'New York is home': Strawberry on heart attack, number retirement

ST. LOUIS -- Two months after suffering a heart attack that grounded him at home in St. Louis and nearly prevented him from attending longtime teammate Dwight Gooden’s number retirement ceremony, Darryl Strawberry showed up to Busch Stadium on Monday feeling healthy and looking fit. The legendary Mets outfielder has restarted his work as a traveling minister and is looking forward to his own number retirement on June 1 at Citi Field.

“Having a heart attack is different,” Strawberry said, crediting his wife for helping immeasurably with his recovery. “It’s a different feeling inside. You feel fatigued. You feel weak. You take a lot of medication. You don’t think that you’re going to be good again. It’s been a scary time, there’s no doubt about it.

“I was close. I was close to getting my wings and being on the other side of life.”

Strawberry, whose heart attack occurred on his 62nd birthday, arrived at Busch Stadium during batting practice Monday and took time to chat with Mets players, coaches and staffers. He recently returned from a religious event in Omaha, Neb., where he preached in front of 1,300 people, and he’s looking forward to shedding the wearable defibrillator that doctors have made him use since the attack.

Strawberry was wearing it when he traveled to New York barely a month after his cardiac event to be in attendance for Gooden’s ceremony -- a surprise visit that was no sure thing until days before the event. Only after his doctor gave him clearance to travel did Strawberry fly to Queens to attend Gooden’s press conference and on-field ceremony. Feeling fatigued, he left during the game.

“I just really didn’t want to miss that, because of all that we’ve been through together and all we accomplished together, and all those great nights of watching Doc pitch,” Strawberry said. “I was a big part of that.”

June 1 will be Strawberry’s own time at Citi Field, and he doesn’t foresee any health issues complicating it. Much like Gooden, Strawberry hopes to attain the type of closure that he never had as a player due to his abrupt departure as a free agent.

“I’m looking forward to that day,” Strawberry said. “I’m looking forward to really being able to say thank you to the fans, tell the fans I’m sorry for leaving. … I wish I would have never left. It was just one of those decisions I made. I didn’t have a relationship with the front office. New York is home for me. I will always be a Met. The blue and orange is always going to be me.”