On November 7, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a presidential pardon to Darryl Strawberry, the former Major League Baseball star whose career soared with the New York Mets and Yankees before being derailed by addiction and legal troubles. The move expunges Strawberry’s 1995 federal tax evasion conviction, a charge that had shadowed one of the most prodigious talents of the 1980s and 1990s. For Strawberry, now 63, the pardon marks a symbolic closing of a turbulent chapter, though not all of his legal woes have vanished with Trump’s signature.
According to The New York Post and corroborated by multiple major outlets, Trump’s clemency for Strawberry came decades after the slugger pleaded guilty to failing to report income from autograph shows and promotional appearances between 1986 and 1990. Federal prosecutors at the time accused Strawberry of cheating the government out of $100,000 in taxes. He avoided a possible 15-year prison sentence by agreeing to a plea deal: Strawberry was sentenced to three years’ probation, six months of home confinement, and ordered to repay $350,000 in back taxes and penalties. The Internal Revenue Service even auctioned off a $700,000 annuity from his Mets contract to help settle the debt.
Strawberry’s journey to this moment has been anything but linear. After bursting onto the scene as the National League Rookie of the Year in 1983, he became an eight-time MLB All-Star and a three-time World Series champion, helping the Mets win the 1986 title and later contributing to the Yankees’ championships in 1996 and 1999. Over 17 seasons, Strawberry hit 335 home runs, drove in exactly 1,000 runs, and stole 221 bases, cementing his place among the most feared hitters of his era.
But the numbers tell only part of the story. Strawberry’s career was repeatedly interrupted by substance abuse and personal struggles. He signed a lucrative six-year, $7.1 million extension with the Mets before the 1985 season, followed by a five-year, $20.25 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1990. Yet by 1994, the Dodgers released him after he failed to show up for a game. The San Francisco Giants picked him up later that year, only to release him months later after a positive cocaine test. Strawberry’s final MLB stint came with the Yankees, but after another failed drug test in 2000, Major League Baseball suspended him for a year, effectively ending his playing days.
Legal troubles continued to haunt Strawberry beyond his federal tax case. In 1999, he was arrested in Florida for soliciting sex from an undercover officer and possession of cocaine, resulting in 21 months’ probation and community service. A series of probation violations landed him in prison in 2002, where he served 11 months before his release in 2003. These state convictions, as reported by ESPN and CNN, remain on his record, unaffected by the federal pardon.
Despite these setbacks, Strawberry’s post-baseball life has taken a redemptive turn. According to White House officials quoted by CNN and CNBC, "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." Together with his wife Tracy, Strawberry now runs the Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center in Florida and a foundation dedicated to helping those struggling with addiction. His website underscores this mission: "Today, Darryl’s purpose and passion is serving the Lord Jesus Christ and helping others transform their lives through the power of the gospel."
Strawberry himself was quick to express gratitude for the pardon. In an Instagram post, he recounted the moment he learned the news: "At 4:37pm yesterday I was home caring for my wife as she recovered from surgery, when my phone kept ringing relentlessly. Half asleep, I glanced over and saw a call from Washington, D.C. Curious, I answered, and to my amazement, the lady on the line said, 'Darryl Strawberry, you have a call from the President of the United States, Donald Trump.'" Strawberry put the call on speakerphone, his wife by his side, as Trump praised his baseball career and told him he was granting a full pardon. "I was overwhelmed with gratitude—thanking God for setting me free from my past, helping me become a better Man, Husband and Father," Strawberry wrote. He also emphasized, "This has nothing to do with politics — it’s about a Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend."
The pardon also carries a unique reality television footnote. Strawberry is now the second alumnus of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” Season 3 to receive presidential clemency from Trump, joining former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, whose sentence was commuted in 2020 and who later received a full pardon. Both men were eliminated early in the show’s third season, which was ultimately won by Poison frontman Bret Michaels.
Trump’s use of the pardon power has drawn both praise and scrutiny during his second term. The Strawberry pardon follows a flurry of high-profile clemency actions. In just the past month, Trump commuted the sentence of former Republican Representative George Santos and pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, after his conviction for failing to address money laundering on the platform. The president has also granted clemency to over 1,000 individuals charged in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and other allies, according to CNN.
Asked about the process for such pardons, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters there is a “thorough review process” involving the Department of Justice and the White House Counsel’s office. Trump himself, in a recent interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” distanced himself from some clemency recipients, saying, “I don’t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that, and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt,” when asked about Zhao. However, Strawberry’s case stands out as a personal gesture, with Trump referencing their shared New York roots and Strawberry’s contributions to baseball.
Strawberry’s story remains a cautionary tale and a testament to resilience. Once pegged as a surefire Hall of Famer, his career was repeatedly knocked off course by addiction and poor choices. Yet, as Strawberry told fans at Citi Field during a jersey retirement ceremony in June 2024, "I don't regret what happened to me because it made me the man that I am today. I'm thankful for every challenge that I had to face and every circumstance I had to go through, because it just kept me moving forward to try to be a better man."
For Strawberry, the presidential pardon is not just a legal erasure but a public affirmation of his efforts to turn his life around. As he continues his work in ministry and recovery, his story offers both a reminder of the pitfalls of fame and the possibility of redemption—on and off the field.
