Strawberry, Strobel highlight Saturday mens conference | Free News
A man whose storied professional baseball career has deep roots in Mississippi is returning here this weekend on a much different mission than he was then.
Darryl Strawberry will be a featured speaker at the “Transform” men’s conference at Bethlehem Community Church (849 Lake Como Road, Laurel) on Saturday.
He played Class AA ball for the Jackson Mets in the early 1980s after being the No. 1 overall draft pick out of high school in Los Angeles. After his time in Jackson, his major-league career took off with the New York Mets, which won the World Series in 1986 with a roster full of misfits and stars who got their start in Jackson. The team was featured in a recent ESPN 30-for-30 four-part series, “Once Upon a Time in Queens.”
Strawberry was featured prominently in the documentary. He spent 17 years in the major leagues and was one of the most feared sluggers of his era, but he became more known for taking hits of cocaine than his hits on the field. He became a master of the public apology as he repeatedly tested positive for drugs and had legal challenges in his tumultuous relationships.
Still, he was a nine-time All-Star selection and helped the New York Yankees win the World Series in 1998, all while battling colon cancer.
In recent years, he’s become known as an evangelical born-again Christian, giving his testimony and eventually writing about them in his book about addiction and recovery, “Don’t Give Up on Me.”
Another featured speaker will be atheist-turned-Christian author Lee Strobel, who has penned more than 20 books, including the classic “The Case for Christ,” which details his conversion to Christianity.
Worship leader and author Heath Balltzglier, who wrote songs "This is My Song," "Death Was Arrested" and "No One Higher," is also in the lineup along with the light-hearted duo Tommy Woodard and Eddie James, known as The Skit Guys.
“It is sure to be a great day spent with men from across all backgrounds worshiping our Creator and growing in our relationship with Jesus and our knowledge of him,” said Jamie Altman, pastor of Bethlehem Community Church. “We are expecting everyone to leave Transform, transformed by the Spirit of God!”
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