Mets to honor Dwight Gooden in April, Darryl Strawberry in June - ESPN

NEW YORK — Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden thought back to what might have been, how their starry accomplishments would have been so much greater had they not succumbed to the drugs and alcohol that shattered their careers.

On the day the New York Mets announced they will retire Gooden's No. 16 on April 14 and Strawberry's No. 18 on June 1, the pair held a Zoom news conference and candidly discussed their failures to resist the fame and fortune that followed the swashbuckling Mets' 1986 World Series title, leading to prison and a string of suspensions that perhaps cost them entry to baseball's Hall of Fame.

«We were mentally crazy at the time, so we needed a lot help,» Strawberry said Wednesday. «We could have used every doctor and every psychiatrist — they probably would have ran away from us every time because we were so young and so focused on what it was like to be on the field and doing what we was doing on the field and we was not taking care of ourselves.»

Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry will become the ninth and 10th members of the Mets to have their numbers retired by the franchise.

Strawberry, 61, was an eight-time All-Star, including seven during his time with the Mets from 1983-90. He hit .259 with 335 homers, 1,000 RBIs and 221 stolen bases in 17 seasons.

«My heart and soul bleed blue and orange,» Strawberry said of the Mets colors. «Always have. Always will.»

He recommended star first baseman Pete Alonso, who can become a free agent next fall, not depart like Strawberry did when he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1991 season.

«I just hope Pete doesn't leave because I ended up personally with a bellyful of regrets for leaving because there is nothing like playing in New York. There is