Dwight Gooden

The two pitchers' combined performance broke an All-Star game record, coincidentally on its celebrated 50th anniversary—Carl Hubbell's five consecutive strikeouts in 1934.

Gooden led the league in strikeouts, his 276 breaking Herb Score's rookie record of 245 in 1955, and also set the record for most strikeouts in three consecutive starts with 43.

Dwight Eugene Gooden (born November 16, 1964), nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB).

That season, Gooden won 17 games, the most by a 19-year-old since Wally Bunker won 19 games in 1964 and the second most for a Mets rookie, after Jerry Koosman's 19 wins in 1968.

Gooden's ERA+ was 229; 23-year-old Dean Chance (200 ERA+ in 1964) was the only other pitcher under the age of 25 to do so.

From August 31 through September 16, Gooden threw 31 consecutive scoreless innings over four games, and through October 2, threw 49 consecutive innings over seven games without allowing an earned run.

As a 19-year-old rookie, Gooden set the then-major league record for strikeouts per 9 innings, with 11.39, breaking Sam McDowell's record of 10.71 in 1965.

Gooden also became the third Mets pitcher to win the award, joining Tom Seaver (1967) and Jon Matlack (1972).

Gooden finished second in the NL Cy Young Award voting, even though he had more NL wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, and a lower ERA than the NL winner, Rick Sutcliffe.

Leading Major League Baseball with 24 wins, 268 strikeouts, and a 1.53 ERA (the second-lowest in the live-ball era, trailing only Bob Gibson's 1.12 in 1968) Gooden earned the major leagues' pitching Triple Crown.

He led the National League in complete games (16) and innings pitched (276).

From his second start onward, Gooden's ERA never rose above 2.00.

At age 20, he was the youngest pitcher of the last half-century to have an ERA+ above 200.

A native of Tampa, Florida, Dwight Gooden was drafted in the first round in 1982, the fifth player taken overall.

He spent one season in the minors, in which he led the Class-A Carolina League in wins, strikeouts and ERA while playing for the Lynchburg Mets.

Gooden had 300 strikeouts in 191 innings, a performance which convinced Triple-A Tidewater Tides manager and future Mets manager Davey Johnson to bring him up for the Tides' postseason.

Gooden made the rare jump from High-A directly to the major leagues in one year, bypassing Double-A and Triple-A.

He was voted the Rookie of the Year, giving the Mets two consecutive winners of that award (Darryl Strawberry had been the recipient in 1983).

Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

In a career spanning 430 games, he pitched 2,800 2⁄3 innings and posted a win–loss record of 194–112, with a 3.51 earned run average (ERA), and 2,293 strikeouts.

Gooden made his MLB debut in 1984 for the Mets and quickly established himself as one of the league's most talented pitchers; as a 19-year-old rookie, he earned the first of four All-Star selections, won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award, and led the league in strikeouts.

He made his major-league debut on April 7, 1984, with the New York Mets at the age of 19.

He quickly developed a reputation with his 98 mph fastball and sweeping curveball, which was given the superlative nickname of "Lord Charles", in contrast with "Uncle Charlie", a common nickname for a curveball.

He was dubbed "Dr. K", in reference to the letter "K" being the standard abbreviation for strikeout, which soon became shortened to "Doc".

Gooden soon attracted a rooting section at Shea Stadium that called itself "The K Korner", and would hang up cards with a red "K" after each of his strikeouts.

When he took the mound in the fifth inning on July 10, 1984, Gooden became the youngest player to appear in an All-Star Game.

He complemented this distinction by striking out the side, AL batters: Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon, and Alvin Davis.

Setting up Gooden, NL Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela had already struck out the side in the fourth, putting down future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and George Brett.

Gooden won eight of his last nine starts; in his final three starts of the 1984 season, he had 41 strikeouts and 1 walk.

In 1985, he won the NL Cy Young Award and achieved the pitching Triple Crown, compiling a 24–4 record and a league-leading 1.53 ERA, 268 strikeouts, and 16 complete games.

In 1985, Gooden pitched one of the most statistically dominating single seasons in baseball history.

The following season, he helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series.

Gooden remained an effective pitcher in subsequent years, but his career was ultimately derailed by cocaine and alcohol addiction.

After posting a losing record in each season from 1992 to 1994, Gooden was suspended for the 1995 season after a positive drug test while serving a prior suspension.

As a member of the Yankees in 1996, Gooden pitched a no-hitter and helped the team on its path to a World Series championship.

He pitched four additional years for as many teams, but never approached the success of his peak years with the Mets.

He was incarcerated for seven months in 2006 after violating the terms of his probation.

Gooden attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa where he was teammates on the school's baseball team with Vance Lovelace.

In 2010, Gooden was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame.

Gooden's troubles with addiction continued after his retirement from baseball and resulted in several arrests.