And what you just said is so profound, everybody. If you wonder like where my strength comes from, and I know where yours does too. I have the blood of the King of Kings running through my body. You all forget that. You were born to do something great with your life. He made you in His image and likeness to do something great. It could be in a small way or a big way. It could be your prayer for somebody. It could be your kindness. It could be a phone call, one text message to somebody, just checking in on them.

• 30:05Ed Mylett?

  These are all things you can be doing to serve other people that make you do something great with your life. And I remember, when my dad was drinking, I was this insecure, shy little boy. I would remember that. Like, I would, that's my comfort. Many of you ask me, where's your confidence come from? I'm not telling you that I don't work on all the techniques that I teach, but my ultimate confidence is God's got my back. I was born to do something great. I'm favored. And I want you to all remember that. All of you need to remember that. Driving in your car, running on the treadmill, watching this on YouTube, wherever you are right now. You were born to do something awesome with your life. Some of those are going to be ways no one on earth ever knows you did it. No one will ever know the prayer you said for somebody. No one will ever know the $10 you gave a homeless person. No one will ever know the text message you sent.

• 30:49Ed Mylett?

  Maybe the whole world won't know about, like they did his home run in the World Series. But God knows about it. And you know about it. And that's the difference you were put here to do in the world.

• 30:58Speaker 04

  That's good.

• 30:58Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 30:59Speaker 04

  That's so good. That's so good, man, because that's really what it all boils down to. It doesn't boil down to the self-image of who we are. It's the image of God, you know. Like you said, you always know He has your back.

• 31:13Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 31:13Speaker 04

  No matter what. No matter what, no matter what, you know, we become.

• 31:19Speaker 04

  You have to know that he has your back.

• 31:22Ed Mylett?

  That's right.

• 31:23Speaker 04

  Behind everything that you're doing.

• 31:24Ed Mylett?

  You're literally never alone.

• 31:25Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 31:26Ed Mylett?

  Those of you that, so many of you feel invisible and alone, you're literally never alone. And I know what that's like. By the way, guys, hey, I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. I'm not perfect sitting here. Before Darryl got here today, there's probably been 11 things I did wrong this morning.

• 31:41Speaker 04

  Come on.

• 31:41Ed Mylett?

  I don't accept that I've done them. I'm not saying that I don't need to improve upon them. I'm not perfect. He's not perfect as we sit here today.

• 31:48Speaker 04

  Right. And that's why, that's why the power of social media is so good. That's why I use my Instagram and use Instagram to draw people.

• 31:54Ed Mylett?

  Mention that now, because that's where they need to be following you so they can say, you got, you got a great book on marriage that I loved.

• 32:00Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 32:00Ed Mylett?

  You got, you've got several great books, but you're also writing one right now. It's gonna be coming out. So where do they follow you on Instagram? Make sure they know that.

• 32:06Speaker 04

  DarrylStrawberry18 on Instagram. DarrylStrawberry18 on Instagram if you want to follow me. But, you know, my message that I sent out there is, is affirmation of, of how, of good stuff, you know, of helping and loving and helping other people and caring for other people. I don't care if God ever gives me anything else again. He's giving me joy to help others. And, and that's so good to be able to wake up and, and know that and, and get outside of yourself. And, and my new book that I'm coming out is, is called, um, Turn Your, Turn Your Season Around. It's gonna be called Turn Your Season Around with Zondervan. I just, I'm just signing up with them to do a new book that will turn your season around. And the reason why I'm saying turn your season around, because I remember when I had a first half of the season and the media was saying, well, this season is over. But they forgot I had a second half to go.

• 32:52Speaker 04

  So that's just like in life. You know, people think, well, I went through the first five, six months is hard, but you got another six months to go.

• 32:59Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 32:59Speaker 04

  You know, and you could turn that season around.

• 33:01Ed Mylett?

  I love it.

• 33:02Speaker 04

  You could turn it around with, you know, doing positive things and, and, and, and getting, getting this action. I tell people, what, that, why they don't, why they don't get well and they, because first of all, you gotta be free on the inside. You can't be, you can't be consumed with, you know, all these earthly things and making them be the satisfaction of who you are.

• 33:21Ed Mylett?

  That's right.

• 33:21Speaker 04

  And, and if you can get to the place where you get free on the inside, and, and now the next step, what's the next step? You gotta get into action. People don't want to get into action. They want the miracle, but they don't want to get into action. They sit around, where's the miracle? Why is it not for me? And he's got to guess what, baby? I got into action 16 years ago. I got up, I picked myself up and I got into action and I started following a different road and it wasn't the road that I was believing was right. It was the road that God showed me was right.

• 33:50Ed Mylett?

  That's so good. And by the way, that season could be in your life. It could be you've had a 20 year season to go on the wrong way, a 40 year. You could be 60 years old and so far your life hasn't been, you can turn the season around. So powerful. I want to ask you a vulnerable, honest question here too. Not that we haven't been doing that, but we have been. But I, I, first off, I think it's awesome that people that followed your career that maybe haven't followed the last 16 years are like, that's Darryl Strawberry? This is awesome. I love this Darryl Strawberry, right? Like, I just think it's so cool what you've become and how God's used you. I just do. I love it. And, and God can use all of us in his own unique way. Now, I am curious though, because I struggle with things to this day. I'm pretty open about them

• 34:30Ed Mylett?

  on social media. What day to day now for you are, are struggles for you? What do you struggle with? Do you struggle with missing playing baseball? Do you struggle with your sobriety? Do you struggle with elements of your faith? What does Darryl Strawberry struggle with?

• 34:45Speaker 04

  I don't, I don't struggle with missing playing baseball. I don't struggle with my sobriety. I already know I'm not going back. I don't struggle with the day to day things, you know. A lot of times, a lot of times I struggle because I travel like 250 times out of the year to different from place to place. And I struggle when I go there to speak and am I having an impact? You know, it's not about me, you know, it's just the nature of the flesh. You know, because you, because we, a lot of times we're thinking, thinking it's us because, you know, I see people and I lead people and what I struggle with is because I lead people and I know people are hurting. And I want them to, you know, really to be able to believe that they can be free, you know, because.

• 35:30Speaker 04

  God just don't set one person free. Why would he just set Darryl Strawberry free? You know, the thing about it was is I entered in. And I tried to get people to make that commitment. And that's my struggle, you know, for so many people because I have such an urgency and passion and burning desire for people that are ODing and dying. I have a real passion for that. Because for the grace of God, they go, ah, and I should have been dead. And I see people dying and they don't have to die. If they can take, you know, some steps in a real direction, they can find recovery.

• 36:14Speaker 04

  And that's, that's one of my real burdens what I struggle with. Because I've seen the epidemic and I've seen 152, 160, whatever it is, a day dying. And it just blows my mind. This is not about being politically correct, you know? I think a lot of times people think, well, it's about politics. It's not about politics, you know? This is about a brokenness that's real. And it's captivated our young people. And, and they don't even have a chance because I've seen them from ages of 18 to 25 come in addicted and young girls at 19 years old that OD two and three times. And, you know, that really breaks my heart. I struggle with, I struggle inside with that, like, God, why is this happening? You know, why, why is this happening like this?

• 36:58Speaker 04

  It is today, just like the crack epidemic when they came in and it swept across America and in the cities and all the black and African Americans end up using crack. Because I ended up smoking crack, but I ended up shooting dope too. But why would you spare me and why are these kids now having a chance to live? You know, and that's, that's really hard for me. That's, that's really.

• 37:17Ed Mylett?

  I think what some people do need, they need treatment. I think they also need a role model or an example. And I think if you have somebody in your life who's using drugs, maybe have them watch today's show.

• 37:27Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 37:27Ed Mylett?

  You know, maybe today's show would be powerful for them to just hear your testimony and what's happened with you. Just this weekend in Boston, 32 kids OD'd.

• 37:35Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 37:35Ed Mylett?

  Six died and 32 OD'd just in Boston this week and. It breaks my heart to hear that too, and I think they need more and more role models because I watched what you went through and now I'm hearing your story now and I'm moved to know that someone like you is willing to stand up with these kids. Yeah. I'm proud of you. Thank you. I just watched you from afar as a fan, obviously, when I was younger, but I'm proud of you. You have a degree of humility and kindness about you. And I love what you said about the work too. The parable of the sower in the Bible is real. I mean, there's kind of a contract you have with God. I mean, you've got to be at least willing to plant some of the seeds if he's going to provide a harvest in your life, right? And some of those seeds are going to get picked off by the birds or the weather, or the rain, or the wind.

• 38:18Ed Mylett?

  But if you keep planting seeds, there's a promise, there's a harvest in your life. And I think you're reaping the harvest now of all these seeds you've been planting. So, having said that, I know today was a little bit stronger on faith than everyone's used to seeing on my show. But I wanted people to hear this message today from your perspective. And I want, first I want to thank you, but I'm going to have you answer one more question, but I want to thank you because

• 38:41Ed Mylett?

  I, I watched something with you that I want everybody to see, and I told you this off camera. When, when Darryl first started evangelizing, he was good. But he even said in the beginning, he didn't think that, he, he didn't want to be called, right? I didn't. And, but what you, what you did was, I've watched you step into this calling of yours. And I've watched you get better and better and better to now. You know, I know a lot of the more well-known people in the Christian preaching business, and I find myself listening to you. And it has nothing to do with the fact that you could flat mash when you played baseball. It's because your message resonates with me. My point is, I've watched your giftedness flourish and grow as you've stepped into this very uncomfortable space.

• 39:26Ed Mylett?

  And all of you out there have a giftedness and a calling, whether that be in sales, or business, or as a parent, or getting up and speaking in public, or whatever it might be. And you might not feel like you should be favored to do it, but the more you step into your calling, the better and better you get. You're outstanding now. You're so good. And you're who I've been listening to. So, last question would be this, and I think I know where you're going to go, but I want to give you the floor for it. I'm someone listening to the show today. I'm just not, I'm who you described in the beginning of the show. I'm not where I want to be in my life. I'm not where I want to be financially. I'm not where I want to be in a relationship, my body, my health.

• 40:03Ed Mylett?

  My spirituality, my faith, I'm just not happy. What would your message to me be? I'm broken.

• 40:09Speaker 04

  Okay, you're broken. Well, my message would be clearly to you is it doesn't happen overnight.

• 40:17Speaker 04

  It's a process. And I think what happens with people is they won't walk through the process. They will walk through it for a certain period of time. Then they quit. And my message to the people today is, don't quit. You know, don't quit. Had I quit, I wouldn't have never been a four-time World Series champ. I wouldn't have never been an eight-time All-Star. Because there were things said to me when I was playing in the minor leagues that I came close to quitting baseball. You just can't give up because you don't know what's on the other side. And I think so many people don't push themselves enough. See, I was great because I pushed myself. I didn't

• 40:59Speaker 04

  I didn't have a great home life, a father. My mother raised five of us by herself. So, but I kept pushing myself. I kept not giving up, not quitting. And I sit here today because I didn't quit. When the odds were against me, when everybody else had threw me away and said, "He's done." There I was,

• 41:23Speaker 04

  rising up again because I didn't quit. And I allowed myself to go through the process. I didn't get like this overnight. You guys need to know, God sat me for seven years before he ever decided to look at me. So, it was a process and I had to be extremely patient. But he said, "I want you to go after me like you went after baseball and how disciplined you was in baseball, you had to be disciplined the same way with me." And I went through that whole process for seven years of growing and learning and studying and separating myself from worldly things and people. But I didn't go back.

• 41:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 41:56Speaker 04

  And the problem with most people, if it's, if it's, if it's eating and not believing in myself or whatever is, you know, you can't keep going back to what someone else has said to you. If you plan on having a victory, because if you plan on having a victory, you're gonna have to believe it yourself. And I encourage people, you can, you can reach any goal you want to reach. I mean, I've reached goals, you know, from a baseball standpoint, but I reached goals from a personal standpoint of living a life that's fulfilling now and loving others and helping others and reaching others right where they at and never throwing anybody away.

• 42:30Ed Mylett?

  God, dude, you're so good, so good. Darryl, thank you for today. It exceeded my expectations and I knew it was gonna be really, really good. But it helped me today. You, I guess, sorry, a little bit choked up there, but you helped me today. You make me want to be a better man. You make me want to serve God better.

• 42:49Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 42:49Ed Mylett?

  And I'm proud of you and I wish you continued success. And I'm in your life now, so if you ever need anything from me, you have a dear friend right here.

• 42:55Speaker 04

  Thanks, Ed. Thanks for having me, brother. You got it, brother. You got it, brother.

• 42:58Ed Mylett?

  And remember this, everyone, too. When Darryl said this about not giving up on yourself, not quitting, God will never quit on you. He's with you all the way to the end and beyond forever. And so remember that in your life, everybody. And also remember to follow this guy on Instagram. Follow me because we can help you every single day. I run the Max Out two-minute drill, as you all know, on Instagram every day. I want to connect with you. I don't want to just make messages or do shows. I want to connect with you. I want to know what's going on in your life so I can bring guests and create content that serves you. And so what I do every day is I run a two-minute drill on Instagram. It's very simple. I make a post every day, five days a week, Monday through Friday, about 7:30 Pacific Time, 10:30 Eastern, every day. When I make that post, if you make a comment on the post within the first two minutes, that's number one,

• 43:43Ed Mylett?

  or make a comment on other people's comments, or if you miss the first two minutes, just make a comment every day on all my stuff at any time, five, eight hours later, whenever. We do drawings every day. We pick a winner every day. Then at the end of the week, we pick a bunch of winners as well, and they win coaching calls with me, meetings with my guests, Max Out gear, ride on my jet, tickets to see me speak.

• 44:02Speaker 04

  Come on.

• 44:03Ed Mylett?

  It's pretty good stuff, right?

• 44:04Speaker 04

  That's awesome.

• 44:05Ed Mylett?

  Would you ever, would you do? Do a one-minute, 10-minute call with somebody for us?

• 44:08Speaker 04

  I would.

• 44:09Ed Mylett?

  All right.

• 44:09Speaker 04

  I would.

• 44:10Ed Mylett?

  You would? For real? Okay, so one of you is gonna get a chance to meet Darryl Strawberry for 10 minutes, and have a 10-minute interaction with him too. I cornered you right there.

• 44:16Speaker 04

  You got it. It's all good. I love people.

• 44:18Ed Mylett?

  Okay, I know you do. And so they'd love to meet you. And so, guys, every day on Instagram, connect with me for the 2-Minute Drill Engage. Follow me there. God bless you, and max out.