Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden, nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball. Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In a career spanning 430 games, he pitched innings and posted a win–loss record of 194–112, with a 3.51 earned run average, and 2,293 strikeouts.
Gooden made his MLB debut in 1984 for the Mets and quickly established himself as one of the league's most talented pitchers; as a 19-year-old rookie, he earned the first of four All-Star selections, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and led the league in strikeouts. In 1985, he won the NL Cy Young Award and achieved the pitching Triple Crown, compiling a 24–4 record and a league-leading 1.53 ERA, 268 strikeouts, and 16 complete games. The following season, he helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series.
Gooden remained an effective pitcher in subsequent years, but his career was ultimately derailed by cocaine and alcohol addiction. After posting a losing record in each season from 1992 to 1994, Gooden was suspended for the 1995 season after a positive drug test while serving a prior suspension. As a member of the Yankees in 1996, Gooden pitched a no-hitter and helped the team on its path to a World Series championship. He pitched four additional years for as many teams, but never approached the success of his peak years with the Mets. In 2010, Gooden was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame and on April 14, 2024, Gooden's number 16 was retired by the New York Mets. Gooden's troubles with addiction continued after his retirement from baseball and resulted in several arrests. He was incarcerated for seven months in 2006 after violating the terms of his probation.
Career
Gooden attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa where he was teammates on the school's baseball team with Vance Lovelace. A native of Tampa, Florida, Dwight Gooden was drafted in the first round in 1982, the fifth player taken overall. He spent two seasons in the minors, 1982 in which he went 5-5 combined between Kingsport and Little Falls and in 1983 in which he led the Class-A Carolina League in wins, strikeouts and ERA while playing for the Lynchburg Mets. Gooden had 300 strikeouts in 191 innings, a performance which convinced Triple-A Tidewater Tides manager and future Mets manager Davey Johnson to bring him up for the Tides' postseason.1984–1994: New York Mets
1984
Gooden made the rare jump from High-A directly to the major leagues in one year, bypassing Double-A and Triple-A. He made his major-league debut on April 7, 1984, with the New York Mets at the age of 19. He quickly developed a reputation with his fastball and sweeping curveball, which was given the superlative nickname of "Lord Charles", in contrast with "Uncle Charlie", a common nickname for a curveball. He was dubbed "Dr. K", in reference to the letter "K" being the standard abbreviation for strikeout, which soon became shortened to "Doc". Gooden soon attracted a rooting section at Shea Stadium that called itself "The K Korner", and would hang up cards with a red "K" after each of his strikeouts.When he took the mound in the fifth inning on July 10, 1984, Gooden became the youngest player to appear in an All-Star Game. He complemented this distinction by striking out the side, AL batters: Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon, and Alvin Davis. Setting up Gooden, NL Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela had already struck out the side in the fourth, putting down future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and George Brett. The two pitchers' combined performance broke an All-Star game record, coincidentally on its celebrated 50th anniversary—Carl Hubbell's five consecutive strikeouts in 1934.
That season, Gooden won 17 games, the most by a 19-year-old since Wally Bunker won 19 games in 1964 and the second most for a Mets rookie, after Jerry Koosman's 19 wins in 1968. Gooden won eight of his last nine starts; in his final three starts of the 1984 season, he had 41 strikeouts and 1 walk. Gooden led the league in strikeouts, his 276 breaking Herb Score's rookie record of 245 in 1955, and also set the record for most strikeouts in three consecutive starts with 43. As a 19-year-old rookie, Gooden set the then-major league record for strikeouts per 9 innings, with 11.39, breaking Sam McDowell's record of 10.71 in 1965. He was voted the Rookie of the Year, giving the Mets two consecutive winners of that award. Gooden also became the third Mets pitcher to win the award, joining Tom Seaver and Jon Matlack. Gooden finished second in the NL Cy Young Award voting, even though he had more wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched as well as a lower ERA than the NL winner, Rick Sutcliffe.
1985
In 1985, Gooden pitched one of the most statistically dominant single seasons in baseball history. Leading Major League Baseball with 24 wins, 268 strikeouts, and a 1.53 ERA, the second-lowest in the live-ball era, trailing only Bob Gibson's 1.12 in 1968. Gooden earned the major leagues' pitching Triple Crown. He led the National League in complete games and innings pitched. After his first start, his ERA never rose above 2.00. At age 20, he was the youngest pitcher of the last half-century to have an ERA+ above 200. Gooden's ERA+ was 229; 23-year-old Dean Chance was the only other pitcher under the age of 25 to do so. From August 31 through September 16, Gooden threw 31 consecutive scoreless innings over four games, and through October 2, threw 49 consecutive innings over seven games without allowing an earned run. Gooden had one of the highest quality start percentages in a season, with 33 quality starts in 35 games.In September, he pitched back-to-back nine-inning games allowing no runs, but received no-decisions in both games. In his four losses, Gooden allowed 26 hits and five walks in 28 innings, with 28 strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA. The Mets finished second in the 1985 NL East. Teammates jokingly blamed Gooden for having lost 4 games, thereby mathematically costing them the division title. That year, Gooden became one of only 15 black pitchers ever to win 20 games in a season, the most recent of whom was David Price. Gooden became the youngest-ever recipient of the Cy Young Award and Pitcher of the Year Award, and was also named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year. That November, Gooden turned 21.
Travelers descending the steps of the side entrance to Manhattan's Penn Station were greeted by an enormous photograph of Gooden in mid-motion that recorded his season's strikeout totals as the year progressed. Likewise, those strolling the streets of Manhattan's West Side could gaze up at a 102 feet tall Sports Illustrated mural of Gooden painted on the side of a building at 351 West 42nd Street in Times Square, whose caption asked "How does it feel to look down the barrel of a loaded gun?" In a span of 50 starts from August 11, 1984, to May 6, 1986, Gooden posted a record of 37–5 with a 1.38 ERA; he had 412 strikeouts and 90 walks in 406 innings.
1986
In 1986, he compiled a 17–6 record. Gooden's 200 strikeouts were fifth in the National League, more than a hundred behind the league leader, Mike Scott of the Houston Astros and a tremendous decrease from his first two seasons. As the 1986 season progressed, Gooden felt that his fastball became less effective. “That impossible-to-track, impossible-to-time movement deserted me in 1986, and never returned,” he said. Gooden had compiled a strikeouts per nine innings pitched of 10.05 for his first two seasons. For the rest of his career, he would strike out only 5.91 batters per nine innings.In another All-Star record, in 1986 Gooden became the youngest pitcher to start an All-Star Game at of age. Gooden was the Mets ace going into the playoffs, and his postseason started promisingly. He lost a 1–0 duel with Scott in the NLCS opener, then got a no-decision in Game 5, pitching 10 innings of one-run ball. He was substantially worse in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, not getting past the 5th inning in either of his two starts. Nevertheless, the Mets won four of the five non-Gooden starts and the championship. In an early red flag, Gooden failed to attend the team's victory parade. In 2011, he said that during the 1986 parade he had been using drugs at his dealer's apartment.
1987: Early drug problems and injuries
Gooden was arrested on December 13, 1986, in Tampa, Florida after being assaulted by police. A report clearing police of misconduct in the arrest helped start the 1987 Tampa riots. Gooden tested positive for cocaine during spring training in 1987. He entered a rehabilitation center on April 1 to avoid being suspended. He did not make his first start of the season until June 5. Despite missing a third of the season, Gooden won 15 games for the 1987 Mets. In 1988, he was profiled in the William Goldman and Mike Lupica book Wait Till Next Year, which looked at the impact Gooden's drug use and enforced missed games had on the Mets over the 1987 season.1988
In 1988, Gooden had an 18–9 record as the Mets returned to the postseason. In the first game of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Gooden was matched against Orel Hershiser, who had just finished the regular season with a 59-inning scoreless streak. Gooden pitched well, allowing just 4 hits and recording 10 strikeouts, but left after seven innings trailing 2–0. In his next start in Game 4, Gooden entered the ninth inning with a 4–2 lead and the chance to give his Mets a commanding 3–1 advantage in the series. But he allowed a game-tying home run to Mike Scioscia, and the Dodgers eventually went on to win the game in 12 innings, and ultimately the series as well, 4 games to 3.1989–1991
Gooden suffered a shoulder injury in 1989, which limited him to just 17 starts, during which he posted a 9–4 record. He rebounded in 1990, posting a 19–7 season with 223 strikeouts, tied for second behind teammate David Cone's 233. However, after another injury in 1991, Gooden's career declined significantly. Though drug abuse is commonly blamed for Gooden's pitching troubles, some analysts point to his early workload. It has been estimated that Gooden threw over 10,800 pitches from 1983 to 1985, a period in which he was 18 to 20 years old. Gooden hurled innings in his historic 1985 season; season, only two pitchers have since thrown that many innings: Charlie Hough, a knuckleballer, and Roger Clemens, both in 1987. By the time he reached his 21st birthday, Gooden already had 928 strikeouts between the minor and major leagues.On August 9, 1990, Phillies pitcher Pat Combs struck Gooden in the knee with the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth inning. Gooden, seeing the pitch as retaliation for him having hit two Phillies batters, charged the mound, setting off a bench-clearing brawl. Gooden was one of six players ejected.
Gooden was accused of rape along with teammates Vince Coleman and Daryl Boston in 1991; however, authorities questioned the alleged victim and found insufficient evidence to charge anyone.