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New York's in Gooden's corner win or lose in Game 4

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Posted: Friday October 09, 1998 04:05 PM

House call: Gooden won 20 games in his two seasons with the Yankees, including his only career no-hitter AP

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The fan mail for Dwight Gooden still arrives at Jacobs Field with postmarks from all over metropolitan New York.

Met fans can't forget the days when they hung "Ks" from the upper deck at Shea Stadium. Back then, Gooden could scorch hitters with fastballs or baffle them with curves that seemed to defy laws of motion.

Yankee fans love to tell him about where they were the night he no-hit the Seattle Mariners in 1996, and how the sight of him on his teammates' shoulders remains the enduring image of that championship season.

Gooden, now with Cleveland Indians, will face the Yankees in Game 4 of the American League championship series on Saturday. This will be the first time he's pitched against the Yankees since they let him go last November.

To this day, he is mystified by the way New York stayed in his corner.

"Sometimes I ask myself why, but I really don't have an answer," he said not long ago at Yankee Stadium. "The fans have been unbelievable supporters through all the ups and downs. There were many times where they probably could have turned their backs and maybe they should have at times. But they still stuck with me."

When he battled drug problems, Gooden's fans never wavered. And when his addiction caused him to be banned for the entire 1995 season for repeated violations of baseball's drug policy, the fans were there for Gooden again.

But fans who love both the pitcher and the Yankees will have their loyalties tested to the hilt Saturday. Depending on the outcome of Friday night's Game 3, Gooden will either pitch with a chance to push New York to the brink of elimination or save Cleveland from being pushed within a loss of ending its season.

So far Gooden's biggest postseason contribution for the Indians was getting kicked out in the first inning of his Game 2 start against the Boston Red Sox in the division series.

His ejection, along with that of Indians manager Mike Hargrove following encounters with plate umpire Joe Brinkman, fired up Cleveland and its fans. Gooden wasn't intending to spend the afternoon in the Indians' clubhouse after throwing just 22 pitches, and he's planning to spend as much time as he can on the field against the Yankees.

"I'd rather do it that way, between the lines," he said. "I'd rather spark the team that way."

Gooden didn't get a chance to pitch in the '96 postseason for the Yankees. Despite an 11-7 record, he was left off the playoff roster with a tired arm.

His 1997 season in New York didn't start out too well, either. Gooden was sidelined for nearly two months after hernia surgery in April, but he came back to go 9-5 and earned a start against the Indians in the division series.

He battled with Orel Hershiser that night, limiting Cleveland to one run in 5 2/3 innings and would have been the winning pitcher until reliever Mariano Rivera gave up Sandy Alomar's eighth-inning homer as the Indians rallied to win 3-2.

Following the season, the Yankees didn't think Gooden had enough left in his 33-year-old right arm to bring him back, and they chose to not exercise their option on him for '98.

On his way out the door, Gooden said he and Yankees manager Joe Torre hadn't seen eye to eye for some time. The two have since patched up any differences, but have yet to face each other as manager and opposing pitcher.

Gooden was on call during the first two games of the series, in case Hargrove needed him in long relief. He wanted to be at center stage in New York again, but never got out of the bullpen.

"Obviously, it's no secret that I loved pitching here," he said. "I just want an opportunity to pitch. Obviously I would prefer to pitch here, but it's not a disappointment at all."

But as he strolled down the third-base line before Game 2, New York again shouted his name.

"We still love you, Doc," yelled a fan.  

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