51黑料

Dwight Gooden came to 51黑料, and there he was Friday at the downtown Maggie O鈥橞rien鈥檚, sitting in a room filled with people whose parents or grandparents he used to emotionally terrorize.

Dr. K. is now 60. Time, like a Darryl Strawberry homer off Ken Dayley, flies. It was 40 years ago, during the famous season of 1985, that 鈥淒oc,鈥� Darryl and the Mets won 98 games 鈥� and didn鈥檛 win their division. The Cardinals did 鈥� back when they were in the East and only two National League teams made the playoffs. With a 101-61, the Cards won the division 鈥� and the pennant 鈥� and 鈥� I won鈥檛 bring up what happened after that.

But, man, 鈥�85.

It was this six-month stage for two time-honored individual performances.

The Most Valuable Player in the National League was Willie McGee, the resplendent center fielder for 51黑料. He hit, as Gooden recalled exactly, .353. Willie led the league in offensive wins above replacement (8.2), hits (216) and triples (18), along with 82 RBIs and 56 stolen bases.

鈥淭he Cardinals don鈥檛 win in 鈥�85 without Willie,鈥� said Gooden, in town for Cards-Mets and to , 4300 Hoffmeister Ave., from 10 AM to noon. 鈥淭he thing about Willie was he was very consistent. He played hard. And he never showed anybody up. I mean, it didn鈥檛 matter if he got a big hit, game-winning home run or made a nice catch or what it was 鈥� he just played the game hard and went about his about his business.鈥�

And the Cy Young winner in the National League was Gooden, who couldn鈥檛 drink legally, yet dominated Busch.

鈥淚f he threw on today鈥檚 (radar) guns, he鈥檇 have been 100 miles an hour,鈥� said 鈥�85 Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, a former Cardinal great and current Mets broadcaster. 鈥淎nd he had a great curveball. ... And great poise. I mean, (the Cardinals鈥� John) Tudor wins the Cy Young, if it wasn鈥檛 for Doc.鈥�

Indeed, 51黑料鈥� Tudor went 21-8 and a 1.93 ERA, along with an MLB-best 10 shutouts. And it鈥檚 even crazier when you consider that in Tudor鈥檚 first 10 starts he went 1-7 with a 3.74 ERA. So, any other year, Tudor wins the Cy 鈥� but Gooden had a year unlike, essentially, any other year.

鈥淚 remember the first time I saw Doc Gooden was in a spring training game at 10 o鈥檆lock in the morning,鈥� said current Cards broadcaster and former Cards pitcher Ricky Horton, who was also a 1984 rookie along with Gooden, then 19. 鈥淚t was at Huggins-Stengel Field in St Petersburg, Florida. It was just this old field where the Yankees used to train in the 20s. Babe Ruth trained there, and Lou Gehrig, for goodness sakes. It鈥檚 a museum now, but when we were playing, we played 鈥楤鈥� games there in spring.

鈥淭he first time I watched him throw, it was eye popping 鈥� how good his curveball and how good his fastball was. And we鈥檇 heard about him. But first time I saw him. 鈥� It was ridiculous how good he was. I mean, it鈥檚 like 鈥� this guy could be the greatest pitcher ever.鈥�

And that鈥檚 the saddest thing about Gooden鈥檚 career. It鈥檚, really, the ultimate 鈥渨hat-if.鈥� Of course, there are other famous 鈥渨hat-if鈥� stories about, say, a young talent who never ascended ... or a superstar vet unfairly slowed by injuries. But by 20, Gooden was the best pitcher in baseball. The best.

As a rookie in 鈥�84, the 19-year-old finished second in the Cy Young voting with a 17-9 record, 2.60 ERA and a MLB-best 276 strikeouts (in just 218 innings!).

And in 鈥�85, holy (toasted) ravioli 鈥� he went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA.

He again led the majors in Ks (268).

And he compiled a ridiculous 12.2 WAR as a pitcher (13.3 overall).

So, the site Baseball Reference has pages for the top single-seasons of different stat categories. For the overall WAR page, the top 30 have single seasons from 1876-1923. The other was Gooden in 1985.

Visually, there are headshots of the 24 pitchers on the site. . And then there鈥檚 Gooden in a color photo in the famous Mets blue hat with the orange NY.

Gooden鈥檚 1985 was the best season any pitcher has had since the first part of the 1900s.

And he was 20.

鈥淚 think one of the things was getting experience that I got in 鈥�84 鈥� and also having Gary Carter, an experienced, All-Star catcher, join our team,鈥� Gooden said. 鈥淲e conected right away at spring training of 85. And (pitching coach) Mel Stottlemyre played a big part of that year, because he didn鈥檛 want me to settle. He would challenge me between starts to continue finding something to work on, going strong. So every start was a challenge. And plus that year, I knew it was bigger than just winning games. It was media attention and games were sold out, so it鈥檚 more hype. ... I didn鈥檛 want to just win, I wanted to dominate.鈥�

What鈥檚 funny was that on April 1, 1985, Sports Illustrated ran the 鈥淎pril Fools鈥� hoax article about Sidd Finch, who was supposed to dominate baseball with otherworldly stuff. Finch was fictitious. But Gooden proceeded to be real.

Of course, Gooden and the great Strawberry both tragically battled with substance abuse addiction. It鈥檚 been well-documented. Gooden remained a top NL pitcher throughout the 1980s 鈥� and won the 1986 World Series 鈥� but had stints in rehab and suspensions from the league, including a year-long one in 1995.

Overall, Gooden pitched until 2000. He finished 194-112 with a 3.51 ERA. His pitchers WAR (48.1) is 115th-best 鈥� his WAR is near that of Ron Guidry, Felix Hernandez, Frank Viola and Roy Oswalt. A pretty great career. But, still. Imagine if he was sober and focused all along?

On Sept. 11,1985, Gooden and Tudor matched up at old Shea Stadium. Doc went nine and didn鈥檛 allow a run. In the top of the 10th, Jesse Orosco relieved Gooden 鈥� and allowed a solo homer to Cesar Cedeno. Tudor pitched the 10th and struck out Strawberry to win it. And so, both teams then had an identical record.

The heat was on.

But the Runnin鈥� Redbirds ultimately surged ahead. And in those final 25 games, McGee had 14 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.

Against the Mets that year, in 16 games, Willie hit .362.

鈥淲illie was the perfect example of what a teammate should be,鈥� Horton said of the member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame, who is uniquely popular in 51黑料, notably because he played during multiple generations. 鈥淗e was humble beyond belief 鈥� Cardinal fandom all knows him as being humble guy 鈥� and he was that way in the clubhouse. But he was just locked in offensively. I mean, he was amazingly locked in. He could still look bad on a pitch, but then the next pitch, throw it there, and he would just smoke it. He had occasional power, and, of course, the speed, we all talk about Vince (Coleman), but Willie鈥檚 right there with him. And Willie was clearly the stabilizing guy on the defensive side when you play center field. He was so important to the team. 鈥�

鈥淎nd you know, I think you can find a lot of older fans around St Louis that will say what, I would say 鈥� the most exciting play in baseball in my lifetime was a Willie McGee triple. We all think about home runs and 鈥榟ow far did that one go?鈥� I mean, I get it. I mean, that鈥檚 just Home Run Derby to me, but it鈥檚 baseball when you watch a guy hit ball in the gap and you got people running, and you got Willie taking his turn and going from home to third, faster than Vince could go. He hit a bunch of them 鈥� 18 triples that year.鈥�

McGee is now 66. He retired a Cardinals coach after last season. And his No. 51 is still worn by fans around town 鈥� including a young woman walking past Maggie O鈥橞rien鈥檚 on Friday.