John Gibbons still remembers the first time he witnessed Dwight Gooden make a statement.
Back in the early 1980s, when Gibbons and other minor league Mets were staying at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Tampa for spring training, a “souped-up” car with a license plate reading “DOC” pulled up.
“Who’s this dude?” Gibbons, now the club’s bench coach, remembers Mets players asking among themselves.
A few days later, Gibbons watched Gooden throw in the bullpen.
“OK,” Gibbons said with a smile. “He can do whatever he wants.”
“Doc” graduated to “Doctor K,” beginning a legend that will reach its culmination Sunday when the 1984 NL Rookie of the Year, the youngest pitcher ever to win the Cy Young (at 21) and a phenom forever etched in Mets lore, will watch as his No. 16 is retired.
His number already was mowed into the center-field grass for Saturday’s 11-7 loss to the Royals at Citi Field. Gooden spent 11 years with the Mets and ranks second in franchise history in wins (157) and strikeouts (1,875) and third in innings (2,169 ²/₃) and complete games (67).
Gibbons, who caught Gooden in the minor leagues and three times in the majors, has a less-storied Mets history — appearing in 18 games in 1984 and ’86 — but had the unique vantage point of watching Gooden’s heat and knee-buckling curveball up close.
“He was such a special guy, both in baseball ability and who he was,” Gibbons said Saturday. “Surprisingly, for as great as his stuff was, he wasn’t that difficult to catch because he threw strikes. A lot of times guys that throw like he did, it takes a while to harness it and some of them never do.
“But Doc could command it, especially with that curveball, the big ol’ breaker. He could drop that in for a strike almost at will.”
In 1986, Gibbons was called up in August after Gary Carter broke his thumb and stuck with the team for the run to the World Series as the bullpen catcher.
Gooden pitched in Games 2 and 5 of the World Series against the Red Sox.
In Gibbons’ memory, he caught Gooden in the bullpen toward the end of Game 6, Gooden warming up for what would’ve been a surprise appearance before Bill Buckner’s error allowed the Mets to escape. In Gooden’s memory, it was the ninth inning of Game 7.
Though Gooden did not enter, Gibbons remembers the pop of the ball hitting his mitt, which kept spooking the police horses nearby that were on hand to discourage fans from running onto the field.
“It was like gunfire or something,” Gibbons said.
Gibbons returned for spring training the following season, when Gooden tested positive for cocaine and his substance abuse issues first became clear to Gibbons. Gibbons didn’t make it back to the majors and began his coaching career with the Mets in 1990, mostly watching Gooden’s struggles and triumphs from afar.
Sunday, he will be in the dugout to see his friend earn Mets immortality.
“He’s been through a lot, everybody knows that,” Gibbons said. “But you’re not going to find a better guy.
“[Sunday is] going to be an awesome day.”
