dwight gooden

When your dad was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1984 and the NL Cy Young Award winner in 1985, on his way to a 16-year MLB career, well, people may expect you to play baseball in college. However, this hurler's offspring excels at a different pastime. He harasses quarterbacks and does it quite well.

On Saturday, 65 former New York Mets took the field at Citi Field in Queens. For some of them, like Steve Dillon, who pitched 3 games for the Amazin's in 1963-64, it was more than five decades since they put on their uniform for an official event. For others, like friend of The Drive with Charlie & Dan, Daniel Murphy, who retired in two seasons ago, they look like they could play later in the day against the Rockies and contribute. The event was as much fun for the players as it was for the fans to see their heroes of yesteryear.

Old Timer's Day began for the New York Mets in the magical year of 1969. Good things happened that year, including their "Amazin" World Championship, amongst a myriad of major world events. The scrooge-like former Mets owners, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz killed the beloved event in 1994. They were probably tired of hearing former Mets players mock their ownership's lack of baseball knowledge...but that's a story for another day. Old Timer's Day is back and it's Saturday at Citi Field.

The story continues to become clearer through murky details and testimony provided from a trial of a sadder story. What really happened to that young dominant right-handed pitcher that owned the City of New York? No, not Dwight Gooden, the one that they called The Dark Night, Matt Harvey. It now appears that the same drug may have taken down both prominent young Mets aces, Gooden and Harvey.

OK, I am a typical New Yorker when it comes to people talking or producing a documentary about the New York Mets of the 1980's. So, when ESPN announced that they would be doing a "30 for 30" on the 1986 Mets called "Once Upon A Time In Queens" I rolled my eyes. I admit it.

I always felt Dr. Drew was in it for the fame but if people were getting help then it was ok. With "Taxi" and "Grease" star Jeff Conaway passing away I really question if "Celebrity Rehab" is good for anything. Now they've announced the cast for Season 5 and it's thick with Reality show retreads.