Dwight Gooden, baseball player, 1984-2000

Dwight Gooden

Born: 11/16/1964 in Tampa, FL, USA

MLB Debut: 1984-04-07 | Final Game: 2000-09-29

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 190 lbs

Full name: Dwight Eugene Gooden

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Biography

Dwight Gooden, born in 1964, was a highly regarded pitcher who made a significant impact in Major League Baseball from 1984 until his retirement in 2000. He burst onto the scene with the New York Mets, winning the Rookie of the Year and TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year awards in his inaugural season. Known for his electrifying fastball and devastating curveball, Gooden quickly established himself as one of the premier pitchers of his era. He was a four-time All-Star and captured the prestigious Cy Young Award, solidifying his status as a dominant force on the mound during the mid-1980s. Over the course of his career, Gooden compiled a record of 194-112 and posted an earned run average (ERA) of 3.51. He recorded 2,293 strikeouts and achieved three saves, showcasing not only his ability as a starter but also his versatility. Gooden's career was marked by both remarkable achievements and personal challenges, reflecting the complexities of a player who experienced the heights of success and the struggles of off-field issues. His legacy remains significant in the history of the game, representing both the brilliance of a young talent and the difficulties that can accompany a life in professional sports.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
194 112 430 410 68 24 3 2800.7 2564 1091 210 954 2293 3.51 0

Career ERA 3.51 vs. league average 4.17 across their career seasons — 15.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1984 NYN NL 17 9 31 31 7 3 0 218.0 161 63 73 276 2.60 3.81 (+32%) 12102.8
1985 NYN NL 24 4 35 35 16 8 0 276.7 198 47 69 268 1.53 3.89 (+61%) 12908.6
1986 NYN NL 17 6 33 33 12 2 0 250.0 197 79 80 200 2.84 3.97 (+28%) 5976.7
1987 NYN NL 15 7 25 25 7 3 0 179.7 162 64 53 148 3.21 4.29 (+25%) 6314.4
1988 NYN NL 18 9 34 34 10 3 0 248.3 242 88 57 175 3.19 3.73 (+15%) 7792.7
1989 NYN NL 9 4 19 17 0 0 1 118.3 93 38 47 101 2.89 3.71 (+22%) 1283.5
1990 NYN NL 19 7 34 34 2 1 0 232.7 229 99 70 223 3.83 3.86 (+1%) 8644.8
1991 NYN NL 13 7 27 27 3 1 0 190.0 185 76 56 150 3.60 3.91 (+8%) 4352.4
1992 NYN NL 10 13 31 31 3 0 0 206.0 197 84 70 145 3.67 3.75 (+2%) 3289.7
1993 NYN NL 12 15 29 29 7 2 0 208.7 188 80 61 149 3.45 4.19 (+18%) 3412.3
1994 NYN NL 3 4 7 7 0 0 0 41.3 46 29 15 40 6.31 4.51 (-40%) -704.3
1996 NYY AL 11 7 29 29 1 1 0 170.7 169 95 88 126 5.01 4.61 (-9%) -
1997 NYY AL 9 5 20 19 0 0 0 106.3 116 58 53 66 4.91 4.39 (-12%) -
1998 CLE AL 8 6 23 23 0 0 0 134.0 135 56 51 83 3.76 4.43 (+15%) -251.9
1999 CLE AL 3 4 26 22 0 0 0 115.0 127 80 67 88 6.26 4.71 (-33%) -2685.4
2000 HOU NL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 4.0 6 4 3 1 9.00 — 0.0
2000 TBR AL 2 3 8 8 0 0 0 36.7 47 27 20 23 6.63 4.77 (-39%) -
2000 NYY AL 4 2 18 5 0 0 2 64.3 66 24 21 31 3.36 4.77 (+30%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
434 741 60 145 15 5 8 67 1 14 135 0.196 0.212 0.262 0.474 -3911.6

Career AVG .196 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — 25.4% below league average.

Career OBP .212 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — 35.9% below league average.

Career SLG .262 vs. league average .404 across their career seasons — 35.2% below league average.

Career OPS 0.474 vs. league average 0.735 across their career seasons — 35.5% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1984 NYN NL 31 70 5 14 0 0 0 3 0 1 14 0.200 .259 (-23%) .322 (-36%) .384 (-48%) .707 (-43%) -510.1
1985 NYN NL 35 93 11 21 2 0 1 9 0 5 15 0.226 .257 (-12%) .323 (-18%) .390 (-28%) .714 (-24%) -363.9
1986 NYN NL 33 81 5 7 0 1 0 4 0 2 16 0.086 .257 (-66%) .325 (-63%) .395 (-72%) .720 (-68%) -934.3
1987 NYN NL 25 64 4 14 0 0 0 4 0 1 9 0.219 .262 (-17%) .331 (-31%) .415 (-47%) .746 (-40%) -444.7
1988 NYN NL 34 90 8 16 1 0 1 9 0 1 18 0.178 .254 (-30%) .317 (-42%) .377 (-41%) .695 (-41%) -626.3
1989 NYN NL 19 40 1 8 3 0 0 1 0 0 7 0.200 — — — — 0.0
1990 NYN NL 35 75 4 14 1 1 1 9 0 2 15 0.187 .257 (-28%) .324 (-31%) .385 (-31%) .710 (-31%) -402.7
1991 NYN NL 27 63 7 15 3 0 1 6 1 0 9 0.238 .255 (-7%) .323 (-26%) .384 (-13%) .708 (-19%) -215.9
1992 NYN NL 33 72 8 19 3 1 1 9 0 1 16 0.264 .255 (+3%) .322 (-15%) .377 (-1%) .699 (-7%) -111.2
1993 NYN NL 30 70 5 14 2 2 2 9 0 0 11 0.200 .265 (-25%) .332 (-40%) .403 (-8%) .735 (-22%) -302.6
1994 NYN NL 7 12 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0.167 — — — — 0.0
1996 NYY AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1997 NYY AL 20 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1998 CLE AL 23 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1999 CLE AL 26 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 0.500 — — — — 0.0
2000 HOU NL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2000 TBR AL 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2000 NYY AL 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
12 12 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.167

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2000 ALCS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2000 ALDS1 NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1998 ALCS CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1998 ALDS1 CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1997 ALDS1 NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1988 NLCS NYN 3 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.200
1986 NLCS NYN 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000
1986 WS NYN 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.500

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 4 12 9 0 59.0 57 26 26 49 3.97

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2000 ALCS NYA 0 0 1 0 0 2.3 1 0 0 1 0.00
2000 ALDS1 NYA 0 0 1 0 0 1.7 4 4 1 1 21.60
1998 ALCS CLE 0 1 1 1 0 4.7 3 3 3 3 5.79
1998 ALDS1 CLE 0 0 1 1 0 0.3 1 2 2 1 54.00
1997 ALDS1 NYA 0 0 1 1 0 5.7 5 1 3 5 1.59
1988 NLCS NYN 0 0 3 2 0 18.3 10 6 8 20 2.95
1986 NLCS NYN 0 1 2 2 0 17.0 16 2 5 9 1.06
1986 WS NYN 0 2 2 2 0 9.0 17 8 4 9 8.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 430 410 224 423 34 35

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1984 NYN P 31 31 21 22 2 0
1985 NYN P 35 35 25 38 2 6
1986 NYN P 33 33 36 36 2 5
1987 NYN P 25 25 15 22 3 3
1988 NYN P 34 34 27 56 5 3
1989 NYN P 19 17 8 16 3 0
1990 NYN P 34 34 15 35 4 5
1991 NYN P 27 27 15 28 2 3
1992 NYN P 31 31 9 40 6 1
1993 NYN P 29 29 19 24 2 1
1994 NYN P 7 7 1 11 1 1
1996 NYA P 29 29 9 26 1 1
1997 NYA P 20 19 9 18 0 1
1998 CLE P 23 23 6 18 0 1
1999 CLE P 26 22 5 16 0 1
2000 HOU P 1 1 0 1 0 0
2000 TBA P 8 8 0 2 1 0
2000 NYA P 18 5 4 14 0 3

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 430

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1996 Player of the Week Week of 1996-05-18
1992 Silver Slugger P
1991 Player of the Week Week of 1991-04-13
1990 Pitcher of the Month September
1986 Pitcher of the Month April
1985 Cy Young Award
1985 Pitcher of the Month September
1985 Pitching Triple Crown
1985 Player of the Week Week of 1985-08-02
1985 Player of the Week Week of 1985-09-20
1985 TSN All-Star RHP
1985 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1984 Pitcher of the Month September
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-07-06
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-09-07
1984 Rookie of the Year
1984 TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2000 HOU NL $500,000
1999 CLE AL $2,637,500
1998 CLE AL $2,787,500
1997 NYA AL $2,000,000
1996 NYA AL $950,000
1994 NYN NL $4,616,667
1993 NYN NL $5,916,667
1992 NYN NL $5,166,667
1991 NYN NL $2,466,667
1990 NYN NL $1,866,667
1989 NYN NL $2,416,667
1988 NYN NL $1,400,000
1987 NYN NL $1,500,000
1986 NYN NL $1,320,000
1985 NYN NL $450,000
Total Career Earnings $35,995,002

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1990 Cy Young Award NL 4th 8.0 120 0
1990 Most Valuable Player NL 14th 10.0 336 0
1987 Cy Young Award NL 5th 12.0 120 1
1986 Cy Young Award NL 7th 1.0 120 0
1985 Cy Young Award NL 1st 120.0 120 24
1985 Most Valuable Player NL 4th 162.0 336 1
1984 Cy Young Award NL 2nd 45.0 120 0
1984 Most Valuable Player NL 15th 28.0 336 0
1984 Rookie of the Year NL 1st 118.0 120 23