Dwight Gooden Speaks at Nutley High School Monday

Pitching for the Mets in the ‘80s, Doc Gooden effortlessly dominated competition. His 98 MPH fastballs and hard breaking curveballs won him unprecedented accolades including becoming the youngest recipient ever of Major League Baseball's Cy Young Award with the pitcher’s Triple Crown in 1985 and being the winning pitcher at the ’86 World Series Championship. 

While he saw late career success, including pitching a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1996, he mostly squandered his great promise through substance abuse, with his alcohol and cocaine addiction leading to a seven month prison incarceration in the 2000s.

On Monday night, Gooden comes to Nutley High School to talk about the lessons he learned battling his personal demons. From 6 to 8, Gooden and Newsday columnist Ellis Henican will run through the former Met’s career and talk about drug/alcohol prevention and making positive choices.

Organizers of the talk say Gooden will speak candidly at the free talk about his rise to fame as well as his well-chronicled issues with substance abuse.

A Vision in Motion has coordinated the program in conjunction with Nutley Mayor Alphonse Petracco’s H.O.P.E. The programs are funded by the Nutley Municipal Alliance, which is under the State of New Jersey Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.