Dwight Gooden in 1986: Wikipedia
When Dwight Gooden burst upon the scene at age 19, he was a revelation.
But he had one multi-year stretch, amazingly at the ages of 19-21, that was simply surreal and astounding: unprecedented, even.
On August 1 and August 6 of his rookie season in 1984, just prior to an unparalleled stretch in baseball history, he seemed to violently hit the wall:
In just 7 IP over those two August starts, he gave up 13 runs and 18 hits. Yep, that actually happened to Gooden in 1984. Tattooed. Destroyed. Mortal. Doing his best Chris Flexen imitation.
After that, though, came a simply stunning multi-season stretch:
From August 11, 1984 through the end of 1984, Gooden had 9 starts. He went 8-1, with a 1.18 ERA, and in 76 innings (an average of 8.1 IP per start), he allowed just 42 hits and fanned 105, including 16 K outings in back to back games in September 1984.
Everyone in baseball and in fandom was stunned.
Everyone in baseball and in fandom was stunned.
He had 6 complete games in that stretch, and got a win in a game where he threw 9 shutout innings, where the Mets scored 2 in the 10th to get him the win.
He turned 20 after the season in November.
1985? Needs little explanation. The 20 year old won the Cy Young, and did the following:
35 starts, 24-4, 1.53 ERA, 268 Ks in 277 IP, and a 0.96 WHIP.
He turned 21 after the season in November.
1986? Some of his mortality started to show after several starts into 1986.
But first. the brilliance of late 1984 and all of 1985 continued into early 1986.
In his first 6 season starts in 1986, he went 5-0, 1.04 ERA, with 39 Ks in 52 IP.
So, over that 50 start stretch from late 1984 into early 1986, Dwight did this:
37-5 (.881), 412 Ks in 392 IP. Just 63 earned runs spanning 50 starts! ERA? An astounding 1.40. Complete games? 26.
Sadly, whether it was overuse at such an early age, drug abuse or both, he was good after that, but far inferior to that 50 game stretch.
He was 17-6, 2.84 in 1986. Still Great. But after his brilliant first 6 starts in 1986, Gooden was still good, but comparatively was not close to his prior brilliance: he went just 12-6 with an ERA of 3.32 the rest of the way.
His ERAs in the following seasons were good, but nver again great: 3.21 (1987), 3.19 (1988), 2.89 (19 G in 1989), 3.83 (1990), 3.60 (1991), 3.67 (1992), 3.45 (1993), and 6.21 (7 starts in 1994). He went 111-72 during that stretch, much of that fine record being due to pitching for an above average offensive team.
Quality years for most pitchers - but after that other-worldly, preceding 37-5, 50 game stretch with a 1.40 ERA? He went all the way from All Time Great, to merely a solid SP 2 equivalent. And, in 1992-94, going just 25-32, he pitched more like an SP-4 or SP-5.
Sadly, after he went 37-5 in that 50 start stretch, and was just 21 years old, I thought at the time that he would eventually be recognized post-career as the uncontested greatest MLB starter of all time. The pitcher that Sandy Koufax once watched and essentially said, "I'd trade my past for his future."
Nope - Gooden didn't even make the Hall of Fame.
But, man, how exhilarating was that 50 game stretch?
Simply, the best.
The only Mets thing to come close to approaching it for me was Pete Alonso's 53 HR rookie season.
5 comments:
What might have been. From my recollection, pitch counts started with Dwight to try and mitigate his over use. Being that good that young put some added pressure on him that made it tough for him as he tried to live up to the expectations.
They sure over-used Dwight in 1984-1986. Very careless.
Interesting piece, Tom.
Doc was a monster in the beginning......makes you wonder what personal demons he was battling? Or, if his descent into drugs coincided with his statistical decline. Matt Harvey had a similar "start fast and end quickly" type of career, it seems. Not sure what Matt's issues are (other then appearing to be a self centered ass).
A waste of talent, IMO.....sort of like the career of Darryl Strawberry. They both should have completed Hall of Fame careers and retired as METS!
Mike, I only remember reading once how Doc said how incredibly sore he felt after starts - that sometimes, he'd still be sore when the next start rolled around. I think it was more overuse than drugs.
From a July 1989 NY Times article:
On the mound, the pain had been in Dwight Gooden's right arm. Barry Larkin and Kal Daniels had hit home runs for the Cincinnati Reds, and the Mets were losing by 3-0. His head down, the Mets' 24-year-old right-hander had been taken out of Saturday's game at Riverfront Stadium with nobody out in the third inning, his earliest departure in his 174 starts in six seasons. But now, as he sat in the trainer's room off the Mets' clubhouse, others asked him what was wrong. And now the pain was on his face. ''It hurt,'' he said. His right arm had never hurt this much before. His right arm that only two weeks ago had lifted his career record to 100-37, a .730 percentage that is the best in history for any pitcher with 100 or more decisions. His right arm that had won him the nickname Doctor K but that this week would make him undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam to determine the cause of the pain under his right armpit. His right arm that Doc now needed to take to a doc.
For the first time Dwight Gooden had a sore arm. And for any pitcher, the first sore arm is always the most frightening.
''I'm not really scared, but it's very tight,'' he said. ''It's not a sharp pain, but it's as if someone hit you with a stick.''
The tightness in Gooden's arm in recent weeks had prompted an exam by the Mets' physician, Dr. Fiske Warren, as well as by physicians in San Francisco and Montreal. Nothing to be too concerned about, they assured him.
Gooden also had a 149 pitch start in April 1991, after which he felt really sore.
August 1988: Dwight Gooden threw lightly on the sidelines for 10 minutes Thursday and reported no problem with his right shoulder.
But a more important test will come Friday in San Diego, when Gooden will pitch from the bullpen mound in the customary workout between starts.
''It felt fine,'' Gooden said after tossing the ball softly with Mets pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre. ''But I don`t really expect to know much more until I try it in a game.''
Gooden, the 23-year-old ace of the Mets` staff, pitched seven strong innings Tuesday night and then acknowledged that he had been feeling some stiffness and even pain in the shoulder ''for the last five or six starts.''
The Mets said he was feeling muscle weakness, and they prescribed exercises. Gooden, who admitted that he had never done the arm exercises performed by other pitchers, began the exercise program Wednesday and continued it Thursday.
''His next start is scheduled for Monday night in Los Angeles,'' said manager Dave Johnson. ''Unless something happens that I don`t expect, he`ll be there.''
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