Remembering The 1996 Yankees: Winning Defined Darryl Strawberry

Yankees outfielder Darryl Strawberry makes a diving catch on a pop fly by Mark Lemke of the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of Game 6 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 26, 1996. (Photo: Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images)When Doc Gooden hurled a no-hitter on May 14, 1996, it fueled the assertion that — with all due respect to F Scott Fitzgerald — there indeed are second acts in American life.

But we should first consider Gooden’s equally talented and similarly tormented predecessor from the epic Mets of the 1980s and Yanks of the ’90s. Before Gooden got his cinematic shot at redemption, Darryl Strawberry paved the way for a Big Apple redux.

Unless you were alive and lucid 30…