Doc: A Memoir
Author: Dwight Gooden
&
Ellis Henican
Published: 2013
Pages: 309
Dwight Gooden burst onto the
big-league scene in the mid-1980s, pitching for the New York Mets. His book
(Doc: A Memoir) documents—in his own words—how a young baseball player from
Tampa rose to superstardom at a young age and the subsequent setbacks he suffered
throughout his baseball career and life after baseball. He talks about the
whirlwind with which he came into the Majors: starting pitcher at age 19, Cy
Young Award winner at age 20, World Series Champion at age 21, cocaine addict
at age 22.
Gooden writes about how he became
a pitcher through the help of his father—who had limited education but
understood the intracassies of pitching. He writes of his early success with
the Mets and how he got hooked on cocaine and alcohol and how it hurt his
pitching career. He talks about how he kicked the drug habit for seven years
before falling back into it in an endless roller coaster ride between sobriety
and addiction that continued long after his career ended.
After getting a second chance at
his baseball career with the New York Yankees in 1996, Gooden writes about the
no-hitter he threw while his father was on his death bed, and his helping the
Yankees win their first World Championship in nearly 20 years (though he didn’t
pitch in the Fall Classic).
His rocky friendship (or lack
thereof) with former teammate Darryl Strawberry is also discussed as well as
his repeated attempts to stay clean, and how his addiction affected his family,
particularly his children. In the end, it was a stint on Dr. Drew’s reality show
“Celebrity Rehab” that allowed him to see his problem clearly for the first
time.
Altogether, a very good read
that focuses on family, baseball, and addiction and how it affects more than
just the addict.
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