Mets’ Dwight Gooden Strikes the Right Note With Teammates, Fans

Dwight Eugene Gooden is only 20 years old. That is hard to remember sometimes.

He leads the major leagues in strikeouts with 137 and with an earned-run average of 1.75. That is hard to forget.

“At this level, to have more success than he’s having,” said New York Mets pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, shaking his head, “it’s tough to do or imagine.”

Last season, he was the runaway Rookie of the Year in the National League. Using a blistering fastball and a stunning curveball, Gooden struck out a rookie-record 276 batters. He finished with a 17-9 record and ERA was second-best in the majors. He is 11-3 this season.

Simply put, Gooden’s first 1 1/2 seasons in baseball have been as successful as those of any pitcher during the last 60 years.

He is matching what Herb Score did at Cleveland and is eclipsing the performances of Vida Blue and Fernando Valenzuela.

He is the youngest person ever to play in an All-Star Game, striking out the only three batters he faced. And he is the youngest pitcher ever to start on opening day.

If Gooden is keeping track of all this, it’s probably because of Charlie Samuels, the Mets’ equipment manager. It is Samuels who keeps the right-hander abreast of his latest mark in the baseball record book.

Usually, Gooden reacts the same way. Usually, he just says, “Oh.”

“The way I was raised, you don’t get too high or too low,” said Gooden, who calls his family after every game he pitches. “Those things are nice, but other things are more important.”

Second baseman Wally Backman, one of Gooden’s closest friends on the team, said, “He knows that he’s good, but I don’t think that really matters to him now.

“When his career is over, that’s when he’ll look back and realize what he was.”

Gooden does not seek the publicity he has earned, and the Mets try to shield him from the steady requests for interviews. The team, in fact, has established a rule whereby Gooden speaks to the press only after he pitches.

“You almost have to do that,” said teammate Darryl Strawberry, who preceded Gooden as Rookie of the Year and encountered a somewhat similar situation. “You try to avoid all of the distractions.”

Strawberry, in his first year in New York, occasionally wound up in newspaper gossip columns, and did not seem to mind. Gooden, who is single, lives on Long Island--far from the Manhattan discos--and seems well-suited for the “microphones-off” policy.

His demeanor in the presence of strangers is somewhere between shy and aloof. He is not impolite, nor he is particularly friendly.

“People sometimes ask me whether all of this is going to change me,” he said. “It won’t. I won’t let it.”

“With all the attention he has been receiving, it’s nice to see that he still doesn’t have to reach to Toledo to scratch his ears,” said Hall of Famer Bob Feller, the reigning fastball pitcher of his era.

“He never lets himself rise above anybody else,” Backman said. “It’s important to him that he be one of the guys.”

And he is, during pre-game lulls inside the Mets’ clubhouse, he leisurely walks around unnoticed. It’s a different story when he’s on the mound.

In Shea Stadium, crowds average more than 40,000 when Gooden pitches and about 34,000 when he does not. The “K Corner,” in the upper deck in left field, leads the swell of clapping, cheering and catcalls when Gooden gets two strikes on a batter.

“I know the fans want strikeouts,” Gooden said. “You can’t keep from hearing them, but I have to try to block it out. I admit I got caught up in it last year. Now, I try not to overthrow.

“This year, I expect to throw less pitches and not strike out as many as I did last year, but that will probably help me stay around a little longer.”

To try to ensure that, the Mets treat Gooden like mother’s good china. He is special, handled with care.

Manager Dave Johnson has repeatedly said no to suggestions that the Mets maximize their prize by pitching Gooden more often. He usually pitches with four days’ rest.

“He’s too young to put on a four-day rotation,” Johnson said. “Not that he couldn’t handle it. But at his age, he doesn’t have the muscle structure for it yet.”

Johnson said he would let Gooden pitch a little longer this season--”he’s earned that”--and Gooden already has equaled last year’s total of seven complete games.

What continues to impress the Mets is Gooden’s eagerness to improve.

“I want to learn and I want to get better,” he said. “That’s what I’m here for.”

Last season, 48 of 51 runners who tried to steal bases against Gooden were successful. So Gooden headed for an instructional league in Florida.

This year, seven of the 23 runners trying to steal against him have been caught, and he already has picked off four runners, compared with two all of last year.

Gooden, whose pet project now is cutting down on walks, already has told the Mets he’s returning to the instructional league after this season to do whatever extra work is necessary.

“That kind of attitude is somewhat unique,” Johnson said.

Just how good Gooden will be, no one knows. In fact, the Mets don’t even think that way now.

“When I saw him at 17, I said he was the best I’d seen,” Johnson said. “I guess that turned out right.”