Remembering Mets History (1985) Doc Gooden K's 16 To Become First Pitcher to Reach 200 Strike Outs in First Two Seasons

 Tuesday August 20th, 1985: The excitement of Dwight Gooden- "Dr. K" was really amazing in his 1985 Cy Young Season. 

At this point in time Gooden had won 12 straight games, he came into the game at 18-3 with 1.82 ERA & 192 strike outs. 

He was the best pitcher in the game & having one of the best seasons any pitcher had ever had. Gooden had already had seven games with ten or more strike outs & his season high was 14 Ks up to that point.

Coming into the game, Davey Johnson's Mets were in first place (71-45) with a half game lead over the pesky St. Louis Cardinals. Tonight, the Mets hosted the last place San Francisco Giants (45-72) led by Jim Davenport. 31,758 fans came out to Shea Stadium, including a young teenage centerfieldmaz, to see Dwight Gooden pitch another one of his great games of that magical season.

Gooden's 1st inning was a bit shaky. After getting the first out Brad Wellman & Chili Davis both singled. Chili Davis was caught stealing & then Gooden served up two walks. But he struck out former Met, Joel Youngblood to end the inning & any threat of scoring.

In the 2nd, he struck out Bob Brenly & Jim Gott, retiring the side in order. In the 3rd, Chili Davis collected his second hit off Gooden, but Gooden struck out Dan Gladden & Wellman again for strike outs four & five. He then retired Dan Driessen to end the inning.

In the 4th inning, Dr. K, struck out the side getting Chris Brown, Joel Youngblood & Bob Brenly to reach seven K's. It also was Gooden's 200th strike out on the year.

Trivia: Gooden became the first pitcher to strike out 200 or more batters in his first two seasons.

In the 5th, he struck out Jose Uribe & Jim Gott. He then walked Dan Gladden & fanned Brad Wellman for the third time to end the inning, while reaching ten strike outs.  

In the 6th the Giants collected two the left field "K corner" was putting up the K's along the rafters & the Shea fans were on their feet every time there was a two-strike count.

hits, Chili Davis got his third hit of the night. Joel Youngblood also singled but Gooden didn't allow any runs to score, as he got Bob Brenly to fly out. Gooden also notched his 11th strike out in the inning as well.

In the 7th inning he got Juan Uribe & Ron Roenicke to strike out to start the inning. He then retired Dan Gladden on a pop up to end the inning. The 8th was the only inning Gooden did not record a strike out.

The 9th inning was certainly exciting for the Shea fans, with the shut out intact they were on their feet cheering for the Doctor. Gooden struck out Bob Brenly to start the inning. Jose Uribe then grounded out for the second out. 

Slugger Rob Deer came up to pinch hit, Gooden struck him out for the final out, it was his 16th strike out of the night for Gooden & a new season high. 

It was also the most strike outs any pitcher had in all of baseball that season.

Gooden got to 19-3 with a 1.74 ERA on the year, his 13th straight winning decision & 5th shut out of the year, on his way to the Cy Young Award.

The Mets scoring started in the 2nd, Darryl Strawberry walked & stole second. With one out Howard Johnson walked. Rafael Santana singled in Straw with the first run & Lenny Dykstra singled in Hojo with the second run.

In the 5th, Wally Backman doubled & was brought in by Gary Carter's base hit. The Mets won it 3-0 & took a 1.5 game lead over St. Louis. Things were good around Shea Stadium & it was great to be a Mets fan.