Dwight Gooden
From The Met Wiki
| Age: 46 (born November 16, 1964) |
| Position: P |
| Bats: Right Throws: Right |
| Number: 16 |
| Acquired: Amateur draft (1st round) |
| Contract: Retired |
Dwight Gooden was a pitcher for the Mets from 1984 to 1994. He recorded 157 wins and posted a 3.10 earned run average with the team. Gooden had 1875 strikeouts in 305 games pitched as a Met.
Gooden was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 1982 free agent draft. At A-level Lynchburg (Virginia) in 1983, he had a 19-4 won-lost record with 300 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA. Dwight also pitched for the AAA-level Tidewater (Norfolk, Virginia) team in its triumph in the ’83 AAA World Series.
In 1984, Gooden pitched in 31 games for the Mets. He set a major league rookie record of 276 strikeouts and was named the National League Rookie of the Year. At Houston on April 7, Dwight was the winning pitcher in his major league debut as the Mets defeated the Astros, 3-2. He struck out 11 batters and pitched a four-hit shutout for a 2-0 Mets win at Los Angeles on May 11. Gooden recorded 14 strikeouts and got the win in a 2-1 Mets victory over the Dodgers on May 25 at Shea Stadium. He struck out eight batters and got the win in a critical 2-1 Mets triumph over the Cubs at Shea on July 27. Dwight pitched a one-hitter in the Mets’ 10-0 win over the Cubs on September 7 at Shea. He also fanned 16 batters and broke the rookie record held by Cleveland’s Herb Score in a 2-0 Mets triumph over the Pirates at Shea on September 12.
Dwight led the National League with 24 wins, 268 strikeouts and a 1.53 ERA in 1985. He set a Mets team record of 8 shutouts and was named the NL’s Cy Young Award winner. Gooden struck out 10 batters and pitched a four-hitter as the Mets defeated the Reds, 4-0, at Shea on April 14. He pitched a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts for a 5-0 Mets win over the Phillies on May 10 at Shea. At Houston on July 14, Dwight pitched a complete game five-hitter for a 1-0 Mets victory over the Astros. He fanned 16 batters in the Mets’ 3-0 win over the Giants at Shea on August 20. Gooden became the youngest 20-game winner in major league history in a 9-3 Mets triumph over the Padres at Shea on August 25. He also hit his first major league home run (a three-run blast in the first inning) and got the win in the Mets’ 12-1 victory over the Pirates on September 21 at Shea.
Gooden recorded his third consecutive 200-strikeout season in 1986. He led the Mets with 250 innings pitched and won 17 games in the team’s World Championship season. Dwight pitched a complete game six-hitter as the Mets defeated the Pirates, 4-2, in the season opener at Pittsburgh on April 8. He pitched a five-hit shutout for a 9-0 Mets victory over the Cardinals on April 25 at St. Louis. Gooden pitched a two-hit shutout and drove in two runs with a triple in a 4-0 Mets triumph over the Astros at Shea on May 6. He struck out 10 batters in a 4-2 Mets win over the Dodgers at Shea on May 28. Dwight fanned 13 batters over eight innings in a no-decision in the Mets’ 6-5 win over the Pirates on June 13 at Shea. He pitched a complete game four-hitter in a 7-1 Mets victory over the Padres in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea on September 7. Gooden also went all nine inning in the Mets’ 4-2 win over the Cubs to clinch the National League East Division title on September 17 at Shea.
Dwight had a 1.06 ERA in the ’86 National League Championship Series. He struck out nine batters in 17 innings pitched over two games against the Astros. In the World Series, Gooden again fanned nine batters in two losing decisions to the Red Sox.
Gooden received medical treatment and missed the first two months of the 1987 season. Despite his absence, he led the Mets with 15 wins and a 3.21 ERA for the year. In his season debut on June 5, Dwight struck out five batters and got the win in a 5-1 Mets victory over the Pirates at Shea. He pitched a complete game shutout for a 9-0 win over the Reds at Shea on July 16. Gooden struck out 11 batters and singled home a run in a 5-3 Mets triumph over the Phillies on August 4 at Shea. He pitched a four-hit shutout for a 4-0 Mets win at San Francisco on August 28. Dwight also pitched a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and scored two runs for a 10-0 Mets victory on September 16 at Montreal.
In 1988, Gooden had an 18-9 won-lost record. He posted a 3.19 ERA in 34 games pitched during the Mets’ division-winning season. At Shea on April 20, Dwight recorded 11 strikeouts and pitched a four-hit complete game for a 6-2 Mets win over the Phillies. He shut out the Reds on four hits in an 11-0 Mets win at Cincinnati on May 1. Gooden pitched a four-hit shutout and hit a two-run single in the Mets’ 4-0 victory on May 21 at Los Angeles. He pitched a complete game and hit a home run in an 11-3 Mets triumph over the Cubs at Shea on June 5. Dwight pitched a five-hit complete game for a 7-2 Mets win over the Astros on July 2 at Shea. He recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in a complete game win as the Mets defeated the Braves, 6-1, in the first game of a doubleheader on July 22 at Shea. Gooden also struck out 20 batters in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers.
An injured shoulder kept Gooden sidelined for two months in the 1989 season. He appeared in 19 games (two in relief) and recorded 101 strikeouts during the year. In the season opener at Shea on April 3, Dwight fanned eight batters in seven innings and got the win in an 8-4 Mets triumph over the Cardinals. He kept the Cubs scoreless for six innings in a rain-shortened 2-0 Mets win on June 14 at Shea. Gooden had nine strikeouts and recorded a win in a 5-3 Mets victory over the Expos at Shea on June 19. At Philadelphia on September 13, he pitched three scoreless innings of relief in a 10-4 Mets win over the Phillies. Dwight pitched four innings to earn his first career save in the Mets’ 5-2 win on September 19 at Chicago.
Dwight won 19 games and fanned 223 batters in 1990. He pitched 232 and two-thirds innings over 34 games started for the season. Gooden struck out 15 batters and hit a three-run triple in a 9-4 Mets victory over the Dodgers at Shea on May 11. He pitched a two-hit shutout for a 3-0 Mets win over the Phillies on June 23 at Shea. Dwight recorded 10 strikeouts and singled home a run in the Mets’ 6-2 triumph at Houston on July 17. He fanned 11 hitters and scored a run in a 3-2 Mets victory on August 24 at Los Angeles. Gooden pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts in the Mets’ 12-2 win over the Phillies at Philadelphia on September 8. He also had 10 strikeouts and hit a double in a 7-1 Mets victory over the Cubs on September 28 at Shea.
In 1991, Gooden pitched 190 innings and had a 13-7 won-lost record. He struck out 150 batters for the season. Dwight pitched eight innings and recorded the win in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Phillies in the season opener at Shea on April 8. He had 14 strikeouts and his only career stolen base in a 5-3 Mets win over the Expos at Shea on April 13. Gooden pitched a three-hit shutout and hit a double for a 6-0 Mets win over the Astros on June 15 at Shea. He hit a home run and recorded a win in a 9-7 Mets victory on June 20 at Atlanta. Dwight fanned nine batters and scored a run in the Mets’ 3-1 win at Philadelphia on July 5. He also pitched eight shutout innings to earn the win in a 4-0 Mets triumph on July 27 at San Diego.
Dwight pitched in 31 games for the Mets in 1992. He had 10 wins and a 3.67 ERA for the year. Gooden hurled six and one-third innings for the win and drove in a run in the Mets' 7-3 victory over the Padres at Shea on May 12. He fanned seven hitters in eight innings and got a win in the Mets’ 6-3 victory at San Francisco on May 23. Dwight had an RBI double that put the Mets ahead to stay for a 3-2 win over the Cubs on June 24 at Shea. He pitched seven innings and recorded the win in a 5-3 Mets triumph over the Astros in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea on July 4. Gooden hit a two-run homer in a 4-1 Mets win on August 24 at San Francisco. He pitched a complete game in a 3-2 Mets victory at St. Louis on September 23. Dwight also pitched a four-hitter and hit a triple in a 2-1 Mets win over the Pirates on October 3 at Shea.
Gooden led all Mets pitchers with 29 games started in 1993. He also posted team highs of 12 wins, 149 strikeouts, 208 and two-thirds innings pitched and a 3.45 ERA for the season. Dwight pitched a four-hit shutout and scored the game’s first run to lead the Mets to a 3-0 win over the Rockies in the season opener at Shea on April 5. He allowed four hits in shutting out the Marlins for a 4-0 Mets victory on May 7 at Shea. Gooden had a homer, two singles and three RBIs while recording a win in a 6-1 Mets triumph over the Braves at Shea on May 22. He pitched seven innings and scored twice in an 11-3 Mets win at Chicago on June 2. Dwight pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts for a 7-2 Mets win over the Cubs on June 7 at Shea. He struck out nine batters to record a win in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Rockies at Shea on August 26. Gooden also had a pinch-hit RBI triple in a season-closing 9-2 Mets victory over the Marlins on October 3 at Florida.
In 1994, Dwight appeared in seven games for the Mets. He had a 3-4 won-lost record with 40 strikeouts in his final year with the team. Gooden had a two-run single and was the winning pitcher in the Mets’ 12-8 victory in the season opener at Chicago on April 4. he pitched six innings and recorded a win in a 9-1 Mets triumph over the Astros on April 16 at Shea. Dwight pitched eight innings to get his last win as a Met in a 6-1 victory at Florida on June 19. At Pittsburgh on June 24, he struck out seven batters in five and one-third innings as the Mets lost to the Pirates, 9-4, in his final game with the team.
Gooden pitched for the Yankees, Indians, Devil Rays and Astros before the end of his career in 2000. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010.
