In life, people tend to live in a world of… What have you done for me lately?
In 1995 Doc Gooden was suspended from baseball and at that time he walked the streets of St. Petersburg Florida noticing that his phone hardly rang. He would wonder if his so-called baseball friends had forgotten about him. One day he drove past Huggins-Stengel Field (the former spring training facility of the Yankees and Mets) and wondered if he would ever see a big league Stadium again.
These were very difficult times for a guy who had been the media darling of that decade’s biggest sports team in the biggest city in the world.
He had been on every billboard, every magazine cover, and appeared on every late-night talk show.
You’re talking about the youngest Cy Young Award winner, All-Star pick, and world champion before he was even twenty-five. There was even talk that he was already a sure thing for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Now he wasn’t even thirty yet and he was fighting a drug addiction issue and how was he going to be able to support his family. He even considered going to Japan or Mexico if he had to.
Fortunately for Gooden, the phone did ring one day. It was the fabled Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. He would inquire about what the good Doctor was doing for himself. Was he dealing properly with his aftercare program etc.
You have to understand that even though he owned the Yankees, the Boss had always been a big fan of Gooden and his Met teammate Darryl Strawberry ( that’s a great story for another day).
The Boss had always been upset at the fact that the Yankees didn’t have a player the magnitude of Gooden who lived right in the Boss’s backyard in Tampa. The Boss even sponsored a Little League team that went to the Little League World Series and coincidentally had Gooden’s nephew on it (Gary Sheffield).
Well against advice from many people that had the Boss’s ear, Steinbrenner would sign Gooden and just like a Hollywood set, Gooden would give the Boss one of his great thrills in owning the Yankees, Gooden would pitch a no-hitter against a very powerful Seattle Mariners team that had hitters named A-Rod, Griffey, and Martinez on it. This was done while Gooden’s father was getting ready for open heart surgery the next morning. What was beautiful was when Gooden got to the hospital Mr. Steinbrenner was already there lending support.
Knowing George Steinbrenner the way I did, I can honestly say that his feelings for Gooden were much more than that of a baseball star. It was because he really did see a young man truly down on his luck truly needing a second chance. I can name you ten down-and-out individuals that were not baseball stars that the Boss reached out to help in the 38 years that I knew him. One was actually in prison and the Boss visited him there to tell him that he was not alone.
I don’t know Steve and Alex Cohen, however, we know a lot of the same people. I have been hearing about them for years. I was rooting for them to get the Mets because New York always needs the owners of our sports teams to give a damn about the people that support them.
When you own a Major sports team in New York or any major city for that matter it’s important that you look out for the community because your community will appreciate and support you in return.
What I have seen from the Cohen’s has been very encouraging. The fact that I once lived in Queens and now I’m in Long Island, I am encouraged by the positive response from the people of those communities.
When I received a call from Doc Gooden to tell me that he was inviting me and our friend Chazz Palminteri to a special ceremony for the retirement of his number 16 I thought he was kidding. When Doc got emotional on the phone, it was only then that I realized he wasn’t messing around.
Doc told me … “When Mr. Steinbrenner died I didn’t think that I would have anyone in baseball ever really do anything like this for me again. However what the Cohens are doing for me and Darryl far exceeds my wildest dreams.”
Doc went on to say that the times he has been around Steve Cohen he sees someone that is more than just a sports team owner.
I think he understands the internal war that me and so many others deal with every day of our lives!
Yes, he is grateful for the fact that by retiring number 16, many people will remember the good Doctor… but what Doc likes most is that like the Boss in the Bronx, the Boss and his wife Alex in Queens are showing all people that they too matter.
When I asked Doc if there was any message he would want to send the Cohens and the Mets?
Please let them know that I am truly grateful.
I do appreciate and understand the magnitude of this honor and will do my best to live up to it !
