Nearly three decades after he last played for the team, one New York Mets great is trying to do another solid for the team.
In an appearance this week on SportsNet New York, Mets Hall of Famer Dwight “Doc” Gooden made an interesting recruiting pitch to Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Gooden said that Ohtani would be welcome to wear Gooden’s old No. 16 jersey if he came to the Mets.
“Ohtani’s a great guy,” said Gooden. “I think he’ll fit great in New York. He’s welcome to wear [No.] 16 if he likes. So we’ll see.”
Gooden, now 58, pitched for the Mets from 1984-94, winning the pitching Triple Crown and NL Cy Young Award in 1985 before helping the team win the 1986 World Series. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010.
Interestingly enough, Gooden’s No. 16 was never retired by the Mets and has been worn by 16 players since (most recently, former Mets outfielder Travis Jankowski in 2022). You can’t blame Gooden though for doing whatever he can to try to convince Ohtani to come to The Big Apple.
Of course, the Mets are having an embarrassing year in many different ways. At 45-51, they are actually worse than Ohtani’s Angels (who are 49-48). But with a deep pool of young talent and the even deeper pockets of owner Steve Cohen, it is tough to count the Mets out of the Ohtani sweepstakes, either at this year’s trade deadline or in free agency come the offseason.
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