Gooden: Retirement Beckons if the Mets Flounder in 1994

The image of last season lingers with him and burdens his thoughts. Dwight Gooden characterizes the New York Mets’ 1993 season as “pure hell” and says he never wants to endure anything remotely similar to it. At the same time, he acknowledges 1994 and 1995 may be only marginally better. So he wonders and, yes, he considers retiring after next season.

Gooden conceded this week he seriously will weigh retirement after the 1994 season if the Mets’ future looks no brighter than it does now. He vowed to honor his contract, which expires after next season, and reaffirmed his intention to play for no team other than the Mets. Beyond that, however, he isn’t sure.

Ten days removed from his 29th birthday and nearly two months removed from the Mets’ wretched season and his 10th year in the majors, Gooden identified four developments this year as the primary reasons for his current state of mind -- the frustration of losing, the acceptance of defeat by some teammates, the departure of pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and the club’s failure to obtain Gary Sheffield, his nephew, last summer when Sheffield was made available to the Mets.

The combination of the four and the seemingly bleak horizon have combined to push him toward the end of his career, closer than he ever thought he would be at this point in his life.

“It was real hard getting through last season. I’m not sure how I’ll get through next season if we’re not any better,” he said. “And if it still looks bad, yeah, I’ll consider getting out.”

Speaking from his new home in St. Petersburg, Fla., Gooden recalled how he felt compelled to have his wife and children travel with him last summer “just to keep my sanity and to help me deal with all the losing,” he said. “But my little girl’s got school and she can’t be doing that. I talked to my dad about it, and he didn’t have an answer. And he usually has an answer for everything. ... So what am I supposed to do?

“I’m not going to keep going just for a paycheck. For a long time, every year was fun for me. I guess I got spoiled. Then 1991 got bad, ’92 got worse and last year was pure hell. I’ve said that if it’s not fun, it’s time to get out. That time may be getting close.”

The recent defection of free agents Howard Johnson, Sid Fernandez and Charlie O’Brien from the Mets are factors in Gooden’s thought process, as is the remark made Monday by Joe McIlvaine in the wake of Fernandez’s signing with the Baltimore Orioles: “If we’re going to sacrifice one year, this would be it, to get in shape for a nice run in 1995.”

Gooden hadn’t heard the Mets’ immediate future discussed in such terms -- without much promise. “I don’t like to hear that,” he said. “If Joe feels that way, it’s not good to hear. If we’re sacrificing ‘94, what does that mean about ‘95? I’d like to talk to Joe about it and see what he’s thinking. I’m not getting any younger, I don’t want to leave. I can’t even picture myself in some other uniform. And I don’t want to go through a couple of bad years. ... What’s left?”

Gooden said he thinks the Mets could have made moves to retool for 1994. “If they didn’t want to keep Eddie (Murray),” he said, “then they could have gone after (free agents Rafael) Palmeiro or (Will) Clark. And we could have signed Walt Weiss, kept Sid and maybe signed (Chris) Sabo. Then play and see what happens. I know the Braves are good. But look what the Phillies did (last season). And they finished behind us in ’92.

“But if we went out and got all new guys, it would have been like 1992 when we tried to buy a team, and that didn’t work. So I don’t know.

“I’d like to talk to Joe. I’m not mad, and I’m not saying he’s going about it wrong. But what they’re planning doesn’t look like it’s good for me. I just don’t want to go to spring training and know we don’t have a chance. Every year I’ve been here, we felt in the spring we had a chance. Maybe not in 1984. That was my first year, and I didn’t know what was going on. But every year since then, we started out thinking positive. Even last year.

“I don’t see how you go into a season knowing you’ve got no chance. I’ll have to ask someone who’s been in that situation. It’s just something I’ve never had to think about until now. My first couple of years, I couldn’t relate to what the Braves or Cleveland were going through. Now we’re in that same situation. It’s scary. And I don’t think I want to be here for a lot of this.”