Mets legend Darryl Strawberry preaches a message of hope to faithful in Holtsville

Nearly 50 miles from Citi Field, without a baseball or hot dog in sight, rows of people stood and cheered for former Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry on Sunday in a Holtsville church.

Strawberry, the storied power-hitting right fielder who was raised in Los Angeles but is forever a New Yorker after helping the Mets win their second World Series championship in 1986, is now a traveling preacher. On Sunday, he gave a sermon at Jesus Is Lord Church on addiction, fatherhood and faith.

"I know I’m here for a reason," he told the congregation at the church. "This is your season to be here, too."

A career that also included stints with the Dodgers and multiple titles with the Yankees was not without its troubles. Strawberry’s woes ranged from alcohol and drug addiction to arrests and other legal issues.

"Being so young and thrust into the New York spotlight, don’t get me wrong, I loved it," he told Newsday after his sermon. "But celebrities, most of us are broken."

As for the big paydays that come with being a star athlete, Strawberry said: "If you think money is going to solve the problem, it doesn’t. It helps you get any lawyer, doctor ... But it’s still just a Band-Aid."

After leaving the Mets in 1990, Strawberry signed with the Dodgers, then won two World Series titles with the Yankees. He later beat cancer twice and survived a heart attack.

Strawberry and his wife, Tracy, founded Strawberry Ministries after his years of addiction, jail time and "two failed marriages for each of us," their website states.

"I’m not chasing after fans, fortune ... I want souls to be saved," Strawberry said in his sermon at the church where his son was baptized.

Several parishioners on Sunday wore Mets jerseys repping Strawberry's No. 18, which the team retired last year. His sermon Sunday brought in first-time visitors like Michelle Thomas, of Bethpage, and her 10-year-old son, Dylan.

"As a kid, I loved [Strawberry]. He was my favorite player," Thomas said. "Now my kid is how old I was when I started watching. He plays baseball and he’s number 18."

Odalis Urena, 41, of Baldwin, said he watches old clips of the Mets to see Strawberry steal the spotlight.

"Being a Mets fan, we didn’t have that many superstars, " Urena said. "Darryl was that one."

As people headed out of the church and Strawberry made his way through a line of parishioners looking for autographs and words of wisdom, a few children tossed a football in the church parking lot. One yelled, "Did you all get his autograph?" The other nodded, holding a sheet of paper with Strawberry’s signature scribbled in sharpie.

"It’s a blessing when you finally get to that place in life, and you’re happy," Strawberry told Newsday. "I played baseball for so long, and there were happy moments, but it wasn’t the joy of being free."