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: In 1985 Shea Stadium was the place to be, especially on the exciting nights Dwight Gooden- "Dr. K" was pitching. 

The 19-year-old phenom put in one of baseball's all-time best pitching seasons. The crowd was purely electric, on top of every pitch, cheering & standing, as the K Korner was alive putting up K cards with every strike out. It was a special era.

From May 30th to August 15th Gooden had won 12 straight decisions, coming into this game at 18-3 with 1.82 ERA & 192 strike outs. 

To date, Gooden already had seven games where he struck out ten or more batters, with a season
high of 14 Ks on May 30th.

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 Jim Davenports last place San Francisco Giants (45-72). 31,758 fans came out to Shea Stadium, including a young teenage centerfieldmaz to see Dwight Gooden make history again in another one of his great games in that magical season.

In the top of the 1st, Gooden was a bit shaky. After getting the first out Brad Wellman & Chili Davis both singled. Chili Davis was thrown out trying to steal second base. Gooden then walked veteran Dan Driessen & Chris Brown to load the bases. But he struck out former Met, Joel Youngblood to end the inning.

In the top of the 2nd, Gooden struck out Bob Brenly, Jose Uribe grounded out & Gooden struck out Jim Gott for his third K of the night.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Darryl Strawberry walked & stole his 18th base of the season, swiping second base. After George Foster grounded out Jim Gott issued his second walk of the inning, as Howard Johnson got the base on balls. Rafael Santana singled to bring in Strawberry with the Mets first run. Lenny Dykstra followed with an RBI single scoring Hojo with the Mets second run 2-0.

In the top of the 3rd, Gooden struck out Dan Gladden & Brad Wellman for the first two outs, reaching five strike outs on the night, inching closer to the Rookie books. Chili Davis collected his second hit of the night, but Gooden then retired Dan Driessen on a grounder to third to end the inning.

In the top of the 4th inning, Dr. K's fastball was on fire, as he struck out the side getting Chris Brown, Joel Youngblood & Bob Brenly to reach eight strike outs on the night. Brenly was also Gooden's 200th strike out on the year.

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

Shea & the K Korner: The left field upper deck was home to the "K corner". A group pf fans would put up K cards along the railing & tonight was running out of room with the 164 K's. Shea was shaking from the rafters as the fans were on their feet every, cheering for s strike out every time there was a two-strike count.

In the top of the 5th, Gooden's fastball continued to blaze, he struck out Jose Uribe & Jim Gott to reach double figures in strike outs for the eighth time on the season.

He then walked Dan Gladden & fanned Brad Wellman for the third time to end the inning, while reaching eleven strike outs.  

In the bottom of the 5th, the leagues fourth best hitter at .304, Wally Backman doubled & was brought in by Gary Carter's base hit for his 62nd RBI of the year making it a 3-0 Mets lead.

In the top of the 6th the Giants collected two hits, with Chili Davis collecting his third hit of the night. But Bob Brenly flew out to Lenny Dykstra to end the inning.

In the top of the 7th inning Gooden started the inning striking out Juan Uribe & Ron Roenicke for his 13th & 14th K's of the night. He then retired Dan Gladden on a pop up to end the inning. 

The 8th inning was the only inning Gooden did not record a strike out.

In the top of the 9th inning the Shea fans were alive & well, with the shut out intact they were on
their feet cheering for the Doctor. Gooden struck out Bob Brenly to start the inning, his 15th K of the night. 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 matching a career high which he had done twice before. 

Dwight Gooden Trivia: The 16 strike outs were the most for any pitcher in MLB that season. It was Gooden's 13th straight victory, his sixth shutout of the season & his 19th victory. He now led the majors with 208 strike outs on the season. Of his 143 pitches thrown 101 of them were strikes.

Quotes- Manager Davey Johnson: "Your looking at something special. You probably won't ever see anybody at his age who dominates so completely. At age 19 he's 36-12, in two seasons. He wins three of every four games he pitches in the big leagues."

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.

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.