I was looking through some of my old baseball stadium photos today online and came across this photo I took a few years back at NY’s Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. I was doing some research on a totally different subject, but paused to admire the players in the photograph. The photo depicts NY Mets legends Dwight Gooden, Keith Hernandez, and Darryl Strawberry – all in action poses. Doc 3/4 into his delivery, Mex following the path of his batted ball, and Straw getting ready to deposit another baseball into the upper deck of Shea Stadium, the former home of the NY Mets.

If you somehow block out Keith Hernandez in the photo, you could make the case that Dwight Gooden is pitching to Darryl Strawberry. Ok, it is a stretch, but it got me thinking. Has Doc ever faced Straw and how did he fare? This in turn got me thinking, who else did Doc fare well against and who hit him consistently. After all, Doc pitched to many, many greats – many of whom are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. So, I headed over to Stathead Baseball and did some research. And the internet is always right, right? Well, let’s see what Stathead’s stats come up with when I put Doc’s name in the search:

According to Stathead Baseball:

• The player with the highest batting average against Doc, with at least 10 plate appearances was Roberto Kelly. Kelly carried a healthy .643 average against Doc, going 9 for 14, with a homer and surprisingly not one K against him. Impressive stuff!
• The player with the most hits against Gooden was the Cubs Ryne Sandberg (2005 HOF Inductee). Sandberg collected 35 hits in their head to head matchups over some 120 plate appearances. For what it’s worth, Sandberg also struck out 23 times against Doc.
• The player with the most home runs off Doc – Philadelphia Phillies all-timer Mike Schmidt (1995 HOF inductee). Schmidt hit 5 dingers off Doc in his career, to go along with 9K’s.
• You know who didn’t get a hit off Doc Gooden in their careers? Here is a short list. See if you recognize any of these players: Derek Jeter, Aaron Boone, Scott Rolen, Cecil Fielder, Robin Ventura. In all, including Pitchers, 322 Major League players failed to get a hit off Dwight Gooden.
• You know who did get a hit? Deion Sanders. Nolan Ryan, yes that Nolan Ryan. How about his cousin, Gary Sheffield. Yep. So did Pete Rose and Alex Rodriguez and both Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey, Jr. And Cal (Jr.) and Billy Ripken. As did Chris and Tony Gwynn.
• How about some big time Boston Red Sox players? You know I have to look those up. David Ortiz, 2 for 3 with a HR. Mo Vaughn, 6 for 23 with a homer. Nomar, wow not bad at all – 10 for 19 with 3 homers. Way to represent Sox!!!

And how about that Doc vs. Straw matchup I was curious about. 2 seasons worth of data, per Stathead, 1991 and 1993 produced the following results. Gooden was still a NY Met, Straw had moved west to be part of the LA Dodgers. I would say, Doc got the better of his matchup with his former Met teammate for sure. Straw had 7 official plate appearances, 6 at-bats, which accounted for 1 hit (not a HR), 2Ks, and 1 walk. Officially, Straw was 1 for 6 against Doc.

Pretty fun exercise and thanks to Stathead Baseball for the amazing recap of Dwight Gooden vs. Straw, the Father/Son duos, the elite, and the rest of the field. I really hope that Dwight Gooden ends up getting his due and is elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And to see him mix it up with the players who hit him well, and the rest of the field that could not – that would be absolutely Amazin’ for this Amazin’ Met, Dwight “Doc” Gooden.