Cy Young Profile: Dwight Gooden, 1985

Pitcher, New York Mets

Age:  20

2^nd season with Mets

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 190

Prior to 1985:

Gooden, a native of Tampa, Florida rose from Little League to become a star pitcher at that city’s Hillsborough High School. He was chosen fifth overall by the Mets in the 1982 amateur draft. He passed up college scholarship offers to sign for $40,000 with an $85,000 signing bonus. He made an immediate impression as a 17-year-old with Kingsport of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 1982, striking out 18 batters in 13 innings. Gooden was quickly promoted to Little Falls in the Class A New York-Penn League. Overall in ’82 with two teams, he produced a 5-5 record with 84 strikeouts in 78.2 innings and a 2.75 ERA. Promoted to Lynchburg of the Class A Carolina League in 1983, Gooden refined his talent to become a dominant pitcher, with outstanding speed. He compiled a 19-3 record and struck out 300 batters in 191 innings and had a 2.50 ERA. He was promoted to Tidewater of the Class AAA International League to finish out his ’83 season and performed well in the league playoffs and the round-robin Class AAA World Series. With the Mets in rebuilding mode, Gooden joined his Tidewater manager, Dave Johnson with the parent club for the 1984 season, where with his great fastball and excellent curve he moved into the rotation. The result was a spectacular first season in which Gooden posted a 17-9 record with a 2.60 ERA and led the NL with a rookie record 276 strikeouts over 218 innings pitched. The Mets rose to second place in the NL East and the 19-year-old phenom was named the league’s Rookie of the Year.

1985 Season Summary

Appeared in 35 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 35

Games Started – 35 [8, tied with seven others]

Complete Games – 16 [1]

Wins – 24 [1]

Losses – 4

PCT - .857 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 8 [2]

Innings Pitched – 276.2 [1]

Hits – 198 [19, tied with Steve Bedrosian]

Runs – 51

Earned Runs – 47

Home Runs – 13

Bases on Balls – 69

Strikeouts – 268 [1]

ERA – 1.53 [1]

Hit Batters – 2

Balks – 2 [13, tied with 21 others]

Wild Pitches – 6 [19, tied with six others]

League-leading complete games were +2 ahead of runners-up John Tudor & Fernando Valenzuela

League-leading wins were +3 ahead of runners-up John Tudor & Joaquin Andujar

League-leading innings pitched were +1.2 ahead of runner-up John Tudor

League-leading strikeouts were +54 ahead of runner-up Mario Soto

League-leading ERA was -0.40 lower than runner-up John Tudor

Midseason Snapshot: 13-3, ERA - 1.68, SO – 153 in 155.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 16 (in 9 IP) vs. San Francisco 8/20

10+ strikeout games – 11

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) vs. Philadelphia 9/16

Batting

PA – 107, AB – 93, R – 11, H – 21, 2B – 2, 3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 9, BB – 5, SO – 15, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .226, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 9, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 65

Put Outs – 25

Assists – 38

Errors – 2

DP – 6

Pct. - .969

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

4^th in NL MVP voting (162 points, 1 first place vote, 48% share)

NL Cy Young Voting (Top 5):

Dwight Gooden, NYM.: 120 pts. – 24 of 24 first place votes, 100% share

John Tudor, StL.: 65 pts. – 54% share

Orel Hershiser, LAD.: 17 pts. – 14% share

Joaquin Andujar, StL.: 6 pts. – 5% share

Fernando Valenzuela, LAD: 4 pts. – 3% share

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Mets went 98-64 to finish second in the NL Eastern Division, 3 games behind the division-winning St. Louis Cardinals. The pitching staff led the league in strikeouts (1039). The Mets contended all through the season but ultimately fell short.

Aftermath of ‘85:

Gooden, nicknamed “Doctor K” for his propensity to strike out batters, or “Doc” for short, followed up in 1986 with a 17-6 record and 200 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA while the Mets, contenders in ’84 and ‘85, won the NL pennant and World Series. He was a disappointing 0-2 in the World Series and encountered problems in the off-season related to heavy drinking and cocaine use and he entered a drug rehab facility. Not playing again until halfway through the 1987 season, Gooden’s performance dropped off to 15-7 with 148 strikeouts and a 3.21 ERA in 25 starts. He came back strong in 1988 with an 18-9 record, 175 strikeouts, and 3.19 ERA, and returned to the All-Star Game for the first time in two years. A shoulder injury limited him to 17 starts and a 9-4 tally in 1989 but he came back with a 19-win season in 1990 in which he recorded 223 strikeouts in 232.2 innings. Gooden was 13-7 in ’91 and experienced his first losing record in 1992 when he was 10-13 with a 72-90 ballclub. His 1993 record was 12-15 with a 3.45 ERA for a 59-103 club. In the opening game of the ’94 season, he broke his toe after kicking a bat rack in the dugout and during recovery resumed cocaine use. Suspended by major league baseball he sought treatment at the Betty Ford Center. He relapsed upon leaving rehab at the time of the major league players’ strike that brought the season to an early end. Suspended for all the 1995 season, Gooden entered a recovery program and signed with the New York Yankees in 1996. Following a slow start he pitched a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners and went on to compile an 11-7 record despite a 5.01 ERA. He spent one more ineffectual season with the Yankees in ’97 and moved on to the Cleveland Indians where he was 11-10 over two seasons. He was with Houston and Tampa Bay in 2000 before finishing the year back with the Yankees. No longer even close to being the dominant pitcher he was at the start of his career, Gooden retired during spring training in 2001 while facing the likelihood of being released by the Yankees. Overall, he compiled a 194-112 major league record, with 2293 strikeouts and a 3.51 ERA. Of that, he was 157-85 with the Mets, where he struck out 1875 batters and had a 3.10 ERA, as well as being a four-time All-Star who won a Cy Young Award.

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.