Joe and Jada - Darryl Strawberry breaks down addiction & redemption in 'Another Life' + talks '86 Mets, Jeter's Yankees, Barry Bonds & steroid era

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Fat Joe and Jadakiss are joined by four-time World Series champion and baseball icon Darryl Strawberry to discuss his new book, ‘Another Life,’ and his powerful transformation from a superstar battling addiction to a mentor helping inmates in maximum-security prisons. The New York legend breaks down his transition from South Central L.A.'s Crenshaw High to the bright lights of NYC and shares unforgettable behind-the-scenes stories about the swagger-filled 1986 Mets championship team with Doc Gooden and Keith Hernandez, contrasting it with the quiet, exemplary leadership of Derek Jeter during his time on the Yankees. Also, the trio dives into raw conversations about surviving childhood abuse, Strawberry's refusal to judge players from baseball's steroid era, and Fat Joe opens up about a recent surgery that completely changed his perspective on the terrifying grip of fentanyl and addiction. Behind The Bars is presented by Sprite. Check out the full Sprite Living Tracklist and break down the stories behind your favorite bars at livingtracklist.genius.com. This is the Sprite Living Tracklist. Obey Your Thirst. Joe and Jada is now STREAMING ON NETFLIX Merch is here: https://joeandjadashow.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm Ty Hildenbrand. He's Dan Rubinstein. Every week we preview the games that matter and the storylines that are going to ignite your group chat. And you can join us in the aftermath as we react to what happened, why it matters, and how the sport went completely bonkers yet again. Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed.

People wake up and go, oh, damn, wait a moment, hold up. They change all of that? Yes. It's real. This is a wholesale attack. It is targeting black people in every federal agency. It's raw. White folks have never allowed that reckoning to last more than a decade.

Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin Unfiltered on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcast. I learned a lot about life being in a city like this to be able to endure and be able to go back and lift somebody else up. Because that's what New Yorkers do when you hear. When you have struggles, you have issues, they don't give up on you. Yeah, yeah, what up, y'all? This is Fat Joe BX's own. You know what it is your boy Jada.

You know what it is that Joe and James. the show, every show legendary, every show iconic. You never know who's going to touch the blue couch. You could bet your bottom dollar is somebody that won't touch your couch. Talking about data like that. That's it. When you think of today's guests,

you think of somebody with one of the coldest swings baseball ever saw. Big home runs. Bright lights. Shea Stadium. One of the most legendary errors in New York sports.

History. But this man's story goes way past the highlights. He's lived through the fame, the championships, the temptations, the losses, the battles, and found a whole new purpose on the other side. He's a Mets legend,

four-time World Series champion. And now he's showing people that no matter how far life takes you down, it's never too late to start over. Give it up for the one and only Daryl Strawberry. Thanks for that. Thanks for coming. hanging out with him for about an hour, but now he got the, I don't know, all of a

sudden after that intro, he got the Dow Strawberry face right now. This shit just came out of no. I was hanging out with him for an hour. All of a sudden, I looked up just now saying, holy shit. Fucking Down Strawberry. Who was you talking to an hour?

I don't know. I was talking to him for a whole hour. We talked about a whole bunch of shit, but all of a sudden, I don't know, you must know how to throw the Down Strawberry face on. night. Well, no. He only had it all his life.

Yeah. Exactly. But I'm sitting here with New York Legends, man. I'm a New York guy. Of course, I'm from South Central L.A.

So I know what it's like. I know what the streets are like. I grew up in that. So that was the most important part of my life growing up and coming here and playing in New York. That's what made me a great baseball player was the fans,

the people, the atmosphere. I'm not being afraid of the challenges that you have to face. Because you grew up on credential high. You know, a lot of guys say they from credential high. I wore number eight at credential high. I won number 25 playing basketball in Christian High. Listen, Ice T was here.

I see another one. We call him the king of gangster rap in the way he was describing hip-hop, right? Because I just noticed something. He was describing like, you know, He'd be over there when the New York rappers go over there. He tried to dress like the New York rappers and then figured out, let me dress like an L.A. guy. But you personally grew up in Crenshaw, then came to New York where they invented hip hop.

So how was that like traveling from the West Coast, you know, E. Jerry curls, all that to New York City. Like you got to see the best of both worlds. Well, it was pretty easy because of growing up there and being a part of all that. Being right in the middle of that, you make a decision which direction are you going to take. I was on the west side and there was an east side. So you had to be extremely careful about which sides you go on and what color you were in because the blood's in the crypt.

So it was a part of just knowing how to react and knowing how to not back down and be tough. I think that was the most important thing for me coming into New York. And once I found out about the New York atmosphere and the people, I realized that I was going to fit in just perfect with them. Because playing baseball and knowing the fact that the expectations are high and you come in here with a lot of demands on you to perform, the media, the fans and stuff like that, can you as a player handle the adversity?

And what I mean by that, can you handle the booze? can you handle the cheers? See, a lot of guys just like the tears, but I love the boots because the booze always got me off. They always made me feel like, well, okay, you're going to boo me. Now I'm hit two off the scoreboard, and you're going to want me to come out for a curtain call.

I'm going down in the tunnel to smoke a cigarette. Because I got this different type of mentality, you know, where I come from. And hip hop was always special from, you know, the West Coast, East Coast. It was always special at the time that I, was coming up in the 80s. It was very powerful with the guys that were just talking about,

the Curtis blows and stuff like that. I remember from the beginning. This one is for the OGs. Let's keep it 18-100. You know what I just thought about? That's pre-steroid error. Huh? So anybody who got busy at that time got busy.

Right? And how did you feel about like when people that you thought were like the greatest and this guy's a monster. He's hitting them all out the park to only find out they would take his steroids at the time. What was that like to you?

What was your initial response? I didn't have any response. We're all baseball players. You still got to perform. Regardless of what anybody want to say. Barry Bons is the greatest player they ever played. They were a player that I've just

a walk on the field that could do everything just natural. Good at all. A. Rob was the same way. Everybody wanted to jump them and said, well, they did this and they did. Well, it was a payday for them. Everybody was getting paid. So they saw other players doing it. So

why not? Why not jump in? Hey, had it been my time, I probably would have done the same thing. It was just a part of the culture, the time where I was at in the game in the 80s and saw these younger guys coming up and recognizing that they were going to be great. They were very talented.

You cannot deny players' talent and what they achieve. They have to go out there and do it. Baseball is so much more difficult than football and basketball. Baseball is a one-on-one individual where you got to go up there and the guy's dropping 95. Can you put the head out and turn it around?

And a lot of guys can. And those guys could do that at their young age and they did it at their old age. So I wouldn't sit around and criticize them for what others are already doing and made a way for another way. And that's what sports is all about. Every generation is different. The times I was playing, there were amphetamies in the game.

I took infatomies every night to light up so I can go out there and get busy. It was just a part of what it was. So I would never criticize any other athletes and say, well, they did this. You know, that's wrong for any athletes to point out of the other. You still got to work hard. And you still have to believe in yourself. Basically, for everybody out there, if you use this stuff, we're not encouraging somebody to use it,

but you still got to be able to know how to connect with the ball. It's not going to make you hit or catch or do none. People don't know. You know, there's some people who's like, I want to pay taxes. I want to be in the jury. I want to be like jury duty. And some people really don't know shit.

So you got to, like, spoon-feated to them and be like, listen, you take the stuff. We don't recommend it, but it doesn't automatically make you a superstar. You have to perform. When you was young, was baseball always number one? And basketball was just a lot of times. Pretty much. Pretty much baseball was. You know, I played a crinshawn. A lot of basketball players come out of cranks, y'all.

that were really good, Marcus Johnson, big John Williams with the LSU, a couple other guys. But I was more connecting in baseball. Myself, Eric Davis, Chris Brown. We were trying to follow Eddie Murray and Ozzy Smith because they had came from the same place. We all played up with the same coach

in the Summer League out in Compton. Earl Brown, he coached all of us. He used to tell us and joke and say, well, you guys are not going to be like Eddie and Ozzy. No, we said, me and Eric, you say, we're going to be better, you know. But that's the competition that you have coming out of California. And baseball was always driven because when I saw Cincinnati Reds and I saw Pete Rose play,

he wasn't the most talented player on that team, but he outplayed everybody. And he hustled, uniform was dirty. I said, now that's what a baseball player looked like. And then when I saw the Cobra Dave Parker, 6'5, I saw him throw, I saw him hit and I saw him run. And I say, okay, now I'm 6'5. That's why I want to be like the cover. So that's what really attracted me to baseball. And that's when I really got real focused in on the game of baseball.

I started to understand what it was going to take to get to the next level. Behind the balls presented by Sprite. Shook One's Part 2, arguably one of the greatest rap songs ever made to beat, the video. It just let you know you had to come with your A game. The type of music and the cloth of. music they was making around in time Shook Ones, Part 2 came out. It really shook the whole city.

It probably shook the whole world. The video was so necessary. It was so New York. It was so gritty and grimy. And they see these young warriors, man. Arguably one of the greatest songs, the greatest beats of all time. The story behind how he made the beat was crazy.

Definitely an incredible part of hip-hop. the full Sprite Living Track List and break down the stories behind your favorite bars. The link is in our show notes. This is the Sprite Living Track List. Obey Your Thirst. At what age did white guys start sitting in the

bleachers? Because that's a heavy indication in the hood when you play sports and the white guy, Step on Marbury told me he was 10 years old and white men used to come sit out there in the winter while he was dribbling in the snow. And he knew, oh, I'm out of here.

This, the Coney Island ain't going to be the last stop for me. When did you know, because I'm sure you've seen other kids here at home runs, when did you know, you're an elite? Like, I might be going to college for this. I might be, you know, going to the major leagues. It was late because, you know, I didn't start playing until I was 14. I didn't go through the T ball in the Little League because, you know, I grew up in a home. You started playing that.

14. Yes. So I grew up in home with a dysfunction father, you know, that was an alcoholic, so it was always crazy. So it wasn't no sports, you know, it wasn't no him being there taking us to be on teams and stuff like that. So it wasn't until he was out of the house. You know, after the last episode we had, you know, when I was about 14, he came on drunk again, put on a shotgun. I said he was going to kill our old family. Me and my brothers went into action, so we came this close to killing.

and thankful for my mom getting us out of the house and making us go down the street. And when we came back, next day, it wasn't there. So right after that, I went into start playing baseball. There were coaches that started to come around. Now, see, what people don't understand, coaches are going to have the greatest impact on a person's life or athlete's life because he's going to guide him to his destiny.

Most coaches will do that. And after I was 14, that's the same. started getting into baseball, and I kind of like started watching baseball, the Dodgers and the Reds on television game of the week. And I rolled up on the door in my room, I'm going to the pros. And my sister said, you're going to the pros?

See, I was like, yeah. She's like, you're crazy. I said, yeah, I'm not crazy to believe it. And, you know, from watching it and getting there to playing, and once I hit the field, I always told myself I'm the best player on the field. I don't care who's on the field. It doesn't matter who's on the field.

If you're looking at somebody else, you're not looking at yourself. And I was always looking at myself and my ability to play the game and learn the game. And that's how I got to the place where I got to. A couple of times, you know, I came close to quitting once I got into pro ball. We had to go through the minor league system going down in places like Lynchburg, Virginia. And they started calling me boy and you're not that good because I was. was the first pick in the draft and I was 19. And my manager, Gene Ducent, was like, don't look up there because I had that Louisville slugger.

He thought I might have ran up there and started eliminating folks of understanding. So he was like, they're just crazy, you know, and they were saying all kinds of things. So I had to experience that. And I wondered if I made a big mistake, you know, by doing that. And I used to tell my mother, I want to quit. She said, you're not quitting. My mother never let me quit. And that was a good thing about having a good mother that no matter what, she said, you got into it, you don't finish it.

And she wasn't all hyped up about my baseball career success and everything, but she said you got into this and you need to finish what you started. And so that's what was really my driving point more than anything is having street sense because I grew up on the streets and knowing how to navigate. around situations. And if you don't know how to do that, you'll find yourself giving up. And that's what I wanted to be able to give something different to my kids and stay strong in those areas and realize that don't give up

because I want to teach my kids that adversities is a part of the challenges of life. And when you have to go through those and you get through those by not giving up, you can achieve anything. And I think that's what made me excel at the highest level because I knew I could have been achieved. That's awesome. Why did you feel like now

was the right time to write this book? Well, because it's not about me. It's about people. I've lived the life. I've been at the pinnacle, top. And I saw so many people

in prison more than anything. Because I experienced that myself for addiction. I went to Florida State Prison and ended up with a T-17-169. And I did 11 months on an 18-month sentence. and I saw so many of us

and it really spoke to me and when I came to the point of having a transformation in my life I realized that I needed to go back in there to encourage them. I can't change their circumstances, their situation. But I want to go in there and let them know that they love and that their life matters no matter what they've been through. Because a lot of times we don't know where folks come from,

we don't know what happened to them to get them there. And I think they just end up with a number caught up in the system and people throw them away. And I just didn't want to do that. I wanted to go back. And I think that's what this book is about. It's about different communities I go into and talk to the kids about the hard drugs

of overcoming those opiates and heroin, losing their life. And I go to the maximum security prisons where I love the brothers. You know, I love going in there, walking yards with them and being, it's just being, Just being, be in.

You know, me personally, I always sold drugs, right? And I always looked at drug users as being weak people. It's just the way I've been triggered my whole life, right? And recently, I was having a surgery. And the man, they got to put me to sleep. He says, now this is going to take the anxiety off. Right. It was the best shit I ever felt.

I was mad that he gave it to me. Because I was like, oh my God, what the fuck is this? To make a long story short, right? When I woke up, I asked him, what the fuck was that? Well, he told me. I didn't even ask him. I was upset because he was like, fentanyl. I say, yo, I didn't ask you.

Right? I didn't even want to know what that felt like. And I'm going to be honest with you. I never used drugs. Never smoked cigarettes. Never smoke weed. Never this. I thought about that shit for like two weeks straight.

Like I was just like, yo. And I finally realized when you telling your kids and you're telling your loved ones, yo, stop. Like, yo, you're fucking up your life. regular people who never got hot, they really have no clue of what they up against because unfortunately you got to feel like the best shit ever. And you're up and you're trying to convince somebody

not to do the best shit ever. I'm already too old to feel like this. This shit happened two, three weeks ago they gave me this shit. I said, oh my God, this shit. And then I finally realized what we've been. what I've been trying to convince my brother about, yo, get off this shit.

Yo, you got to, you got to come and suffer with us. You got to feel emotions like us. You know, you can't just get the good stuff. I never realized what we was up against telling people don't use drugs. It's a hard situation. It's a very hard situation. And it is the best ever.

It's an escape from the pain. what happened to you, the wounds that are inside of you. That's all it does for that period of time. And that's why most people get to that place like that because they need to escape from the reality of what they've been through,

the trauma, the abuse, the rejection. It allows you to not feel that at that particular time. Like you said, you went to the doctor, you got that, yeah, and I know all that. And you do feel like that. I've been through many surgeries and they're getting ready to put me under and they give me something. And I'd be like, oh, can I take this home with me?

Because it's going to help me sleep. And, yeah, and that's the reality of it. That's the reality of people that usually get connected deep in drugs like I did. It wasn't because of my stardom. It was because I was broken. You know, I was trying to suppress what my father had beaten inside of me. You know, when my father, he was strong, and when he used to beat you for any little thing that you did wrong, they'd make you take your shirt off, and then you cross the bed, and he beats you with an extension cord off the vacuum room.

So he comes from Mississippi, and I didn't know his father was an alcoholic, and he saw. He was the only child, and he saw his father do that to his mother. So it's like a repeated behavior. And I used to go to my room at night after beatings and stuff, and I used to sit there and cry and I used to say to myself, I am never, ever going to put my hand on my kids, ever, because it will leave those scars on them forever. And I never did put my hands on my kids.

Same thing. And when they got into, like, trouble, like I was, would do in my age, I go make them stand in the corner. Because I didn't want to, I didn't want them to be affected like that because people don't realize people are truly affected, you know, from real rejection and abuse when they're young. And it turns them, it can turn you into a monster and it can kill you. Or you can take it and go through it and you can come out on the other side. and now you can go and give it back to help somebody else.

And that's what another life is about. It's another life for me, it's not about Daryl Strawberry. I'm great. You know, it's like, yeah, I was successful. I love New York. I learned a lot playing in New York. I learned a lot about life being in a city like this to be able to endure and be able to go back

and lift somebody else up. Because that's what New Yorkers do. when you hear, when you have struggles, you have issues, they don't give up on you. They lift you up. And that's what I enjoyed the most about the fact of being able to write a book at this time and go back and say, here, take this, people, use this. I'm showing you the blueprint.

I've already done it for you. You don't have to end up like I did. You don't have to end up in the jumpsuit and the handcuffs. I tell my daughter this all the time. I say my daughter getting into it. the business and all that. I'd be down with that and I can't help to just jump in. And then she's like,

yo, dad, I got my own team. We're doing our thing and I'd be like, look, you don't have to go through what I went through. I did that. It didn't work. I'm just letting you know. I'm not trying to shut down whatever you're doing. But I think the biggest thing people can learn is you can learn from other people's

mistakes by watching it. You don't have to try it yourself. You don't have to do it yourself. If you know your friend that was intelligent, that was your man, that this and this and that, fucked up to drugs and he can't get off that shit, what makes you think you're stronger than him to be doing it? So you got to learn from other people's mistakes.

I think that's very valuable. I think we owe people. We owe our community books like this. Yeah, a lot. And so, like, giving them back the knowledge and saying, listen, man, I want to do some shit. Joe and Jada Show.com, we got new merch fresh off the presses. Go get it. Big out of big.

Boom. Joe and Jadishow.com. You can get the little cold for a T-shirt with a hoodie tag. It's my favorite right there. I need an extra large. Show and Jadishow.com. Go there and get it. with the station that's as bold, vibrant, and diverse as you are.

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Let's go. With IHart Pride Canada. You know the feeling. You make a picture. your fantasy draft in the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in primetime. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyason, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid

episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailback, data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. College football will hijack your weekend, ruin your sleep, and break your heart.

And that's why we make the Solid Verbal College Football Show. I'm Ty Hildenbrand. He's Dan Rubinstein. How's it going? Every week, we preview the games that matter, sort through the biggest storylines, and tell you what to watch before kickoff. There's a lot to keep track of. Who's for real? Which upset is hiding in plain sight? And which storyline is about to take over your group chat.

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Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, I'm Mikey Am. And I'm Trevor Sykima. And together we host the NFL fantasy football show. Fantasy season is upon us. Are you ready to dominate your league? Because if you aren't locked in with us on the NFL fantasy football show, you're already playing

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Does fantasy dominance sound appealing to you? Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And it's even all the right that you telling me you did 11 months. I was going to ask you what it, and I think about the soul of town, right? Whenever a celebrity or somebody goes to jail or whatever, I think about that first time you walk in there

and they're like, holy shit, it's down straight. And then you got to lay on that bunk for the first time and be like, holy shit, what the fuck am I doing here? Did you have that type of moment? I had the moment where when I went into, the prison system and the warden told me you don't belong here

and he said do your time and get going and get moving forward because you're talking about a place where it's real and there's no joke

and I don't care who you are you're going to be challenged at some point in sometime that's just the way it is And when I got there, I wasn't in fear. I was in the fact that, okay, I need to get this over with. Because I can't keep having this over my head. I'm not a criminal.

I got a substance abuse problem. So, okay, it's going to 11 months. I could do this probably standing on the top of my head, just the way I used to think because of where I'm from. I already been tough from the street. So I wasn't like, oh, man, I'm afraid. You know, it's like, okay, here we are. how you're going to deal with it.

And I went in the system and I dealt with it. And I made a lot of friends, you know, because I'm a cool guy. I'm not a guy that's looking to throw the knuckles. But if you want to throw the knuckles, I throw those too because that's where I've been through that, you know, from the streets and playing baseball. So a lot of them already know that. And so you got challenged a few times, you know, when you're playing sports there and playing basketball and you're dunking on fools.

Yeah, you're dunking on fools and they're talking, they're getting mad. I was like, yeah, whatever, let's do it. But people always would push you back so you wouldn't get into those places where you get put in the hole and stuff like that. So, I mean, the fact that it happened is the lessons that do you learn the lessons in life? This is what happens to a lot of people that don't.

They keep repeating the same thing over and over and over again, looking for a different result. And thinking it's a different way to do it. But it's not when you get caught up in the system like that. And as you tell a lot of brothers that, I said, I'm not coming back here. I got a letter A and some guys got D, C, F. You know, I've been back there six, seven times

and talking about a different way of doing things when they get out. I said, there's no different way when you get yourself involved in the system like this. And, you know, I was prosecuted in Tampa. I was prosecuted by Pam Bondi. she was on prosecutor she was telling the judge he needs to be locked up the judge was like no he don't

he's not a criminal he just have a drug problem he's like who did he cares he's like well he's just destroying temper she's saying no you're not he just violated probation so it taught me a lot

about the system and people and I got a real great education about life life will give you a good education, no matter if you're successful and you go through some things, and if you're successful and you don't go through some things, life is going to challenge you at some point. And if you don't have life skills, you're not going to be able to make it through because that's what you have to have to be able to get through this whole thing

that we call life of them. You win a chip with the Mets, you win three chips. You win three chips, with the Yankees. Which was the more fun team? Probably, I see you to say the 86 mess. We're the more crazy the team that I've ever played with.

What consists of crazy? Doing whatever you want, however you want. But at the fact... So, the motherfucker was getting high going to the game. No, we didn't get high going to the game. You know, when people exaggerate when they say that. You know,

when we were going, you don't win 108 ball games getting high. You know, we might have been taking infatomies and we're crazy. We'd go

put these knuckles on you and stuff like that. And we're going to go out drink and be wild. You're talking about after them. They say Babe Ruth, you used to get hampered every night after.

Yeah, you're going to go out drink. You got women everywhere. You're married. You know, you, you're going to have fun. Because it's,

it's like a candy store. You go to the candy store. and get what you like. That's what it was like for us in the 80s. And there was no hangover about that, you know, because it was the 80s. It was different. New York was different.

And we were like a band or like rappers. You know, you go into town. You go in the town and you turn it out. And behind the scenes, it's a different story, you know. Certainly not. So the Mets. I'm saying that was the team, the 86 match. You know, it was, like, really...

Who was on the 86 match? Gary Carter. You was going up against Fernando Venezuela and the number. I was taking him off the scoreboard. You know, they still got murals of him in LA and all that. Fernando Venezuela. You was parking... Taking this shit off the hat going up like this.

Who else is part of the team? Hernandez, Carter. Keith Hernandez. Wally Backman. Dyscher. Lenny Dice. Kevin Mitchell. No, Doc Gooden, Ron

Darling, Bobby O'Hita. Raphael Santana. Oh my God. Ray Knight. Tuffle. But you go down a list of our team and it wasn't... Keith Fernandez.

He was a hell of a first baseman. He's the most intelligent player I have ever played. And I could tell. How about that? I could read his IQ every time he was making a play. You knew Keith Fernandez was a smart motherfucker. He ain't looked dumb for nothing.

Not, man. Just like when we skipped to the Yankees, I would say my favorite Yankee of all time was Sturman Munson. Just as a fan because he was a wild white boy back catcher. I mean, you know, he gave me everything. Keith Fernandez ain't given me. I'm like, yo, this is a wild boy. He looked like Jake Paul playing baseball or some shit like that.

But on the Yankees, on the winning side of the Yankees, who'd you play with on those teams? I play with Tino. I play with Bernie. I play with O'Neill. I play with Scott Broces. I play with the one and only the great Jeep, Derek Jeter. Ooh, Captain.

Probably the best person between him and Carter are probably the best person, people I've ever met in the game of baseball. Derek Jeter. Yeah, they don't say anything negative about nobody. Jeter never did, Carter never did. He does a lot for the community. He does a lot.

He did the turn two foundation. It's always helping the people. Folks talk about how he's not, you know, this player, that player. The guy played the game the right way. Yeah, he went out there. When he put the uniform on, he didn't have to voice his opinion

about being the captain. He was the captain. because of the way he played. And that is the way people should look at players that stand out. You know, they stand out more of looking at other guys. Well, this guy's better. But Derek was definitely getting to Derek G. Back to the match, though.

When Davey Johnson said we're going to win at all, did y'all really believe that at that moment? What did you think when he said? We were true gangsters. We knew we were going to win. Because we had lost the year before to the Cardinals. We won 98 ball games and went home. And in our locker room after that series, it was just really quiet.

And we knew to ourselves that we had lost the division twice back to back, 84 and 85. We lost to the Cubs, then we lost to the Cardinals. And it hit us right in there. You know. She's the only good luck. got right now about Philly with LeBron and all of them. Every team always lose the first

year. They never just straight go. So it's the only thing I can keep telling myself we're going to beat these guys. Philly are stacked up in the basketball side. I'm like, yo, they always win one. They always lose a year to feel that and then

come back. Hopefully they lose this year. You know what I'm saying? I'm keeping it real I'm keeping it a buck. Well, that's a good. question because, see, Davy Johnson was a guy that played the game, and he had a

personal understanding about players. And he knew how to get players and put players in a position to be successful. And he never would throw his players under the bus. But goes on in the clubhouse

stays in the club out. We're fighting, we're fighting. But it's not coming out to the media. And we're not going to let I'll let's know anything about inner stuff. You know, and we had inner stuff because we had a lot of personalities.

And, you know, a lot of times they wanted, a lot of times guys wanted to push my button. But I was the wrong guy that you didn't want to push my button. Because I was different. You know, I just, I didn't play around when you push my button. But I'm, but I'm going to get on this field

and we all get on this field together. we're going to wax people. It was no worrying about that. There was no pressure when he told us that spring training, we're going to win it all. He didn't just say we're going to win it all. He said we're going to dominate. And we got off two and three stars, something like that,

and we had to welcome home dinner and keep told everybody, relax. It's just the season that just started. And once we went to St. Louis and we swept the Cardinals and Whitey Herzlark, or the manager for the Cardinals made a comment. And he says, nobody's going to be there. And we just took off and ran away with that division.

So somebody could actually say something that you hear and it can affect you mentally like, look, this certification, they know we come in a win. Let's do it. So something like that could actually motivate you to go all the way. Oh, no doubt about it. But we had this swag about us. because when we were coming into your town,

we're coming to tear it up. Yeah, we're coming to tear it up on the field, off the field, just all around. You know, it was just, it's just the way it was for us. You know, your house, your club, and we're going to hit the home run the next day. See you next week. It was just the kind of way it was for us

and the personality and the other team that we had. We had some bad guys. I couldn't look like he was having. the time of his life at that time, too. Well, Doc Gooden was very unique. I don't think you will ever see anyone as good as at a kid in 1920 years ago. 1985, he dominated major league hitters like,

I'm never seen. They talk about a lot of great pitches, but he was only 20. And you're talking about a guy that had command of his fastball and throw his breaking bar at any time and have Dawson, Mike Smith, Pete Rose, all those great Hall of Famers, and freeze them and throw gas.

I mean, I think guys knew when Doc was pitching. They were early in batting practice. They would take BP and then all of a sudden they scratch because their neck hurt or something like that. Because he was... How was my man, who's got... Goose Gossage with the legendary muscle. Goose was wild.

Goose could get busy, huh? Yeah, goose gets busy, and he gives you that look, and he intimidates you with that look he had on his face. Yeah, I'm a brownstone cow, boy. You know what I've learned? The things that really matter, you can't rush them. Fats. You can't rush the sauce.

You can't rush the music. You can't rush relationships. And you definitely can't rush great tequila. That's why 1800 tequila stands. The name goes all the way back to the 1800s. When the Beckman family started making tequila, and that patience, that attention to the craft, has been passed down through more than 11 generations.

That's legacy. Sometimes you just got to let something cook. Juan Beckman Vidal aged 1800 and Neo longer than he even had to because he knew it wasn't ready yet. I respect that. Don't put it out just because you can put it out. Put it out when it's right. That applies to a record, a conversation, the mood,

you're making, and clearly a bottle of tequila. Once you get it right, you share it with your people. That's always been part of the story. Good tequila, good conversation, and the people around you really appreciate both. Passion, hard work, honesty. Those words are written on every bottle of 1800. And honestly, that's the foundation for anything built to last.

So take your time with what you're creating. and when the moment is right, share it with your people. 1800 tequila. Good stuff takes time. And the best stuff's meant to be shared with your people. I got three-part question. What was it like being drafted number one? What was New York like at that time?

And what was it like when the National League rookie in the year? I think when I got drafted in 1980 out of high school, I know my mother drove me that morning to school and she was a little nervous and I wasn't. I figured, I'll probably get drafted because four players got drafted the year before in 79 after we lost the city championship to John Elwyn in my Dodger Stadium.

And all the scouts was asking the coach about me and they said he's, he told him he's a junior. They go, he's a junior. Yeah, he's got another year of high school. So when I came out, that my senior year, you know, my first game I had like 50 scouts out there looking, coming to scene. Because I was called it Black Ted Williams.

Someone would call me Willie McCovey. I was long linking. And being drafted that year, they came and got me out of class. And they said, you've been drafted. And I said, okay. They said, you've been drafted number one. I said, okay. I just wanted to get drafted.

And they said, you're going to the New York Mets. I said, okay, where the heck is New York at? Wow. And, you know, I finally got a chance to come here and see New York. And I thought to myself, when I saw this place, I goes, oh, my God. Would you get here for the first time? I think it was, I came up when I was about 19, 20 years old from the minor league player of the year, stuff like that with the organization. And they brought me to New York and I came here.

And I thought, well, yeah, what year? That had to be 1980, one, two. I came up in 83 before I came up because I won't rookie year. But I had to be in the 82, something like that. And coming down the streets and I was like, oh, my God, how am I going to figure this out? They got one-way streets. You don't have that in California.

You don't go one way, you know. Want to go this way, one go that way, want to go that way. I was like, man. man, this is going to be really crazy to figure out. When I was thinking about that one, it was like 20 years old. So you get to New York City when the Bronx looked like palms hit it and shit like that.

No, I mean... You didn't go pick up no chick in the South Bronx where the shit looked like she was living inside the broken building and shit with the extension cord. New York was to me, it was like... It was like South Central or ghetto.

hood. You know, so I kind of felt that vibe, you know, yeah, similarities. I kind of felt like,

I'd be all right here. And I got here, and I finally got here in 83, my rookie year. He asked me, and I struggled when I first came up, like every player will, struggled at the big leagues.

I was 21. I was supposed to be at the ballpark early at 1 o'clock with hitting coach Jim Fry, and I didn't show up to 3 o'clock. And he got in my face. And I said, kid, if you ever want to be great at this major league that we'd be at this ballpark early every day. And from that day forward, I was at the ballpark early every day.

We got to the ball. With seven o'clock game, I'm at the ballpark at two. And he worked me through that whole process. And he got me to understand more about, that's not about the talent. It's about being here and taking it all in. And also working on the things that you're weak at. That's the things that you're strong at. See, most athletes don't even work at the things that's strong

and they don't work on the weak things. And so you want to be able to balance yourself, and he taught me that. And then we got Hernandez in the trade. He came from St. Louis. I had no idea who he was. And people were like, oh, it's a big deal. And Hernandez started to see me play.

And he started to think, wow, what was this little skinny, 21-year-old kid? they got hitting the ball off the scoreboard already. Hit this shit out of par. And he was thinking to himself that I want to get out of here because I could go out of the car and I went to win a rookie of the year that year. But he said his father told him, you need to stay and sign with the match

because they got some more players coming up through their farm system that's just like strawberry. And they're going to be pretty good. And that was big for me because to be able to have him teach me the game. and elevate me to the next level, it's incredible, because players like that are always going to have an effect on you. When they're not jealous and they know you're talented,

they're going to teach you how to do this. And he was that guy that was teaching me how to hit left-hand pitch and showing me how to do that, showing me how to get up in the box and get back deep when he's throwing a fastball and get up in the box when he's throwing off speed, catch it. Man, I hit 20 home runs off left-hand. the hit is on left-hand pitches in 88

because of knowing how to do that. So those are the things that have become important when you're playing sports and you listen to guys that have the knowledge like Hernandez have. I told you I've seen pictures of, who was it,

all of Willie Bays? Like Willie Bays, you know, the Yankee Stadium was in the polo grounds first, and they got pitches of Willie Maze just playing stick ball outside with all the kids in Harlem is just a beautiful sight to see. You ever did stuff like that with the kids out there and try to play baseball with them

and stuff like that back in the day when... We grew up on, like a broomstick, hitting rocks. That's how I learned starting swinging you. So you had to have hand-eye coordination because you had to be able to see the rocks to hit them. And that's why I learned. I think that's where I learned how to be able to pick up the spin on the baseball. Because when you hit rocks, you got to pay attention. You got to focus.

You cannot take your eye off of because you're going to miss it. And when I started to learn about baseball, I started to learn how to see the spin coming out and pitch your hand and everything. And those are the things that kids get away from. Well, it's different now because they have all these different platforms, AAU, Travel Ball. Well, no AAU tribal ball for us. We ain't had no money from no AAU travel bowl.

We couldn't afford that. We had to play with rocks out there until you got to a place where you got on the team. And now this is what baseball is. And I was fortunate, like I said, before, to grow up with Eric Davis and Chris Brown and played with those guys because they were multi-talented athletes too out of L.A. And played basketball. Eric went to Fremont. Chris went to Crenshaw with me.

To be able to watch them play, just kind of motivated me even more. Like, hey, we can come out of here too and be successful. When you see other guys from the hood play and you play summer ball together, you know where he can play. That's great. It reminds me of my little man there. He's from Brazil.

And when that FIFA was going on, they were saying the story that the Brazilian players got good because they be in these little favelas and they start playing soccer in these little favelas and they get so nice on their feet that when they get into like a real field

they're able to move because sometimes the limited things in life things that can limit you in life can actually make you greater you know that's an important. thing. You put me in such a humble position because these years you're talking about 81, 80, man, I was still eating free lunch. I was eating free cheese, man. And so the fact that,

you know, you bringing them years, I got to look at Dowstor and be like, damn, man, did we ever think we'll ever meet, Dow Strawberry, the man, the myth, the legend. It's a big deal for us to meet you bro and have you on our show. It's the honor, brother, man. Well, same here, man, because I go back in those days, you know, when you had to get lunch bags of school and stuff like that. A lot of people didn't grow up like we did and what you were just talking about. And it's real humbling and it makes you tough. Makes you not forget.

I never, you know, I jumped on the car of Dave Winfield. I was in the All-Star Weekend at Houston and the man pulled up to a party and I jumped on his car because the only way I could go to Yankee Stadium was with the Winfield Foundation. And the man used to give us free tickets to my projects to go

to the Yankee game. So when I saw him, I just couldn't believe it because for us, living five minutes away from the stadium and we were still, we never seen green grass. We've never seen lights. We never heard. And now, you know,

the announcing and all that, so, it He's a big deal for us to get inside the stadium. And so shout out the Dave Winfield for doing that for me, man. The name of the book, Another Life, baby. This ain't that. That ain't this. It's cracking kiss, God damn. Make some noise for Darrell's score.

The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling that, crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zachary Eisen, host of the award-winning late-round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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This is just the latest example of them just slapping DEI on anything. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing y'all for fools. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the IHart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Mike Yam. And I'm Trevor Sycamma. And together, we host the NFL fantasy football show.

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