Word: gooden
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...Yankees' Ron Guidry can really fire it?" Most baseball people are of the opinion that if you cannot throw or hit a fastball on the day you are born, there is nobody who can teach you. "But just like with Koufax and all the great fastball pitchers, it's Gooden's curve ball that really leaves the hitters standing." After his two glorious years, Score lost the 1957 season to a line drive in the eye. His arm shortly withered. "Whatever it is that makes you have a little extra, I just didn't have that anymore...
...Gooden does know. His mildly sprained ankle this winter almost panicked Wall Street. "All pitchers hold their breath about arm injuries," he says. "Mostly, people hold their breath around pitchers, especially young fastball pitchers." And yet, says Mets Trainer Steve Garland, "of all the pitchers we have, Dwight's the one I least expect to get hurt." His motion is flexible and his fundamentals flowing; the really heavy work falls to his legs, which are as thick as the rest of him is lithe. "Some pitchers who are overpowering," Tom Seaver says, "you can see the clock is ticking down...
Unable to apply words to the serenity he feels now even in the face of Philadelphia's fierce Mike Schmidt, Gooden can say nothing more than "It's God-given." Seaver has no difficulty seeing the order in Gooden's pitching. "It's a lot more than natural, believe me," he says. "Let him have some time to find the words for it. It's enough for him to do these things at 21, he can explain them later." It has occurred to Gooden to ask himself, "Are you really this good?" But the answer is classified. "You shouldn...
Aged pitchers, like old fans, might be expected to minimize Gooden's brief achievements. But not Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. "I think maybe we're the most impressed of all," he says. "We know what he's doing, what a gift he has. It's obvious that his start is better than anyone else's, even Feller's. His control is better than Feller's." A big leaguer at 17, Feller was Gooden's age before he found the plate. "Go up and hit what you see," Bucky Harris used to advise his Washington Senators...
...surprisingly, Feller's view is that two seasons are insufficient for comparison. "People are always wanting to know too soon what I think about a Willie Mays or a Joe Charboneau or a Mark Fidrych or a Dwight Gooden. Gooden seems like a hard worker, and he's off to a fine start. As far as I can tell, he's keeping his ducks in a row." By that, maybe he means Gooden doesn't brag much. "Only in the middle of 1946," Feller thinks back, "did I ever try to strike everybody out. I had a chance...