Il Nuovo Postiglione - Trump pardons three-time World Series champ Strawberry

Strawberry, 63, had pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in 1995 after indictments for failing to pay taxes on income from appearances.

The eight-time MLB All-Star outfielder won World Series crowns with the New York Mets in 1986 and the New York Yankees in 1996 and 1999.

In a 17-year career that also included stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, Strawberry batted .259 with 335 home runs and 1,000 runs batted in.

He was also suspended by MLB three times for substance abuse issues.

A White House official told US media Friday that Trump approved the pardon in part because Strawberry served time, paid back taxes, "found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade."

Strawberry thanked Trump in an Instagram post.

"Thank you President @realdonaldtrump for my full pardon and for finalizing this part of my life, allowing me to be truly free and clean from all of my past," Strawberry wrote.

He said he had been "half asleep" Thursday when his phone buzzed with a call from Washington. When he answered, it was the White House saying Trump was on the line.

"I put it on speakerphone with my wife nearby, and President Trump spoke warmly about my baseball days in NYC, praising me as one the greatest player of the '80s and celebrating the Mets. Then, he told me he was granting me a full pardon from my past."

Strawberry said he felt "overwhelmed with gratitude -- thanking God for setting me free from my past, helping me become a better Man, Husband and Father.

"This has nothing to do with politics -- it's about a Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend. God used him as a vessel to set me free forever," Strawberry added.

L.Gallo--INP