After a long struggle through life, the 85-year-old Darryl Strawberry finally crossed over to the other side. He was greeted at the pearly gates with open arms. St. Peter evidently was a fan of Darryl's past ball-playing.
"Welcome, Darryl. Welcome to Heaven." These were St. Peter's first words to him, shortly followed by, "Can I have your autograph?" and, "I can answer any questions you may have."
There was only one question Darryl had for St. Peter. "Do you have baseball up here?" he asked. "Baseball had been my entire life. I made some mistakes, sure. But I want to go back into baseball. I feel rejuvenated, as I'm sure everyone does when they cross over. With my new energy, I'm sure I can become great again."
St. Peter smiled and nodded. "Of course we have baseball up here," he said, and suddenly Darryl found himself in the office of one of Heaven's team managers. The manager look pleasantly upon Darryl and said, "We can sign you up right away. We have an opening in left field. Would you like it?"
Darryl didn't have to think twice. "Of course!" he said.
"Great! Sign here," the manager said after producing a contract. "How long do you think you'll be playing with us?"
"Baseball is my one passion. I'd like to play it for as long as I can."
"That will be a pretty long time. After all, you have an eternity up here."
Darryl smiled. "I know," he said.
But Darryl was right. He kept playing, and true to his word his passion drove him to play for the eternity he stayed up in heaven. Always in left field, always proud, he is still doing it today and will continue to do so for all time.
And that, my friends, is how it came to be that Strawberry fields forever.