All baseball fans know just how good the infamous 1986 New York Mets were. The Queens-based squad was loaded with talent, and two of the team’s best players were pitcher Dwight “Doc” Gooden and outfielder Darryl Strawberry.
They were beloved by all Mets fans, even when they went to play for the hated Yankees.
Next season, the Mets will honor the team legends by retiring their numbers, 16 and 18, respectively.
“Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden each had an enormous impact on our franchise, and it’s my honor to continue our commitment to celebrating our wonderful history,” said Mets owner Steve Cohen.
They were two of the greatest to ever play in Flushing.
Gooden was drafted by the Mets with the fifth overall pick in the 1982 MLB Draft. At the age of 19, the Florida native was called up and paid immediate dividends for the team.
He went 17-9 and posted an ERA of 2.60 with 276 strikeouts in his first season and was named an All-Star. Gooden continued to dominate over the next two seasons, earning two more All-Star nods while going 24-2 with a 1.53 ERA and 268 strikeouts in 1985 and 17-6 with a 2.84 ERA and 200 strikeouts in the 1986 World Championship season. In his 11 years in Queens, Gooden was a 4x All-Star, won Rookie of the Year in 1984 and the NL Cy Young Award in 1985. He would go on to play five more years and won his second World Series title with the Yankees in 2000.
Darryl Strawberry’s career was very similar to his teammate’s and just as good.
Strawberry was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1980 MLB Draft out of Crenshaw High School in LA. He was called up in 1983 and hit .257 with 26 home runs and 76 RBIs en route to winning Rookie of the Year. Over his next seven years with the Mets, Strawberry made the All-Star team every season and was a key member of the 1986 World Series team where he batted .259 with 27 home runs and 97 RBIs. Strawberry left the team after the 1990 season and returned to LA with the Dodgers where he made the All-Star team for the eighth time. In his 18-year MLB career, Strawberry played for the Mets, Dodgers, Giants and Yankees, the latter being where he won two more World Series titles (1996 and 1999).
In 2024, the two former stars will be the sixth and seventh players to have their numbers retired by the Mets, an honor that understandably made both men emotional.
“I was completely overwhelmed when I got the call,” said the 58-year-old Gooden. “There is no greater honor a player can receive than having his number retired.…This would make my mother and father extremely proud.”
“When I got the call from Steve, I welled up with tears of joy,” said Strawberry, 61, in a statement. “I started to reflect on my journey through the organization. I had some ups and downs, but in the end, I am proud of my time in New York.”
Gooden sits in second place behind Tom Seaver for team wins (157) and strikeouts (1,875) while Strawberry still holds the franchise record for home runs with 252.
While the two players had their ups and downs both on and off the field, there is no denying their place in Mets franchise history and both are well deserving of the honor they’ll receive next season.
