Copyright independent
The Trump administration has pardoned former pro baseball player Darryl Strawberry, a famous 1980s slugger who later pleaded guilty to tax evasion and competed on the president’s Celebrity Apprentice TV show. Strawberry, who won World Series titles with the New York Mets and Yankees, announced the pardon on social media. The ex-player said he got a surprise call on Thursday from a Washington phone number and spoke with Trump “warmly about my baseball days in NYC,” where the president praised him “as one the greatest player of the ‘80s” and they bonded by “celebrating the Mets.” “Then, he told me he was granting me a full pardon from my past,” Strawberry wrote on Facebook. “My wife captured the moment on video, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude—thanking God for setting me free from my past, helping me become a better Man, Husband and Father.” “This has nothing to do with politics — it’s about a Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend,” Strawberry added. “God used him as a vessel to set me free forever!” The White House confirmed the pardon, pointing to Strawberry’s sobriety, work in faith ministry, and payment of back taxes. “Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade — he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center which still operates today,” a White House official told The New York Times. In 1995, after Strawberry was indicted for tax evasion, he pleaded guilty to a single felony count and agreed to pay more than $430,000. Federal officials had accused Strawberry of failing to report $350,000 in income related to autographs, appearances, and memorabilia sales. That wasn’t his only trouble with the law. In 1999, Strawberry pleaded no contest to charges of cocaine possession and soliciting a prostitute, resulting in his suspension from the MLB. The slugger violated his parole multiple times and later served 11 months in a Florida state prison. He was released in 2003 and has since become active in Christian ministry. In 2010, Strawberry appeared on the Trump-hosted Celebrity Apprentice reality competition show. He appeared on the show alongside former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who Trump pardoned this year after the Democrat faced corruption charges for trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. In 2024, Strawberry had a heart attack but has since recovered. The president has pardoned a string of individuals who were facing punishment for financial crimes. In recent weeks, Trump pardoned Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, a crypto executive who has done business with Trump’s family and pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering. The president also granted reprieves to the disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos, who was in prison for fraud, as well as former Rep. Glen Casada, the former Tennessee House speaker, who was about to go to prison on public corruption charges.
