Former Met Darryl Strawberry, who helped the team beat the Red Sox in the all-time-famous '86 World Series and was featured in seven consecutive times All-Star games, has opened up more than even before about his sex addiction. He’s hinted that it got so bad at one time that he would sneak out of games in between innings for hookups, but during his latest interview with television doctor Dr. Oz, he spoke deeper about the nature of his addiction.
"It was a pretty crazy lifestyle," Strawberry told Oz. "I would go between innings, and stuff like that and run back and have a little party going on. I thought it was pretty cool. It’s just the addiction." Strawberry is also known for having had issues with drugs during his "crazy lifestyle" while playing for the Mets.
Strawberry spoke with the confidence of someone who has truly analyzed his own behavior and understands its source. “All addictions have to do with behavior,” he explained. “If I never changed the behavior, I could never get well from it. We can stand the addiction as long as we want to.”
He also confirmed that some of his teammates and coaches covered for him if he wanted to squeeze in a quickie during a game. As Dr. Oz pointed out, they were only enabling his sex addiction. “It’s a behavior that’s not good for anyone, but when you have an addictive personality like addicts… we know how to turn it on and turn it off,” he responded. “It’s not until you have an awakening in your life to get well on the inside.”
Dr. Oz asked Strawberry about Lamar Odom, who has gone through many of his own issues with substance abuse, and Strawberry revealed that he has tried to get in touch with the retired NBA player. “I to reach him and just to encourage him that his life matters. No matter what he’s going through,” Strawberry said. “Just because we stand on a platform, we been successful. Brokeness and hurting inside is real.”
This isn’t the first time Strawberry has shared the truth about his wilder days. He’s been pretty open about his notoriously wild lifestyle during the '80s when he played for the Mets, even going so far as to describe it as a “rolling frat party.” In a 30 for 30 documentary from last summer, he admitted it was “great possibility” that he would have sex during baseball games.
"When I was on the road, probably. It’s a great possibility. In the middle of a game. Let’s just leave it at that. Been there, done that,” he told the documentary’s host, Evan Cohen. "Between innings. It worked out well just how crazy it was. It kind of worked out that way. You point [a woman] out and tell the kid [to go get her].”
