Gary Sheffield will be among the players playing at Citi Field on April 14, when Dwight Gooden has his No. 16 jersey retired by the Mets.
Few, if any, were as close to Gooden as he was during his ups and downs on and off the field from Tampa to Queens.
Sheffield is Gooden’s nephew, and although the two are only four years apart, the two learned the game together from Gooden’s father, Dan, in Tampa.
Sheffield’s mother Betty is Gooden’s sister.
“This is about my grandfather. [Gooden’s father, Dan] “We both did great things, and I always envisioned him bringing championships to the Mets,” Sheffield told the Post by phone this week. “The reward of retiring Jersey is special not only for him but for his entire family.”
And considering Gooden has been in trouble a number of times over the years with drug and alcohol issues, it’s an honor that even Sheffield never thought would happen.
“That’s always the case when you have someone who has a substance abuse problem,” Sheffield said. “You think about things like that all the time, don’t you? Always think of the worst-case scenario and thank God it didn’t happen.”
From their days together in Florida, Sheffield learned to hit against the young Gooden, and both went on to have long major league careers.
And when Gooden was in trouble, Sheffield often helped him out, paying for his rehabilitation.
Sheffield, now 55, has spoken for years about the toll Gooden’s problems have taken on him, and he did the same this week.
“That’s what people don’t understand about my career,” Sheffield said this week. “I had to endure those things while playing. I was able to succeed when the club believed in me and I had to do something for the club. [Gooden], it was harder than people thought. Every time he relapsed or did something else, our entire family was hurt. I was able to stop him once I got to the stadium. It was kind of my outlet. ”
Sheffield ended up hitting 509 home runs, including his 500th career home run with the Mets at Citi Field 15 years ago this month, before returning to Queens where he ended his career in 2009. I’m looking forward to it.
And he still credits Gooden with much of his success as a player.
“I learned everything from him, the difficult parts of baseball and the fun parts of baseball,” Sheffield said of the 59-year-old Gooden. My mother is his older sister and we have been like brothers since birth. Her mother always encouraged me to be tougher and better than him, so we started competing from a young age. ”
That relationship lasted a long time.
“We always did everything together, except when he was doing something wrong and didn’t want me to be with him,” Sheffield said with a laugh. “He taught me a lot. Even when he was sorting himself out, he always told me, ‘Don’t follow what I’m doing.’ I did. So I listened. And it was important that he did so. Because he recognized that what he was doing was not good. If someone has a substance abuse problem and can admit it, that’s recognition. ”
As Sheffield grew, he said, Gooden’s understanding of the issue deepened.
“My family and my parents have always been positive about his situation and told me, ‘It’s not him, he’s sick,'” Sheffield said. “So I understood it a little bit better. But I was always scared.”
Like many in baseball, Sheffield wonders what Gooden could have done if his drug abuse hadn’t gotten in the way, but he’s still given up hope that either of them could end up in Cooperstown. Not yet.
“The rules have changed, the Hall of Fame has changed,” Sheffield said. “They changed the goalposts, they lowered the goalposts. He’s right. [under] If he’s winning 200 games and doing what he’s been doing, if you’re going to put in a lot of guys like this, I think he’s worth considering. Because he ruled the era. If someone does it, you reward him. Yes, he had his problems, but so did everyone else. I hope he gets that honor too. We both don’t know what’s going to happen when it comes to that. ”
But he’s confident in where Gooden stands with the game and the fans.
“I think people think highly of him,” Sheffield said. “They were there for him through all his ups and downs. He had a lot of good times and bad, and he kept fighting. Even if he didn’t, he always had a close family to support him. So it’s just important that he comes out here at the end.”
