Darryl Strawberry to speak at FCA banquet on Hilton Head Island

Former Major League Baseball standout Darryl Strawberry will be the keynote speaker at the SouthCoastal FCA’s Annual Heart & Soul Banquet to be held Tuesday at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island.

The No. 1 overall pick of the 1980 baseball draft, Strawberry won the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year award with the New York Mets and played 17 seasons in the majors with the Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees. He slugged 335 career home runs, was slected to eight All-Star games and won three World Series rings.

But Strawberry’s career was not a storybook one. He was suspended three times by Major League Baseball for substance abuse problems and battled colon cancer.

Strawberry is now an ordained Christian minister and uses his opportunities to speak to share how people can be redeemed by God’s grace, no matter what trials they experience. The former slugger shares from his rise to the top of the sports world in professional baseball to his fall and battle with drug addiction and his rise again. He shares his story and testimony to help others find hope.

The annual Heart & Soul banquet is SouthCoastal FCA’s premier fundraising event where the organization also highlights the year-round achievement and impact of what FCA does on school campuses and in the community with student-athletes and coaches in the area’s public and private schools.

SouthCoastal FCA is in 27 public and nine private schools in the area serving Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper county schools and communities. Among the other speakers at the banquet will be Hilton Head Island Mayor David Bennett, local athletes and coaches.

Seating is by invitation and pre-reserved only. Contact FCA at news@southcoastalfca.org for information.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Darryl Strawberry to speak at FCA banquet on Hilton Head Island."