You had to have been there at the time to believe it.
Dwight “Doc” Gooden was one of those genius pitchers that emerges once every half century.
Today, we celebrate geniuses like Jackson Choriot and Jackson Holiday, who accomplished the almost unthinkable feat of making it to the major leagues at age 20. By the age of 20, Gooden had already become one of the best players in the league, leading the league with 276 strikeouts. Inside the big.
Those who were alive at the time knew this, but I wanted to confirm just to be sure. Gooden, No. 16 of the Mets, whose number was retired in a spectacular unscheduled ceremony on Sunday, became the major league leader at age 20 in 1985, tying Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson with a 9.7 WAR.
He had a 24-4 record and a 1.53 ERA. He was a phenomenon the town had never seen before. Or perhaps we will continue to see it.
You’d probably have to go back more than 70 years to find a 20-year-old who was even a great All-Star in New York (Mickey Mantle was in 1952). Gooden, 20, was the unanimous choice for Cy Young.
Doc was so dominant that it was hard to believe he was only 20 years old. He wasn’t just an All-Star. he was always great. Moreover, his outing was an event. Gooden’s game was a must-see.
Ron Darling, Gooden’s former rotation mate and current broadcaster for SNY and MLBN, was the Mets’ No. 2 pitcher at the time — “a distant second,” Darling says — to be honest. , he recalled that his name was listed on the pitcher’s chart the night before. And Gooden was so good that it had nothing to do with what he was about to do.
“The only thing I can compare it to is something like Little League, where sometimes you have a kid who is better than everyone else and strikes out everyone, almost like a shave. That. That was him,” Darling recalled. “He was just bigger, stronger, better. He never stood a chance.”
Another difference was time. When Gooden made it to the majors at age 19, even the Mets’ front office didn’t know much about it until the spring of 1984, when scholarly manager Davey Johnson told general manager Joe McIlvaine that the kid was ready. , with plans to move up from regular Class A to Double-A and then Triple-A. .
The previous year, Gooden treated Class A batters like infants, giving up exactly 300 whiffs. However, the situation was not like the one we see today, where media personnel enthusiastically cover minors and even amateurs. And to be honest, there were times when the team didn’t know what they had.
“Nobody knew about Dwight Gooden until he joined the team,” Darling recalled. “There was something innocent about baseball players back then. The players came out of the cornfields. They came from Tampa. They might be 19 years old.”
At least Doc could do that. Darling doesn’t remember the other baseball players he compared himself to, instead remembering Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby Orr.
When they gave him a chance, it quickly became clear that Gooden needed more league play. he was very good.
“The first two years were the best first two years anyone has ever had,” Darling said.
Which sadly brings us to what happened next. And give Gooden credit. he stands up to it. For the first time, he brought up the “off the field” things that kept him from being inducted into the Hall of Fame and among the best in his career.
And please give this to him too. He deals with loss the best way anyone can. When I asked him if he thought about what might have been, he recalled that when he and his nephew, Gary Sheffield, were playing in the Tampa sandboxes, they didn’t think that way. Gooden recalled that they dreamed of making it to the majors, having great careers, and perhaps winning the World Series.
It’s disappointing for the fans. Gooden missed the 1986 World Series parade because he was riding a bender, but no one knew why at the time. he was an addict. Soon he was in and out of Smithers. Eventually, he was arrested multiple times.
He is in a good place now and everyone who knows him is happy and at ease. He lives a middle-class life in Glen Cove, L.I., and by all accounts he is a great family man with his seven children and his eight grandchildren.
He is sober today. He is a man who went to the top of a mountain and spent many nights at the bottom of a valley. But now he is comfortable and content as an ordinary suburban father, rich only in memories.
He overcame his wild youth, which may be one of his greatest achievements. The 1980s were a crazy time, teammates say. Both he and Darryl Strawberry are wonderful men who fought demons and came out fine. They aren’t Hall of Famers, but they left a memorable mark.
Gooden said she forgave herself for not being able to participate in the parade. And probably everything else. If anyone is disappointed, it’s not Gooden.
“These are what others expect…I have to be grateful for what I’ve accomplished. I can’t worry about what hasn’t happened,” and my thoughts about what happened. In response to a question, Gooden said:
“Not to blow smoke, but I won just about every award a pitcher can win,” he said. “I won the World Series with both teams in New York. [had] My number was retired…I was inducted into the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame. There are many things I want to be grateful for. ”
At the same time, people applauded.
Gooden’s days did not disappoint.
