soupcan wrote: I've got less of a problem with Strawberry than I do with Gooden but still, Straw can go suck an egg. Take 16 & 18 out of circulation? Why? Because the two of them made some All-Star teams while they were Mets? Rookies of the year? World Champions? Cy Young? How many ultimately mediocre players on every other team in the majors have similar accomplishments and don't have their numbers retired? Quite a fucking few I'm thinking. The only difference to me between those two is that Gooden's performance while he was with the Mets was affected by his drug use and Strawberry's wasn't. The Mets dodged a bullet when the Dodgers signed Straw. Unfortunately for the organization and their fans, they weren't so lucky with Doc. As to the revelation that Johnny Lunch just posted - I'm not nearly surprised. As Edgy stated, Dwight's looked pretty bad for a while now. Sad to say but I won't be surprised when in the next year or so we read about his ultimate demise. I wish that neither of those guys ever got involved with drugs and then played their whole career with the Mets. That didn't happen but you know what did? I invested a lot of my personal fandom and emotion in both of them. Almost 30 years later, I still harbor resentment towards Gooden, and Straw doesn't help his case by acting like the Mets owe him something more than EVERYTHING they've already given him. Pretty much this^. Retire their numbers? No way. Re: Gooden's demise- When I read that I winced & thought NOOOOO. But I noted Doc's gaunt appearance last season and I'm afraid that might be a real possibility. It was never resentment w/me. It was HUGE disappointment. I had those two homegrown Mets pegged for the Hall Of Fame. There was anger early in regards to their careers being derailed (of their drug problems I just felt pity). But that has all dissipated.