Heat

 

           In Baseball, players only get 2 chances to prove they don’t do drugs.  Well, Dwight “Doc” Gooden had those 2 chances. Would you give up a million dollar salary because you were addicted to drugs? In the book Heat by Dwight Gooden, he tells about his struggles on and off the field with his addiction to cocaine. While Doc was great on the field, he wasn’t as good off the field handling his struggles with addiction.

          In the late 80’s and the early 90’s, Dwight Gooden was addicted to Cocaine.  He went to two different rehab facilities, but none of them worked for curing his addiction. This is like me, but I am not addicted to drugs.  I am addicted to the game Tetris -- I play it anytime I can. Even though my addiction isn’t as bad as Doc Gooden’s, it still is an addiction.

          While addictions ruined his career, he still had some good times in the MLB. He played 16 seasons, 11 for the Mets, 3 for the Yankees, 1 for the Indians and he spent half of the 2000 season on the Devil Rays’ and the Astros’ rosters. From reading the book and watching baseball, I can now understand the struggles that baseball players and all other professional athletes have to go through on a daily basis. Dwight Gooden reminds me of the Brewers’ pitcher, Zack Greinke.  Although Greinke won a Cy Young award like “Doc”, ever since then he had has some struggles with pitching.

          Although Dwight went on to have a good career as a baseball player, the city of New York will never forget him for bringing the Mets to the World Series.  Shortly after the ‘86 Mets broke up as a team, Doc’s addiction to cocaine began, and that is where he changed as both a pitcher and as a person.  While Doc struggled personally and professionally through his addiction, he was still able to make an impact in the history of baseball.  The Dwight Gooden story should be a reminder for every MLB team that sometimes struggling players need a second chance to prove they can make an impact.