Back in 1996, Strawberry was in a different place. He was a slumping star with drug, alcohol, legal and tax issues on his resumé—a player no affiliated team would touch. The Saints, who were then an independent bunch known more for their marketing mischief than their developmental pedigree, were Strawberry’s last chance.

He was hesitant to take it.

“I didn’t really want to come to play,” Strawberry says. “I thought I was completely done with baseball.”

The story of how Strawberry lifted up the Saints and himself for a few amazing weeks in the summer of ’96—and the unlikely friends he made along the way—is one of the many poignant moments in “The Saint of Second Chances,” a new documentary about former Saints co-owner Mike Veeck that is now streaming on Netflix.

Dwight Gooden’s No. 16 and Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 will be retired by the New York Mets in separate pregame ceremonies next year honoring players who were keys to the team’s most recent World Series title in 1986.

New York will have retired nine numbers of players and managers following the decision announced Friday, up from four before Steve Cohen bought the team in November 2020.

Gooden and Strawberry were integral parts of the 1986 Mets, who went a major-league-best 108-54 and beat Boston in a seven-game World Series, then the players derailed their careers with drug problems.