Doc's Autograph a Prescription for Mets Controversy

Posted Apr 20, 2009 9:43AM By Ed Price (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Mets

Citi Field is everything that Shea Stadium wasn't: new, comfortable, well-outfitted, clean.

And the Mets are apparently obsessing about the clean part.

So when Dwight Gooden, who electrified Mets fans like no one else in the team's history, decided to christen the new park by autographing it, the team was not amused.

Someone thought it would be a nice idea if one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history signed a blank gray wall next to the bar. Gooden obliged, taking a black Sharpie and writing in script "Doc Gooden 84 R.O.Y., 85 Cy Young, 86 W.S. Champs."

Normally a Gooden autograph would make something more valuable. But not to the Mets.

"It's a brand-new building," said Jay Horwitz, the Mets' VP of media relations. "No one is supposed to write on the wall. It's going to be erased."

Lou DiBella, a Manhattan-based boxing promoter and devoted Met fan, was in the Ebbets Club on Opening Day when Gooden signed the wall, and he was there yesterday as the Mets lost 4-2 to the Brewers in the final game of a three-game series.

He's among a number of fans angry Gooden's signature likely will be gone when the team returns from a short trip to St. Louis.

"That's the same spirit that caused them to build a new ballpark that doesn't have any semblance of Mets history," DiBella said. "They charge $240 a ticket, and when your greatest pitcher tries to do something to reach out to the fans, the Mets make it seem like he did something wrong. It's so stupid."

We're not here to encourage defacing a public edifice. But this is Dwight Gooden. It was a light-hearted way of breaking in the park, and if it means it's .001 percent less pristine than it was, isn't it worth it to know that if the K Corner isn't still there, the man who inspired it still approves?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-20-2009 @ 10:41AM

Chuck said...

Who the hell cares....How bout them Marlins!!!!

4-20-2009 @ 12:50PM

mikerat42 said...

Egotistical B/S... Who else should sign???
Hernandez, Seaver, Berra, Wilson.. Would look like a subway car when it's done.. Easy enough to ask if it's OK first...
I was a star, you want to see my name..

4-20-2009 @ 12:57PM

espadon58 said...

Let's have a drug addict and criminal signature on our new building.

4-20-2009 @ 3:01PM

nadt956 said...

i guess he figured he's be the first drug addict to announce his presence. d'oh!

4-20-2009 @ 4:07PM

grechero said...

Unless they write Jackie Robinson apparently.

4-20-2009 @ 4:12PM

max and slim said...

get over it met fans you suck. will fall apart again this year lmao

4-20-2009 @ 4:31PM

jjpsnellen said...

the easter bunny did it

4-20-2009 @ 5:28PM

Papa said...

On what planet is Gooden the Mets' greatest pitcher?

4-20-2009 @ 6:16PM

Cas said...

I would worry more about the Crap on the Field.

4-20-2009 @ 7:08PM

NANCY said...

It reminds me when our new stadium Lincoln Financial Field was built and they had some "suit" go on TV and tell the fans to not refer to it as "The Link"..... of course that went over like a lead balloon. It made people make a point of calling it the Link... or is it Linc?

4-20-2009 @ 7:23PM

fourklines said...

Autographs...??? What a strange affectation...weird that we want them...weird that we will pay so much for them....NOT WEIRD that they give them to us for big money.

Reggie Jackson hired someone to sign his name...every ball, glove, picture and mitt with Reggie Jackson's signature on it is a fraud because Reggie did not sign any of them...YOU paid for it....he took the money...and, let me see....He is a hero??? He is YOUR hero? Gimme a break, will you please?

4-20-2009 @ 11:17PM

Randy said...

if it was seaver/hojo/piazza or anyone other than him,strawberry,k hernandez or k mitchell they wouldn't have shit to say!!!!!!!!!!

4-21-2009 @ 5:41AM

Aloha Jim said...

Seaver was the greatest Met pitcher by far ... Berra ??

4-21-2009 @ 9:04AM

Yeah, Berra.. Mgr. 1972-1975...

5-01-2009 @ 9:53PM

islanderssuckman said...

seaver was the best i think he should of sighned the new park

4-21-2009 @ 8:32AM

arkmanmat said...

ever hear of Tom Seaver you drug addict???????????

4-21-2009 @ 9:00AM

Bob said...

I think Tug Mcgraw was pretty good.

4-21-2009 @ 10:53AM

jimbowlin1 said...

I think they had a rookie pitcher named Nolan Ryan one year also.

4-21-2009 @ 12:14PM

claytor said...

I fail to see where Gooden referred to himself personally as "The Greatest Pitcher In Mets History".

All the article states is someone who considered him one of the best in team history asked him to sign the wall.

They do stuff like this all the time, but i guess since it isnt hands in concrete, its unfashionable? Because god knows i love stumbling and losing footing while stepping over shit like that.

Lets face it, criminal or not, the guy WAS one of the Mets best pitchers ever.