NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES : New York vs. Houston : NL Playoff Notebook : In Gooden Against Scott, It’s the Doctor Against the Alleged Doctorer

It’s the pitcher they call the Doctor vs. the pitcher they say doctors the ball.

It’s last year’s Cy Young winner, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets, vs. this year’s possible Cy Young winner, Mike Scott of the Houston Astros, in Game 1 of the National League playoff series tonight at the Astrodome.

Scott (18-10) struck out 306 batters this season to 200 for Gooden (17-6)--replacing Doctor K, in the words of rival pitcher Rick Sutcliffe of the Chicago Cubs, as “the most overpowering pitcher in baseball.”

But Scott, who threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants Sept. 25, has been accused by some players, principally Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter of the Mets, of “doctoring” the baseball, scuffing and scratching it, to make it dance and dip on the way to the plate.

“He does,” Hernandez reiterated Tuesday, before a workout in the Astrodome. “I know he doctors the ball. We all know it.

“But it’s no use talking about it because they’re not going to do anything about it, and you can thank (Angel pitcher Don) Sutton for that. When he threatened suing baseball if they came out and put their hands on his person, they backed off, and now they can’t enforce it at all.”

Scott was coy Tuesday, when asked what he does to the ball.

“I do everything to the ball,” he said, smiling. “You name it. Just ask the Mets--they’ve been talking about it for a month and a half now. Sandpaper, glue, spitting, Vaseline--I use everything.”

Well, Gary Carter says . . .

“I don’t care what Gary Carter says,” Scott said. “Gary Carter likes to talk. He likes to get his name in the paper. Maybe he ran out of things to say one day and had to come up with something.”

Scott expects the Mets to call for the ball more than once to inspect it. He hopes they are so busy worrying about doctored pitches that they forget to hit them.

“If they’re up there thinking about it, that’s good,” Scott said. “It’s just another pitch that I’ve got that I don’t have.”

Astro Manager Hal Lanier, who has heard Nolan Ryan as well as Scott accused this season, said: “I don’t think anybody throws an illegal pitch. I know it’s been suggested a lot, but it hasn’t been proven. I’ve never seen Mike Scott get thrown out of a game. My feeling is, if they can get away with it, let them get away with it.”

Maanger Davey Johnson of the Mets let it go with this: “Anytime someone like a Mike Scott or a Rick Rhoden shows great stuff, you’ll hear something about cheating. As far as Scott’s concerned, his ball does look a little funny at times.”

Hernandez claimed he no longer cared. “It doesn’t matter, because he’s still got to throw it over the plate,” he said. “I know he doctors the ball, but I don’t give a crap. If you’re intimidated, you’re not gonna do jack against him.”

Gooden, asked if he ever did anything illegal to a pitch, laughed and said: “Not yet. Maybe down the road somewhere.”

Astro fans this season have hung K cards for Scott the same way New York fans have for Gooden after strikeouts. “Just wait for the day I get knocked out of the game in the first inning. They’ll take those K cards and start throwing them at me,” Scott said.

Mookie Wilson was not amused. NBC-TV’s talk show host David Letterman made a blown-up photo of Wilson part of a wager with Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire on the outcome of the Met-Astro series, but the Met outfielder wished someone had consulted him first.

If the Astros win, Letterman has to keep a large photo of the mayor in his studio for a week, but if the Mets win, the mayor has to keep the giant blow-up of Wilson in her office.

“I don’t like my picture in my own house,” Wilson said. “The bad thing is, he didn’t ask. That’s freedom of the media, I guess.”

And if Letterman had asked, would Wilson have said yes?

“No. Why would I?” he snapped.

Just for fun?

“One man’s fun is not necessarily another man’s fun,” Wilson said.

Told that the mayor wanted to meet him before the team leaves town, Wilson said: “That’s what I heard.”

Was he looking forward to meeting her?

“Not really,” he said. “Politicians and myself like to stay away from each other.”

He wasn’t worried about ruining her office decor, should the Mets win.

“I don’t know her style, but I don’t think I’ll do the office any harm,” Wilson said. “I suppose I’m supposed to think this is funny, but I still don’t think it’s right to be made part of a wager without giving permission. That’s just using somebody.”

Yogi Berra, a veteran of postseason wars, said he did not feel out of place to be working against a New York team instead of for one.

“I don’t think it’s important,” the Astro coach said. “It’s like, I never wanted to play with the Yankees as a kid. I wanted to play with St. Louis. But they didn’t want me. I could have wound up with anybody.”

Of baseball fans in Houston and New York, Berra said: “They’re not the same type. They’re more quiet here. And some of ‘em wear cowboy hats.”

Asked what surprised him most about Houston after so many years in New York, Berra said: “I never knew they had so many good Italian restaurants down here.”

Gooden, who made his big league debut in the Astrodome in 1984, is 8-1 lifetime vs. the Astros, 3-0 in the ‘Dome. This season, he is 2-0 with a 1.96 earned-run average against the Astros, with a two-hit shutout and a five-hitter. Astro slugger Glenn Davis, who hit 31 home runs this season, is batting .117 lifetime (2 for 17) against Gooden, with one home run and one RBI.

Scott, a former Met who came to the Astros in a 1982 trade for Danny Heep, is 2-5 lifetime against the Mets. He blew a four-run lead and an eight-inning shutout in his only start against the Mets this season. . . . Met second baseman Wally Backman is batting .500 (10 for 20) lifetime against Scott. . . . Scott, who threw a no-hitter in the Astros’ division-clinching win, has given up two hits and a run in his last 16 innings. In the Astros’ last 12 games, the team had a combined ERA of 1.34. . . . Scott credits former teammate Enos Cabell, now with the Dodgers, with suggesting that he try the split-fingered fastball.

The Mets won the season series, 7 games to 5, but the Astros won 4 of the last 6 games between the teams and 4 of the 6 games played in the Astrodome. . . . Lanier plans to go with a three-man rotation (Scott, Ryan, Bob Knepper), with left-hander Jim Deshaies a possible starter in Game 4 if the Astros are leading the series. The Astros’ biggest concern is whether Ryan’s elbow will respond. Ryan made 10 starts this season with three days’ rest and had a record of 5-3 with a 3.77 ERA. . . . Ex-Dodger Sid Fernandez is scheduled to pitch Game 4 for the Mets.

The Astros stole 12 bases in 15 attempts against the Mets this season, but Johnson bristled at the implied criticism of Carter, his catcher.

“(Alan) Ashby is no day at the park, either,” Johnson said, referring to the Houston catcher. “I’d have to rate Carter’s chances better than Ashby’s.”

Ashby threw out both Mets who ran on him this season but threw out only 23 of 115 runners overall.

Sentimental journeys: Carter, a 13-year veteran, has never played in a World Series; neither has Jose Cruz of the Astros, in his 16th season. Berra is seeking to make his 22nd appearance in a World Series: 14 as a player, 5 as a coach and 2 as a manager.

Staff writer Gordon Edes contributed to this story.