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‘Doc’ Gooden talks about drug abuse at Playhouse
By Steve Coulter
April 11, 2014
Battling drug addiction is somewhat like carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning — you can’t ever let your guard down, you have to stay focused, and you have to have some pretty good teammates to help you along the way.
Dwight “Doc” Gooden talked about his career highs, such as completing a no-hitter as a Yankee in 1996, and his career lows, such as missing the 1986 Mets’ World Series parade after a drug binge, at the Ridgefield Playhouse Thursday night.
“It gets to a point when you’re sick and tired of the same pattern: prison, rehab, relapse,” he said when asked from an audience member about hitting rock bottom. “Basically the only thing I hadn’t been through was the cemetery, and I wasn’t ready for that.”
The former Met and Yankee, who made his major league debut 30 years ago this week, didn’t shy away from the substance abuse issues that haunted him throughout his career — one that featured a Cy Young award at the age of 20, three World Series rings and four All-Star teams.
Mr. Gooden was the Mets’ ace during their 1986 title run, the season where he “started partying hard” with alcohol and drugs.
“I was in denial during the season,” he recalled.
What could have been the happiest moment of his life — celebrating the teams’ series-clinching victory in game seven against the Boston Red Sox — quickly became what he called “the worst day of my life.”
“The first call I made after the game was to my dad, the next call was to my drug dealer,” he recalled. “My intention was to pick up the drugs and go meet my teammates, but I never made it to the bar…
“There were about eight or 10 people in the drug house and they became my best friends in that moment, and I didn’t know any of them,” he said. “I kept telling myself I’d get up and go every hour or so — those are the lies you tell yourself when your addicted…”
Mr. Gooden ended up staying up the whole night at the drug house and watching the parade on TV.
“I’m not there to enjoy it because I’m at a drug house,” he said. “I was sad, full of self pity; just totally, totally down on myself — the worst moment of my life.
“I had missed calls and messages from my dad and my mom, my friends back home, my teammates,” he added. “I had a meeting with the team’s management the day after the parade and all I was thinking was, ‘how can I get myself out of this?’ I was in total denial.”
http://www.theridgefieldpress.com/28352/doc-gooden-talks-about-drug-abuse-at-playhouse/
By Steve Coulter
April 11, 2014
Battling drug addiction is somewhat like carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning — you can’t ever let your guard down, you have to stay focused, and you have to have some pretty good teammates to help you along the way.
Dwight “Doc” Gooden talked about his career highs, such as completing a no-hitter as a Yankee in 1996, and his career lows, such as missing the 1986 Mets’ World Series parade after a drug binge, at the Ridgefield Playhouse Thursday night.
“It gets to a point when you’re sick and tired of the same pattern: prison, rehab, relapse,” he said when asked from an audience member about hitting rock bottom. “Basically the only thing I hadn’t been through was the cemetery, and I wasn’t ready for that.”
The former Met and Yankee, who made his major league debut 30 years ago this week, didn’t shy away from the substance abuse issues that haunted him throughout his career — one that featured a Cy Young award at the age of 20, three World Series rings and four All-Star teams.
Mr. Gooden was the Mets’ ace during their 1986 title run, the season where he “started partying hard” with alcohol and drugs.
“I was in denial during the season,” he recalled.
What could have been the happiest moment of his life — celebrating the teams’ series-clinching victory in game seven against the Boston Red Sox — quickly became what he called “the worst day of my life.”
“The first call I made after the game was to my dad, the next call was to my drug dealer,” he recalled. “My intention was to pick up the drugs and go meet my teammates, but I never made it to the bar…
“There were about eight or 10 people in the drug house and they became my best friends in that moment, and I didn’t know any of them,” he said. “I kept telling myself I’d get up and go every hour or so — those are the lies you tell yourself when your addicted…”
Mr. Gooden ended up staying up the whole night at the drug house and watching the parade on TV.
“I’m not there to enjoy it because I’m at a drug house,” he said. “I was sad, full of self pity; just totally, totally down on myself — the worst moment of my life.
“I had missed calls and messages from my dad and my mom, my friends back home, my teammates,” he added. “I had a meeting with the team’s management the day after the parade and all I was thinking was, ‘how can I get myself out of this?’ I was in total denial.”
http://www.theridgefieldpress.com/28352/doc-gooden-talks-about-drug-abuse-at-playhouse/
