Mets to retire numbers of Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden in 2024
Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry were integral to the Mets’ success in the Eighties. They’ll get their special day next season. Credit: NEWSDAY/PAUL J. BERESWILL
The Mets announced Thursday that they will bestow next season their highest honor, the retiring of uniform numbers, upon Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, whose legacies as all-time greats for the franchise are complicated by severe off-field issues.
Strawberry, No. 18, and Gooden, No. 16, were faces of the Mets’ 1986 World Series championship team. They will be honored in separate pregame ceremonies on to-be-announced 2024 dates.
“Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden each had an enormous impact on our franchise and it’s my honor to continue our commitment to celebrating our wonderful history,” owner Steve Cohen said in a news release.
The Mets’ push to celebrate their past, initiated by previous ownership, has included catching up on number retirements. Gooden and Strawberry will be the sixth and seventh players to receive that honor.
In recent years, the Mets have retired Jerry Koosman’s No. 36, Keith Hernandez’s No. 17 and Willie Mays’ No. 24. Before that, they retired Tom Seaver’s No. 41 and Mike Piazza’s No. 31.
Strawberry, the first overall draft pick in 1980, spent eight of his 17 seasons with the Mets, earning seven All-Star selections and the 1983 NL Rookie of the Year Award in that span. He is the organization’s all-time leader in home runs with 252 and compiled 36.6 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference, good for sixth in Mets' history.
But Strawberry also was suspended by MLB three times for drug use and was arrested on many occasions for drug use, domestic violence, evading taxes, solicitation of prostitution and other issues during his career.
Former Mets Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry greet for a post game ceremony after the last regular season baseball game ever played in Shea Stadium against the Florida Marlins on September 28, 2008. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello
“When I got the call from Steve, I welled up with tears of joy,” Strawberry said in a statement released by the Mets. “I started to reflect on my journey through the organization. I had some ups and downs, but in the end, I am proud of my time in New York. I owe so much to Mets fans — they are simply the best. It’s really amazing to me that No. 18 will be forever remembered. I would like to thank the Hall of Fame committee and especially Steve and Alex Cohen.”
Gooden, the No. 5 overall pick in 1982, pitched for the Mets for 11 seasons, bursting onto the scene as the NL Rookie of the Year in 1984 and NL Cy Young Award winner in 1985. The latter, his best season, featured him nabbing the pitching Triple Crown, leading the majors in ERA (1.53), strikeouts (268) and wins (24). His 46.4 WAR ranks third among Mets.
He, too, dealt with drug and alcohol issues since the mid-1980s. His series of arrests included two in two months in 2019 for cocaine possession and driving while intoxicated.
“I want to say ‘thank you’ to the fans who supported me through the good times and bad times,” Gooden said in a statement. “I couldn’t have made it through without their encouragement. There is no greater honor a player can receive than having his number retired. It’s hard for me to express how honored and thankful I am to Steve and Alex [Cohen]. This would make my mother and father extremely proud and I know they are looking down from heaven smiling."
Retired and soon-to-be retired Mets numbers:
16 Dwight Gooden
17 Keith Hernandez
18 Darryl Strawberry
24 Willie Mays
31 Mike Piazza
36 Jerry Koosman
41 Tom Seaver
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
