25 Years Later… Dwight Gooden
Written by Steve on August 19th, 2010
1986 Topps:
- #521 Nate Snell
- #222 Craig Gerber (Rookie)
- #484 Donnie Hill
- #144 Doug Sisk
- #395 Scott Garrelts
- #524 Darrell Miller
- #321 Earl Weaver (Manager)
- #710 John Tudor (All-Star)
- #251 Rich Dauer
- #609 Barbaro Garbey
- #742 Frank Viola
- #166 Dickie Thon
- #410 Dave Kingman
- #250 Dwight Gooden
- #25 Willie Wilson
Dwight Gooden was one of the most dominant pitchers of the 80′s, but his injuries, drugs, and alcohol ended up ruining his career. Between his debut as a 19-year-old in 1984 and a shoulder injury in 1989, he compiled a 100-39 record and 2.39 ERA, while averaging over 8 strikeouts per 9 innings.
Has Doc made amends and cleaned up his life today, 25 years later? Well…
After retiring in 2001, Gooden was arrested several times for offenses ranging from battery, driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license, resisting arrest, cocaine possession… finally he was incarcerated in 2006 for several months. Upon being released late 2006, Gooden appeared to turn his life around…
…that is, until this year. On March 24, 2010, Dwight Gooden was arrested again, this time for driving while under the influence of cocaine and endangering the life of his 5-year-old son who was in his car. A couple months later, he abandoned his family.
So 25 years later, Dwight Gooden is still a cocaine addict and his life is still a mess. However, earlier this month he was honored in New York by being inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame.