Fallen Mets star Dwight Gooden busted for cocaine possession
Former Mets star pitcher Dwight Gooden, whose career was derailed by drugs, has been arrested for cocaine possession, court documents show.
Gooden, 54, was arrested last month by police in Holmdel, N.J., a community not far from the Jersey Shore, during an early morning stop, the New York Daily News is reporting.
Gooden helped carry the Mets to their last World Series championship in 1986.
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According to documents filed with the Monmouth County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office, police pulled Gooden over on a traffic violation on June 7 and found “two, small green zip-lock style plastic baggies containing suspected cocaine.”
The star athlete who also played for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians was under the influence at the time of the traffic stop, police say.
Authorities charged Gooden with third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Daily News reports.
Gooden’s otherwise stellar career has been pulled down by his addiction to drugs over the years.
In 1985, the former Rookie of the Year won the legendary Cy Young Award for being the best pitcher in the league, but two years later, tested positive for cocaine during spring training. He also tested positive for cocaine in the 1994 season.
A year after that, Gooden was suspended for an entire season for failing a drug test.
Eleven years later, in 2006, Gooden was still battling his cocaine demons. He was arrested for violating probation as well as showing up to a meeting with his probation officer while high on cocaine, according to the News. He was arrested in 2010 in Franklin Lakes, N.J. in similar circumstances, but in that incident he crashed his care while his 5-year-old son was riding with him.
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Gooden is scheduled to appear in court on July 23 in this most recent arrest.
The Daily News could not immediately reach him for comment.
Gooden was born in Tampa, Fla., and became a baseball sensation in his teen years. At the age of 17, he was the fifth player drafted in the first round by the New York Mets.
Gooden and fellow former Mets teammate, ex-outfielder Darryl Strawberry were the subject of a 2016 episode of the ESPN documentary series “30 for 30”, which focused on the substance abuse struggles both men have dealt with. But the two soon fell out after Strawberry said Gooden is still addicted, according to USA Today.
