When Doc Gooden returned as a Yankee and no-no'd A-Rod's mighty Mariners
When Dwight "Doc" Gooden took to the mound at Yankee Stadium on May 14, 1996, his greatness was largely behind him. Having tested positive for cocaine use, the longtime Mets star was suspended the last six weeks of the 1994 season and the entire 1995 season.
He was back for the Yankees' 1996 campaign, which he began without distinction. But a week earlier he had won his first game in nearly two years, over the Detroit Tigers, a victory he called "the sweetest of my career."
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Things were about to get sweeter for the 1984 Rookie of the Year.
Baseball has a way of aligning planets — through the application of physics to much smaller spheres — to recreate, rejuvenate, and redeem. How else to explain what happened when Gooden, who everyone was sure was done in baseball, toed the rubber that May night in The Bronx and no-hit the powerful Seattle Mariners, 2-0, a team that included sluggers Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez?
The late great Journal News sportswriter Ernie Palladino put it this way:
"For one magical night, it seemed like 1984 all over again.
"Before Doc Gooden's drug problems. Before the suspension. Before the comeback.
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"Better, even. Better because Gooden had never thrown a no-hitter before last night's 2-0 gem against the power-laden Seattle Mariners.
"He has one now, thanks to a curveball that broke with renewed authority and a fastball that batters couldn't catch up to last night. It no longer explodes like Gooden's old fastball, but it is one he locates with precision."
Gooden wasn't perfect — he gave up six walks and threw a wild pitch — but he was more than good enough. Before Paul Sorrento's pop-up had landed in Derek Jeter's glove for the final out to seal the no-hitter, Gooden raised his arms in triumph.
His teammates mobbed him on the mound and hoisted him on their shoulders, squiring him toward the home dugout. Soon enough, he was earthbound again (except in spirit), returning to the diamond to salute the Yankee faithful.
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The Journal News/lohud.com has been telling stories of the Lower Hudson Valley for generations. This regular column and photo feature takes a look back into our extensive archive.
Reach Peter D. Kramer at pkramer@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: When Doc Gooden returned as Yankee, threw no-hitter vs Seattle in 1996
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