DWIGHT GOODEN WILL BE ON CELEBRITY REHAB SEASON 5!

Ah, Spring! That magical time of year when the sun gets brighter, the days get longer, the birds start tweeting, the flowers start springing forth from the earth and even fans of much-maligned teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates have cause for optimism. Bernie Madoff be damned, there’s 162 games of baseball left to be played ON THE FIELD and I’m gonna be optimistic if I want to, dammit. So eat it.

As a kid, New York Met Dwight Gooden was my hero. Doctor K!  I had a poster on my bedroom wall of Doc in the windup that I’d try to imitate perfectly for hours on end. No pitcher had better stuff or was more electrifying than Doc as a 20 year-old. One of the great young right-handers of all time without a doubt.

And then things went downhill. In fact, I learned about drug addiction because of Doc and Darryl, very confusing stuff to a young kid. It’s been a constant up and down over the years; in and out rehab, in and out of jail, in and out of baseball. Darryl has faired better than Doc and seems to be well on his way these days. Doc? Not so much; TMZ tells me he’ll appear on Season 5 of Celebrity Rehab alongside some sad sack crack addict named Steven Adler, on the show for the second time, who used to be in some rock and roll. My, how the mighty have fallen.

-VN