Thirty years ago, Gooden became ‘Doctor K’
Dwight Gooden’s emergence in 1984 enabled New York to use two superlatives repeatedly — youngest and best. For half of the 1984 baseball season, Gooden was described merely as the youngest everything — youngest pitcher, youngster phenom, youngest All-Star. He was 19. And by the end of the season, he was universally identified as the best pitcher, regardless of age.