Mets fans salute Darryl Strawberry as No. 18 is retired at Citi Field

It was a moment like so many others from so long ago.

Thousands rose to their feet to applaud Darryl Strawberry, who had just stepped out of the Mets' dugout. He raised his arms skyward and the sing-song chant of “Dar-ryl” filled the park.

That this particular celebration emanated from Citi Field instead of Shea Stadium, where he built his legend, did not matter. Because Strawberry was home.

Now and forevermore.

The Mets retired Strawberry’s No. 18 before the game against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon. Strawberry joins Gil Hodges (No. 14), Dwight Gooden (No. 16), Keith Hernandez (No. 17), Willie Mays (No. 24), Mike Piazza (No. 31), Jerry Koosman (No. 36), Casey Stengel (No. 37), and Tom Seaver (No. 41) as a select group of Mets to have their numbers retired by the team.

The Mets also presented Strawberry a framed jersey and framed artwork.

“The memories are forever,” Strawberry said. “I will always cherish [them].”

Joining Strawberry for the ceremony were his wife, Tracy; the couple’s children; Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen; manager Carlos Mendoza; former teammates Hernandez, Gooden, Barry Lyons, Jesse Orosco, Sid Fernandez, John Franco, Mookie Wilson, Rafael Santana, Kevin Mitchell, Howard Johnson and John Gibbons; Gary Carter’s widow Sandy and lifelong friend Eric Davis.

Howie Rose served as the master of ceremonies.

“He’s so special,” Steve Cohen said. “Such positivity exudes from him. Fantastic. He’s [going] to have a great day.”

Selected first overall by the Mets in the 1980 draft, Strawberry was among the cornerstones of the franchise’s revival in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Strawberry hit .263 with 252 home runs, 733 RBIs and 662 runs scored and stole 191 bases in eight full seasons with the Mets between 1983 and 1990.

“That swing,” Mendoza said when asked about his memories of Strawberry. “That lefty swing. Effortless. His ability to drive the ball line to line.”

Strawberry is the franchise’s all-time leader in home runs and ranks second in RBIs and third in runs scored.

“It really is a special day,” Rose said. “Well-deserved and long overdue.”

Strawberry won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1983 and was selected to the All-Star team seven consecutive seasons (1984-90). He finished second and third in the National League MVP voting in 1988 and 1990, respectively.

Oh, then there’s that little matter of his role on the 1986 World Series championship team.

“A bunch of wild, crazy, animal, loving guys that cared about each other that would [have] each [other’s] back, no matter what,” Strawberry said. “That’s what was special about those group of guys.”

After the 1990 season — in which Strawberry hit .277 with 37 homers, 108 RBIs and 92 runs scored — he signed a five-year, $20.3 million free-agent contract with the Dodgers.

Reflecting on his decision to leave the Mets, Strawberry pointed toward his fractured relationship with then-general manager Frank Cashen.

“They [said], ‘Well, he needs to put up a good season,’ ” Strawberry said. “You can’t challenge a kid from the ghetto because that means nothing to us. It means I will show you, and that’s what I had to do in that free-agent year. I had to show them I could still play and put up [good numbers]. I think the year before that wasn’t good for me and [1990] was my last year [under contract].

“So they wanted me to put up a good season, and once I put up the season that I had in [1990], then they offered me a two-year deal. That was it. I said goodbye.”

Strawberry was selected to the All-Star Game in 1991 as a Dodger and finished that season with a .265 batting average, 28 homers, 99 RBIs and 86 runs. However, after that season he bounced around between the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees, where he was a veteran bat off the bench for the 1996, 1998 and 1999 World Series champions.

But his legacy was made in Queens.

“Little did I know that I would come to the greatest place to play baseball,” Strawberry said. “Little did I know I would play in front of the greatest fans. There was nothing like playing in Queens. There was nothing like playing in Shea Stadium.”

And now, yards away from where he made his name so many summers ago, Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 will reside in the leftfield rafters for eternity.