Doc Gooden Finally Gets His Moment

Finally, Dwight Gooden had his day.

The Mets retired his uniform number 16 yesterday at a pre-game ceremony attended by many of his old teammates, including Darryl Strawberry, Jesse Orosco, Mookie Wilson, Howard Johnson and Rafael Santana. His nephew Gary Sheffield, who never played with Gooden, but finished his career with the Mets, was on hand too.

His speech started strong, hit a few rough patches, and ended on a bright note.

“Growing up as a kid in Tampa with my nephew Gary (Sheffield), you never think about having your number retired,” Gooden said at the start. “You think about winning the World Series, playing in the major leagues, but you never think about having your number retired. So for this to happen, I’m very humble, I’m very honest, very blessed for this opportunity.”

The 1984 Rookie of the Year told the 32,749 who came out to Citi Field in the drizzling rain that he wanted to take them on a “journey,” and he did.

“This is not to blow smoke or point fingers at anyone,” the 1985 Cy Young winner began.

“In 1994, unfortunately, the Mets wanted to cut ties, which I completely understand from a business standpoint. But I wanted to stay to make things right with you guys. I didn’t want to leave on the note that I did.”

Gooden continued his journey, taking fans through the rest of his career. The Yankees, Cleveland, Houston, Tampa. He noted how with every team he signed, he always called the Mets first to see if they were open to a reunion. He wanted to come home. Instead, he reunited with the Yankees, eventually winning the 2000 World Series with them. This was met with an uproar of boos, as of course, the Yanks defeated the Mets in 2000.

However, through the uproar, Doc insisted he’s always been a Met at heart. He wanted to sign a one-day contract and retire a Met, but it never worked out. This is when the most significant part of Doc’s speech came.

He noted, “The moral of the story is everything is about timing. So, now, today, the timing is right. My health is good. My mental health is good. And today, I get to retire as a Met.”

A forever Met Doc will be.