2010 Mets Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

2010 Mets Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Today before the Mets played the Diamondbacks at Citi Field, they had a pregame ceremony honoring four key members of their great team in the mid-late 1980's.

The Mets inducted these great people into their own Hall of Fame.

They were as follows:

General Manager Frank Cashen who was the architect who build these great team through the farm system and by making key trades to add to the mix that he turned into a World Championship team back in 1986.

Manager Davey Johnson who led his team to 5 consecutive 90+ win seasons during his tenure as Met manager from 1984-1990.

Pitcher Dwight Gooden aka "Doc" he was potentially going to be one of the greateest pitchers in major league baseball history but unfortunately for him it never materialized due to off the field problems.

When he was on the mound in his first few years he was always worth the price of admission. He was so dominating that when he pitched you were always on the edge of your seat in awe of his incredible ability.

I was a teenager at the time. The Doctor was only a few years older than me. He came up at the tender age of 19 back in 1984. His first start was in Houston against the Astros.

He wound up being the National League Rookie of the Year.

In 1985, he went on to become a phenom. He went 24-4 with a 1.53 earned run average. He was absolutely a joy to watch pitch. He went on to win the National League Cy Young Award.

Everytime I saw Dr. K he almost always went all the way!

Sometimes he was "Goodenough" and/or "Good and Plenty".

It's a shame he never was able to be the same.

Rightfielder Darryl Strawberry like Doc had come to the big leagues with all the potential in the world.

Like Doc he too fell short of these great expectations for similar reasons.

I remember seeing the "Straw Man" as he was known during those days when he made his major league debut at Shea Stadium back on May 6, 1983 in person.

Mario Soto of the Cincinnati Reds dazzled the Mets by striking out 12 including Darryl 3 times as he went 0 for 4 that night.

The Mets eventually won that game in extra innings, 7-4!

Darryl despite not playing in the majors until May and even with a very slow start he still won the National League Rookie of the Year award.

Darryl had a reputation of hitting very long towering home runs that usually hit off the huge scoreboard in right field.

As a result, the diamond vision screen would show a pile of strawberries falling down and finishing with a logo of  Super Strawberry.

As a youngster, it was a sight to behold.

In retrospect, I always wondered how great these two ballplayers could have been if it wasn't for the their off the field problems.

Unfortunately we'll never know.

I want to personally thank them for supplying me with so many childhood memories. I know I'll never see that again.

In my book, number 16 & number 18 the uniform numbers they wore with the Mets would have be retired if it wasn't for the stupid mistakes they made their lives.

I hope the youth of today can use this guys as examples of what can happen to them if they wound up on the wrong path in life.

As I say, life is short, don't throw it away.

If and when you have a problem consult Royalty so you can get back on the right track to success.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman