Dwight Gooden

The greater a talent, the more it longs for a stage on which to perform. And the more it rises to those occasions that flatter it most. In situations where the rest of us feel fear, the most gifted become calm and silently happy. As the house lights dim, the concert pianist loses his butterflies, just when we would discover them. As the Shea Stadium crowd rises in a mounting ovation during the national anthem, Dwight Gooden finds his control, rather than loses it.

Former baseball star Dwight Gooden turned himself in at a Tampa, Fla., county jail Thursday, three days after police said he fled a DUI traffic stop. Gooden, 40, had been missing since early Monday, when an officer pulled over his 2004 BMW near downtown Tampa on suspicion of drunk driving. He twice refused to get out of the car for a field sobriety test, then drove away suddenly, police said.

The 1993 New York Mets lost a major league-high 103 games, but they did it with style. They lost with sprays of bleach bursting in air and bombs blasting on clubhouse floors and outside players' car doors.

Dwight Gooden was arrested early Sunday for allegedly punching his ex-wife in the face, police in Tampa, Fla., said. The former All-Star pitcher was charged with domestic violence battery and was being held Sunday without bond at Hillsborough County Jail. It wasn't immediately known if he had an attorney. Jail officials said Gooden, a special assistant for the New York Yankees, was to make his first court appearance today.

There was a time when Dwight Gooden intimidated hitters. But when he goes to the mound at Dodger Stadium Monday night, Gooden will be the one carrying a degree of fear. The New York Mets right-hander is nursing a sore right shoulder. It did not prevent him from pitching seven innings of a 13-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants Tuesday night. Nor should it prevent him from starting against the Dodgers Monday night. But the ache of self doubt and uncertainty seems to haunt Gooden. "I'm scared.

It has become the focus of daily conversation in the Padre clubhouse. The players want to know the latest trade talk. Hey, who's coming? More important, who's going? The Padres, 4-0 losers Saturday night to the New York Mets, know as well as anyone that changes need to be made. It's no secret to them that they need an everyday third baseman. It's no mystery they're looking for more starting pitching. And everyone knows they're searching for a bullpen stopper.

Asked once to explain how he has produced a .500 batting average against Dwight Gooden, San Francisco outfielder Chili Davis said, "He ain't God, man." The majority of National League hitters might not agree. The New York Mets' 21-year-old right-hander will start against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium tonight with a 46-14 record, 5-1 this year. In six career starts against the Dodgers, Gooden has a 4-1 record and has held Los Angeles to a team batting average of .169.

Only 10 days ago, the giddy Padres returned from their longest trip of the year, exhilarated by their start and insistent that the rest of the league better respect them. After completing their home stand Wednesday with yet another humbling defeat, 7-1 to the New York Mets, the Padres don't know whether to cry, scream or ask the triple-A Las Vegas team if it wants to finish out the season.

Chilling, disturbing, gripping. . . and that's just page 36, on which Dwight Gooden and a friend pay an unannounced visit to Kevin Mitchell's house in 1986 and are startled to find Mitchell drunk, arguing with his girlfriend, wielding a 12-inch knife and soon holding all three hostage as Mitchell, swiping a gruesome scene from Stephen King, decapitates his girlfriend's cat. How about those New York Mets?

He has converted the National League into his personal K Mart, where strikeouts come cheaper by the dozen and in a seemingly endless supply. Met pitcher Dwight Gooden is the undisputed king of K's which, as anyone who has ever wielded a scorecard and pencil could tell you, is baseball shorthand for a strikeout.

Dodger Manager Jim Tracy compared Edwin Jackson to Dwight Gooden, the 1985 National League Cy Young Award winner, after the rookie's first start last season. He didn't back off that bold comment after watching the 20-year-old right-hander work three perfect innings in his first exhibition outing Saturday, a 6-2 Dodger victory over the New York Mets at Tradition Field. Jackson mixed 96-mph fastballs with sharp sliders and changeups while striking out three. "He's pretty good, isn't he?"

On his final day as a player, Dwight Gooden preferred to focus on his future rather than dwell on his once-glorious past. Unable to make the New York Yankees' opening day roster, Gooden, 36, announced his retirement Friday. "It's a sad and enjoyable day," he said at the team complex in Tampa, Fla. "I've enjoyed a great career. It's been a joyous ride. I have no complaints." Gooden finished his career with a 194-112 record and a 3.51 earned-run average, striking out 2,293 in 2,800 2/3 innings.

Dwight Gooden was ineffective in his first start in eight weeks. David Cone was even worse in his first relief appearance in eight years. Damion Easley and Bobby Higginson hit two-run homers as the Detroit Tigers pounded the former Cy Young Award winners in a 15-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday night at New York. New York, which is 5 1/2 games ahead of Toronto in the AL East, had its magic number drop to two because Toronto lost to Tampa Bay.

Dwight Gooden got back at the latest team to give up on him and earned himself another start. Gooden (4-3) gave the New York Yankees exactly what they needed Friday night at New York, pitching effectively for six innings in an 11-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Manager Joe Torre said Gooden will get another start, his third since joining the Yankees after his release by the Devil Rays May 25.

The New York Yankees are giving Dwight Gooden yet another chance. The 35-year-old right-hander, 10 victories shy of 200 in the major leagues, has been signed to a minor-league contract. "We still feel like he has something left in his arm," said Yankee pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, who coached Gooden with the Yankees and New York Mets.

Fourteen years ago today, there seemed to be no boundaries to what lay ahead for a young New York Met pitcher named Dwight Gooden. At 20 years, 9 months and 9 days, he became the youngest pitcher to win 20 games with a 9-3 win over San Diego at Shea Stadium. It was his 14th consecutive win, boosted his record to 20-3 and gave him 37 victories over two seasons.

The New York Mets have increased their contract offer to pitcher Dwight Gooden to $13.8 million for three years. Gooden had asked for $15 million.

Dwight Gooden had been going to Jacobs Field the last two weeks fearing Indian Manager Mike Hargrove might want to talk to him. Gooden had been afraid his days in Cleveland were numbered, and that he might be on the trading block. But after his performance Wednesday night, the only trip Gooden might be making is back to the starting rotation.

After a couple of weeks of bragging, Dwight Gooden proved he does indeed belong in the majors' most dangerous lineup. Gooden hit the eighth homer of his career, most by any active pitcher, and Richie Sexson hit a tie-breaking solo shot in the ninth inning Friday night as the Cleveland Indians beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-6. Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez also homered as the Indians showed off their might against their intrastate rival. Cleveland came into the game with a .