Dwight Gooden made baseball history 30 years ago Tuesday, becoming the youngest major league pitcher to win 20 games in a season.
Gooden and the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 9-3 at Shea Stadium on Aug. 25, 1985, improving the right-hander's record to 20-3 at the age of 20 years, 9 months and 9 days -- nearly a month younger than the previous record holder, Bob Feller. Gooden finished the season at 24-4 and led the majors with a 1.53 ERA and 268 strikeouts on his way to the National League Cy Young Award.
In honor of Gooden's 20 wins at age 20, ESPN.com presents 20 things to know about Doctor K:
1. Gooden, a four-time MLB All-Star, was drafted No. 5 overall in 1982. Only one of the players selected ahead of him -- Shawon Dunston at No. 1 overall -- went on to become an All-Star.
2. Although Gooden struck out 300 batters in 191 innings for Lynchburg of the Class A Carolina League in 1983, Mets general manager Frank Cashen wanted Gooden to return to the minors in 1984. Instead, Mets manager Davey Johnson persuaded Cashen to bring Gooden to New York, where he went 17-9 and led MLB with 276 strikeouts to earn NL Rookie of the Year honors as a 19-year-old.
3. Gooden wasn't the first pitcher to win 20 games in 1985. Joaquin Andujar of the Cardinals won his 20th two days before Gooden. Andujar finished the season with 21 wins, three behind Gooden's MLB-best mark.
4. A few tidbits from Gooden's 20th victory:
Three former NL MVPs -- Steve Garvey, George Foster and Keith Hernandez -- played in the game, as well as two future Hall of Famers in Gary Carter and Tony Gwynn.
Rusty Staub, who played in his first MLB game nearly two years before Gooden was born, drove in a run as a pinch hitter for the Mets.
Darryl Strawberry went 3-for-3 with a home run, four RBIs, three runs and two walks.
The losing pitcher was Eric Show, who allowed Pete Rose's record-breaking 4,192nd career hit three starts later.
5. After win No. 20, Gooden said, "It would mean a great deal to get 300 victories, like Tom Seaver. But I just have to take one at a time until I get there." He would ultimately win 194 games in 16 MLB seasons.
6. Gooden was captured in the awesome photo below with Strawberry and Mike Tyson two months before Tyson won his first heavyweight title. You can see five epic minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from that day at Shea Stadium here -- including a cameo from Expos outfielder Tim Raines.
7. Gooden remains the youngest player and starting pitcher in All-Star Game history. He played in the 1984 game at age 19 and started the 1986 game for the NL at 21.
8. After 1985, the most games Gooden won in a season was 19, as a 25-year-old in 1990.
9. Gooden won a Silver Slugger award in 1992 as the best hitter at his position. He hit .264 that season with a home run and nine RBIs.
10. Gooden, along with the other two gentlemen in the photo below, Lenny Dykstra and Strawberry, combined for 15 career All-Star appearances and more than their fair share of trouble off the field.
11. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle once said, "If I could pick somebody to be, that's who I'd be -- Dwight Gooden."
12. Gooden missed the entire 1995 season while serving a suspension for repeated violations of MLB's drug policy.
13. Gooden pitched the eighth no-hitter in Yankees history on May 14, 1996, with a 2-0 win over Seattle. The Mariners were managed by former Yankees outfielder Lou Piniella, and their starting pitcher was also a former Yankee, Sterling Hitchcock.
14. Gary Sheffield, who compiled 2,689 base hits and 509 home runs in a 22-year MLB career, is Gooden's nephew. Both attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida.
15. Gooden pitched one game as a member of the Houston Astros, on April 8, 2000. He got a no-decision in an 8-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the second regular-season game ever at Minute Maid Park, which was then known as Enron Field.
16. Five days after Gooden's lone Astros appearance, his contract was purchased by Tampa Bay. He pitched the final 26 games of his career (including 13 starts) that season with the Devil Rays and Yankees, going 6-5 with two saves at age 35.
17. Gooden and Strawberry are the only two men to win a World Series ring with both the Mets and Yankees as players.
18. Gooden never earned a postseason victory.
19. Gooden wore uniform No. 16 with the Mets, Indians, Astros and Devil Rays. He wore Nos. 11 and 17 in his two stints with the Yankees, who retired No. 16 for Whitey Ford.
20. Just how good was Gooden's 1985 season? Here are the highest single-season wins above replacement marks for pitchers since 1920, according to Baseball-Reference.com:
Dwight Gooden, Mets, 1985: 12.1.
Steve Carlton, Phillies, 1972: 12.1.
Grover Cleveland Alexander, Cubs, 1920: 12.1.
Roger Clemens, Blue Jays, 1997: 11.9.
Pedro Martinez, Red Sox, 2000: 11.7