Former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry has been pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Strawberry said on Facebook that he received a personal phone call from Trump on Friday. Strawberry was convicted of tax evasion three decades ago, and said the pardon would allow him to be “truly free and clean from all of my past.”
“President Trump spoke warmly about my baseball days in NYC, praising me as one the greatest player of the ‘80s and celebrating the Mets. Then, he told me he was granting me a full pardon from my past,” Strawberry said.
A White House official confirmed the pardon on Friday to Neil Vigdor of the New York Times.
Strawberry was accused of failing to pay $146,000 in income taxes from 1986-1990. He accepted a plea deal for tax evasion in 1995, and served six months of home confinement and two years of probation.
Trump and Strawberry have crossed paths before. Strawberry was a contestant on “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010 when Trump was still hosting the show.
Strawberry is best remembered for his exploits with the Mets, having played for the team from 1983 to 1990. He was an eight-time All-Star and won three World Series titles, though he struggled with substance abuse both during and after his playing career. The Mets retired his jersey number in 2024.
