Wednesday I had the privilege of spending the day with my favorite baseball player from my childhood, Dwight Gooden. While Doc has had his problems that did not matter to me as a young kid going to Shea to watch him pitch. There was such an energy to the stadium on those days that is very similar to when Pedro Martinez pitches...only it was better. Doc was our guy from our farm system. He was the best young pitcher ever over the course of his first three years. I read a quote once from Sandy Koufax in 1986 saying that he would trade his past for Doc's future. While Doc's future unfortunately did not hold to what is should have been he was absolutely electric for the Rookie of the Year season, Cy Young season and, of course, the championship season. As we all know Dwight caught on with the Yankees years later and pitched a no-hitter (it always baffles and bothers me that so many ex-Mets have pitched no-hitters while the Mets have never had one). Anyway I started the signing with Gooden at 8:30 AM. Every piece that he signed was to be inscribed so it took until 6:45 that evening (with a few short meal breaks) to complete everything. I was so impressed that Doc stuck with it (with no complaint) and got through everything. Over the course of the marathon signing Doc signed a nice variety of items including no-hitter baseballs (with the date!), Cy 85 baseballs, no hitter photos and a handful of pitching rubbers with Cy 85 (very strong!) Tomorrow I will be conducting a signing with the Strikeout King Nolan Ryan (another former Met who pitched a no-hitter in another uniform....actually 7 to be exact!) Check back for a recap.