Mets to retire numbers of Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry next season - ESPN

NEW YORK — Dwight Gooden's No. 16 and Darryl Strawberry's No. 18 will be retired by the New York Mets in separate pregame ceremonies next year honoring players who were keys to the team's most recent World Series title in 1986.

New York will have retired nine numbers of players and managers following the decision announced Friday, up from four before Steve Cohen bought the team in November 2020.

Gooden and Strawberry were integral parts of the 1986 Mets, who went a major-league-best 108-54 and beat Boston in a seven-game World Series, then the players derailed their careers with drug problems.

Gooden's Mets career ended when he was suspended by Major League Baseball for 60 days in June 1994 for violating his drug aftercare program. He became a free agent after the season and was suspended by MLB for the entire 1995 season for repeated violations for his aftercare program and MLB's drug policy.

«I was completely overwhelmed when I got the call,» Gooden said in a statement released by the team. «I want to say 'thank you' to the fans who supported me through the good times and bad times.»

Strawberry was suspended by MLB three times after leaving the Mets, twice for positive cocaine tests and once following an arrest for cocaine possession for which he pleaded no contest.

«When I got the call from Steve, I welled up with tears of joy,» Strawberry said in a statement released by the Mets. «I started to reflect on my journey through the organization. I had some ups and downs, but in the end, I am proud of my time in New York.»

Gooden, 58, was a four-time All-Star while playing for the Mets from 1984-94, winning the 1984 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1985 NL Cy Young Award. He was 157-85 with a 3.10 ERA and 1,875 strikeouts for