“That’s a great question,” Dwight Gooden said Sunday morning when asked what he’s been asked for about three decades. He’d had a great career, of course, but how often did he think of what it might have been?
And then Gooden delivered his rebuttal.
“I’ve got to be thankful for the things I did accomplish and not worry about the things that didn’t happen,” he said. “Not to blow smoke, but I won just about every award a pitcher can win, I won the World Series with both New York teams, having my number retired, last year I got inducted into the Negro League Hall of Fame.
“I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of about my career. I look at it as a celebration, and I’m very proud of what I accomplished.”
The 13 teammates who traveled to honor him Sunday applauded in the back of the room.
On Sunday at Citi Field, in front of his kids, grandkids, even great-grandkids, in front of those teammates ranging from Howard Johnson to Mike Torrez, Gooden became the sixth Mets player to have his number retired by the franchise — No. 16 unveiled on the left-field façade just next to Willie Mays’ No. 24.
Incredibly honored to have my #16 retired today. To Steve and Alex Cohen and the entire @Mets organization thank you, thank you, thank you!
To my family, friends, and teammates, having you part of this celebration means the world to me. #16forever #gooden16 #newyorkmets #LGM pic.twitter.com/BVriAPeegi
— Dwight Gooden (@DocGooden16) April 14, 2024
For the past few months and all day Sunday, Gooden had referred to it as a “celebration.” And indeed, this day was less concerned with who Gooden might have been and more a celebration of who he actually was on the mound, which was damn good in itself: a World Series champion, a Cy Young Award winner, author of arguably the finest season a New York Met has ever had, a top-three pitcher and a top-five player in franchise history by most any measure.
Gooden was also, for so many at Citi Field Sunday, for so many watching or listening from home, the reason they cared then and care now about the New York Mets. You can search the childhood closet of any Met fan for the artifacts of that inspiration. How many still own a No. 16 jersey with racing stripes? The SI cover with his right arm stretched grotesquely yet gracefully behind his head? The souvenir from your first game at Shea, a bear in Mets uniform that you named “Doc” and made your mom etch a “16” on the back in blue marker?
For one generation of fans, the Amazin’ Mets of 1969 expanded its conception of the possible, that a team so unheralded could become so unforgettable. For the next, that task belonged to Gooden, a player so good so young that he conjured the absurd. They carried 27 placards to K Korner for a reason, and you could fathom Sidd Finch because you’d witnessed Dwight Gooden.
And Gooden’s primary goal Sunday, and for a lot of these past 30 years, was to pay that belief back to a fan base whose support buttressed him during the good times and, more importantly, uplifted him during the bad ones.
“In ’84 and ’85, the support they gave me, it was easy at that time,” Gooden said Sunday morning. “But then I look at ’87, when I came back from being suspended, the ovation I got my first game back, the way the fans stuck with me through everything.
“You’re going through different struggles and you see the fan support — because you’re dealing with a life, you know what I’m saying? When they show you support that way, that’s what means a lot to me. I always wanted to come back here and let the fans know how much I appreciated them and how much they meant to my career. Today I get to thank them for that.”
Gooden’s speech was 3 1/2 minutes long, or a touch longer than the average half-inning against him in his prime. (If only he didn’t have to pause twice to let the boos subside for even mentioning his time with the Yankees, reminding everyone, “Hold on, I’m always a Met!”) He didn’t need notes, speaking from the heart through a light rain.
It was a thank you three decades in the making. Gooden noted in his speech that, following his departure from the Mets in 1994, he had always hunted for a chance to come back. Every time he was a free agent, the Mets were his first call. When he was ready to hang up his spikes, he wondered whether the Mets might sign him for a day. The timing, they said, was never right.
A quarter-century after he retired, Gooden delivered his message.
“Now,” he said as cheers built through the rain, “today, the timing’s right. My health is good, my mental health is good. Today, I get to retire as a Met, and I want all you guys to know, you guys are part of this. Thank you so much!”
(Photo of Dwight Gooden: by Adam Hunger / Getty Images)
