Strawberry Is Critical of Mets

Darryl Strawberry, who promised to avoid controversy this season, is off to a bad start, criticizing New York Mets teammates and Manager Davey Johnson.

In an article scheduled to appear in the April edition of Esquire magazine and Thursday’s New York Daily News, Strawberry called himself the key to the Mets season, and blamed Johnson, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Wally Backman and others for the team’s failure in 1987.

“As long as I don’t slump in ‘88, we’ll be fine,” Strawberry is quoted as saying.

“For one thing, our veterans didn’t bring out the leadership they should have,” Strawberry said in the article.

“Kid (Carter) for one. He just quit. I’m just speaking like it was. His attitude was, like, ‘Oh well, I’m having a bad year, guess I’ll feel bad.’ ” . . . And Mex (Hernandez), I know he was going through a divorce and all, but who the hell knows where his head was half the time last season.”