Back in 1985, Dwight Gooden was Matt Harvey, and more. In his second season in the major leagues, at 20, he went 24-4 with a 1.53 earned run average, threw 16 complete games (which would be unthinkable these days), had eight shutouts and struck out 268 batters in 2762/3 innings of work.
Gooden also drew fans to the ballpark. And why not? He was a sensation — tall and lanky, with a rocketing fastball and a huge curve, and with remarkable poise for someone so young.
In the 18 games that Gooden started that season at Shea Stadium, the Mets’ average attendance was 40,072.