To this day, 43 years later, Darryl Strawberry still has a nickname for his 1981 season with the Class A Lynchburg Mets.

“I call it,” Strawberry said by phone last week, “the suck season.”

The suck season was, at the time, the most challenging of Strawberry’s life. It was the season he first confronted failure on the baseball diamond. It was the season he first heard racist slurs from the stands. It was the season he came oh-so-close to quitting baseball and hanging up his jersey for good.

And so when Strawberry’s No. 18 is retired June 1 at Citi Field, it’s only fitting that among his honored guests will be the two people who pushed him through the suck season: manager Gene Dusan and teammate Lloyd McClendon.

“Everybody looks at the success, but I look at the people who had a great impact on me,” Strawberry said. “There’s no way that I would be standing on the field having my number retired had it not been for people like them getting me through the most challenging, difficult times at a young age.”

The first month of Strawberry’s first full season in pro ball had not gone well. Failing on the field for the first time is hard enough for any player. Strawberry had several extra spotlights on him.

The prior summer, he had been the No. 1 pick out of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, where his coach had called him “the black Ted Williams” in Sports Illustrated. His signing bonus, while not a record, more than doubled that of the previous No. 1 pick.

And he was a black man playing in a southern city in Virginia. So when he struggled on the field, he heard it from the Carolina League crowds. Home games, road games, any games — Strawberry heard the worst of it.

“They were calling me all kind of names and saying negative things,” Strawberry said. “You’re talking about the deep south. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ I grew up in Southern California and we never had to experience that growing up.”

“Listen, it was 1981. Society as a whole didn’t quite embrace us — black folks,” McClendon said. “They used to pass the hat for anybody who hit a home run. We hit home runs and we got nothing.”

By early May, Strawberry wanted to take his bat into the stands, he said. Instead, he took his bat home.

“I just checked out,” he said. “I did go AWOL.”

“He left for a couple days,” Dusan said. “It was concerning that he left. I felt like he’d be back. I knew he’d be back.”

Rather than chase Strawberry, Dusan gave him space. He didn’t even tell the higher-ups in the Mets front office.

“If I did that today, they’d fire me,” he chuckled. “Things were different in the early ’80s.”

Two days later, Strawberry returned to the park, thanks largely to his relationships with Dusan and McClendon. Strawberry and McClendon had bonded the year before in rookie ball in Kingsport, Tenn., when they roomed together and had each other’s backs during their first summer in the South.

“I guess we had to protect each other,” McClendon said.

And McClendon hadn’t been there at the start of the ’81 season in Lynchburg because of a broken hand he suffered in spring training. But when Strawberry left the team, that rehab period became a lot shorter for McClendon.

“When I saw him at the park, then I was happy,” Strawberry said, “to see a face and someone of color just like me.”

Dusan made sure the two roomed together again, even though McClendon had gotten married.

“You have to take care of him,” McClendon remembered Dusan saying, “because he’s not going to make it if you don’t.”

“I don’t know if I was old enough to be a mentor at the time,” said McClendon, who was 22 that season, “but I was certainly a friend and a voice he could talk to. Whatever little wisdom that I had I tried to pass along.”

And Dusan’s tough-love approach as a manager was what Strawberry needed at that point. The day Strawberry returned to the club, Dusan didn’t exactly rejoice.

“I’m glad you’re back. I’m glad you’re healthy,” he told the player. “We’ve got to go to work.”

From that day forward, Dusan remembered, Strawberry became the best player he ever coached.

“He was there every day for extra hitting,” Dusan said. “Once he applied himself, he was the man.”

There was a reason Strawberry was always there for extra hitting.

“Let me put it this way: In a very good way, Gene was a pain in the ass to Darryl and I,” McClendon said. “When we were on the road, he would wake us up at 8 every morning and we had go to the ballpark. I guess he saw something special in both of us. He saw it in Darryl, for sure.”

“Gene Dusan was like a father figure to me that I didn’t have. He embraced me to fight through some adversities early,” Strawberry said. “I became a part of his family. It was just very personal to me.”

How much a part of the family? Strawberry helped babysit Dusan’s children.

“Geno kept me going, kept me focused on not looking up there and interacting with the people up there (in the stands),” Strawberry said. “That really helped me because I really didn’t want to play anymore, for a minute there.”

“He taught us so much about not just baseball but life in general and how you go about your business,” said McClendon, who went on to manage more than 1,100 major-league games. “You stand up and live by your word and learn to be a man of honor. It was pretty cool.”

For Strawberry, the suck season remains an important part of his story. That first experience of adversity helped him through the many later challenging periods he endured, both self-inflicted and not. It was a learning moment, he said, one that came up whenever his children wanted to give something up at a difficult time.

In ’82, playing for Dusan in Double-A Jackson, Miss., Strawberry broke through with 34 homers, 45 stolen bases and an OPS over 1.000. Two years after the suck season, Strawberry was the National League’s Rookie of the Year.

“I made the right decision to fight through the adversities and start believing,” Strawberry said. “I’m forever thankful for that and for real people. These are real people. These are not people that sugarcoat everything about you. But the people that showed me how to overcome.”

“It’s hard to believe,” Dusan said about watching the teenager he managed have his number retired. “I appreciate how he feels about me. I’m proud of him.”

(Photo of Darryl Strawberry batting for the Mets circa 1984: Focus on Sport / Getty Images)

NEW YORK – Two generations of boxing are coming face-to-face in Arlington, Texas, in just about two months, and neither Mike Tyson nor Jake Paul Is hiding their age.

Tyson, 57, and Paul, 27, began their press tour for their much-anticipated fight on Monday at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. And, despite just being miles from where Tyson grew up, the crowd seemed pretty split between the two.

The July 20 bout will mark Tyson’s first fight in over four years, when he fought Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition (Paul was on that undercard against Nate Robinson). It will be a sanctioned, professional fight, which Tyson hasn’t participated in since June 11, 2005, against Kevin McBride.

Formerly known as the “Baddest Man on the Planet,” Tyson has been posting clips of his training, and make no mistake, his power is still there.

But he’s no spring chicken. 

Of course, there are doubts whether, at his age, he can last the eight rounds, each of which will be two minutes.

DEONTAY WILDER SCARED FOR MIKE TYSON’S WELL-BEING IN JAKE PAUL FIGHT: HE’S TOO OLD FOR THIS’

Once a man who exuded more confidence than anyone, Tyson obviously knows that Father Time is undefeated, and he was brutally honest about how he feels physically.

“My body is s— right now,” he admitted on Monday. “I’m really sore.”

That confidence Tyson once had, Paul has it all, if not more.

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul at the Paul vs. Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano 2 press conference held at the Apollo Theater on May 13, 2024 in New York City. (Steve Eichner/Variety via Getty Images)

The YouTuber-turned-boxer has made the sport the most popular it has been since Tyson’s heyday. He’s done it in a much different way, but it’s not hyperbole when one says this may be the biggest fight in modern history.

It’s almost ironic that Paul is going from boxers hardly anyone ever heard of in his last two fights (Andre August and Ryan Bourland, each of whom were first-round knockouts) to arguably the best ever.

So, when a fan asked Paul if he could “take a hit” from Tyson, that confidence was on full display.

“They call him Iron Mike Tyson, but I’m Titanium Jake Paul.”

Prior, he said, “I’m going to show the world that I can outbox Mike Tyson, prove everyone wrong, and show that I will be the one doing the killing.”

Despite how his body feels, though, Tyson gave Paul a fair warning.

“Once he’s in that ring,” Tyson said, “he has to fight like his life depends on it, because it will be.”

Paul is 9-1 in his career, with his lone loss being via decision to Tommy Fury.

Mike Tyson, left, and Jake Paul during a pre-fight press conference held at the Apollo Theatre in New York in advance of Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s heavyweight bout. (Ed Mulholland/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Tyson and Paul will now head to Dallas for one more press conference on Thursday, the same day tickets go on sale.

The fight will be broadcast on Netflix, a first-of-its-kind event, as it will be free for subscribers. 

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The Chargers’ offseason program continued Monday with a workout at their headquarters in Costa Mesa.

The practice featured the team’s veterans and rookies together for the first time, coach Jim Harbaugh last week explaining the blending process by likening it to merging onto the 405 Freeway.

With the opening of the second phase of workouts, here’s a look at some recent Chargers happenings:

In the spotlight

The status of the Chargers expanded the instant the team hired Harbaugh in late January, a celebrity head coach just off a college national champion giving the franchise a 120-proof shot of credibility.

The high-profile adjustment has worked both ways, Harbaugh beginning to experience the benefits of his increased stardom in fame-loving Southern California.

In the last 10 days, he and wife Sarah have attended a charity gala hosted by the Dodgers, the wedding of former Chargers executive Nicoletta Ruhl and actor Jaleel White, and the roast of Tom Brady.

“There were celebrities everywhere,” Harbaugh said. “Jaleel is a celebrity. Actors from ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ Shohei Ohtani. I just turned to her and said, ‘We’re not in Ann Arbor anymore, Sarah.’ ”

Another deep threat

Among all the things Justin Herbert gives the Chargers, his presence alone affects the team’s fortunes. Harbaugh referenced that reality when asked about the signing of veteran wide receiver DJ Chark Jr.

“We really liked him a lot,” Harbaugh said. “He liked us. He liked what we have going. I’m sure No. 10 helps the most. Really good receivers want to play with a really good quarterback. I’m not going to take any credit for that. It’s mostly, I think, Justin.”

Chark confirmed Harbaugh’s assessment Monday when he met with reporters for the first time since joining the Chargers, calling Herbert “a top-five QB in this league in any given year.”

Entering his seventh season, Chark is expected to provide the Chargers with a much needed down-the-field element, his career average of 14.5 yards per reception an indication of that ability.

Chark said Herbert “can only really bring me up a notch,” noting that the quarterback has teamed with a variety of wide receivers — including Mike Williams and Tyron Johnson — to produce explosive moments.

“If you notice, there’s always been guys making big plays here no matter who it was,” Chark said. “Just being able to get on that same page with him, I think the rest will take care of itself.”

A Charger for life

Seventh-round draft pick Cornelius Johnson wore his official Chargers gear for the first time during rookie minicamp. It wasn’t, however, his first time in the team’s colors.

Growing up in Connecticut, Johnson was a fan of Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson and often wore No. 21 as a tribute. He explained that he also loved the Chargers’ uniforms.

Shortly after the draft, a picture of Johnson emerged on social media showing him in a Tomlinson jersey and with his hair shaved into a bolt. He was 8 at the time.

“I just loved LaDainian’s game, loved his highlights,” Johnson said. “Then, all of those guys like [Antonio] Gates and [Philip] Rivers, that whole squad. … It’s amazing that they were the team that ended up drafting me to be my dream.”

Johnson’s older brother, Cassius, played football at the University of San Diego, which gave Johnson an opportunity to see Qualcomm Stadium — from the outside, at least.

“I remember me and my dad [Claude] tried to get in there when they were still trying to demolish it,” he said. “They kicked us out.”

Looking in from the outside

New Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton mentioned the importance of being in sync with the coaches multiple times during his first session with reporters Monday.

His time with Tennessee soured in 2023 to the point where he was benched as the 2020 second-round pick struggled with consistency. Fulton also dealt with repeated soft-tissue injuries during his four seasons with the Titans.

“If your coaches and players are on two different pages, then your players on the field are still second-guessing,” he said when asked about last year. “It’s kind of like that, just taking indecision out of calls and all those things.”

In need of a starting outside cornerback opposite Asante Samuel Jr., the Chargers signed Fulton in March to a deal that guarantees him $2.445 million for this season.

He started 35 games over the last three years and has four career interceptions. Fulton, however, is coming off a season in which Pro Football Focus gave him his worst overall defensive grade.

He explained that — in retrospect — he didn’t believe going to Tennessee was best for his career. He said he thinks a fresh start with the Chargers and new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter can only help.

“Just me personally looking back, I don’t think I was put in the best position,” Fulton said. “That’s just where I was drafted. So I didn’t have no say-so in that. I finally got an opportunity where I’m put in a position where I think it’s the best opportunity for me.”