“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, sure, but how often did he think about what it could have been?
And then Gooden rebutted.
“I need to be grateful for the things I accomplished and not worry about the things that didn’t happen,” he said. “I don’t want to blow smoke, but I’ve won just about every award a pitcher can win, I won the World Series with both New York teams, my number was retired, l last year I was inducted into the Negro League Hall of Fame.
“I have no reason to be ashamed of my career. I consider it a celebration and I am very proud of what I have accomplished.
The 13 teammates who came to pay tribute to him on Sunday applauded at the back of the room.
Sunday at Citi Field, in front of his children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren, in front of 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 facade right next to Willie Mays’ No. 24.
I am incredibly honored to see my #16 retire today. To Steve and Alex Cohen and everyone @Mets organization thank you, thank you, thank you!
To my family, friends and teammates, your participation in this celebration means everything to me. #16forever #gooden16 #newyorkmets #LGM pic.twitter.com/BVriAPeegi
-Dwight Gooden (@DocGooden16) April 14, 2024
Over the past few months and all day Sunday, Gooden had been talking about “celebration.” And indeed, this day was less about who Gooden might have been and more about celebrating who he really was on the mound, which was pretty darn good in itself: a World Series champion, a Cy Young Award winner, author arguably the best season a New York Met has ever had, a top-three pitcher and a top-five player in franchise history by any measure.
Gooden was also, for so many people 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 any Met fan’s childhood closet for artifacts of this inspiration. How many still own a No. 16 jersey with racing stripes? THE IS coverage with his right arm stretched grotesquely but gracefully behind his head? The memory of your first game at Shea, a bear in a Mets uniform that you named “Doc” and had your mother carve “16” in blue marker on the back?
For a generation of fans, the 1969 Amazin’ Mets expanded their conception of the possible, that a team so little-known could become so unforgettable. For the future, that task fell to Gooden, a player so good so young that he conjured the absurd. They brought 27 signs to K Korner for a reason, and you could understand Sidd Finch because you saw Dwight Gooden.
And Gooden’s main goal on Sunday, and for much of the last 30 years, was to return that belief to a fan base whose support sustained him in good times and, more importantly, kept him sustained in the bad.
“In 1984 and 1985, the support they gave me was easy at that point,” Gooden said Sunday morning. “But then I look back at 1987, when I came back from suspension, the ovation I got for my first match, the way the fans stuck by me through everything.
“You go through different struggles and you see the support from the fans – because you’re dealing with a life, you know what I’m saying? When they show you their support in this 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 can thank them for that.
Gooden’s speech lasted 3 1/2 minutes, slightly longer than the average half-inning against him in his prime. (If only he hadn’t had to pause twice to let the boos die down for even mentioning his time with the Yankees, reminding everyone, “Wait, I’m still a Met!”) He didn’t need notes, speaking from the heart through light rain.
It was a thank you three decades in the making. Gooden noted in his speech that after leaving the Mets in 1994, he always looked for a chance to return. Whenever he was a free agent, the Mets were his first call. When he was ready to hang up his cleats, he wondered if the Mets might sign him for a day. The timing, they said, was never right.
A quarter century after his retirement, Gooden has delivered his message.
“Now,” he said as cheers rose through the rain, “today the time has come. My health is good, my mental health is good. Today I retire as than Met, and I want you all to know that you are a part of it. Thank you so much!”
(Photo by Dwight Gooden: by Adam Hunger / Getty Images)