A Florida judge took one look at Dwight Gooden last week and sent him to jail for two months to await his first hearing on charges of DWI and fleeing police at a traffic stop. Gooden had disappeared for a few days before turning himself in to authorities, but the courtroom had to be shocked at how pitiful the once-great pitcher now looks. The judge probably remembers seeing a healthy, robust Gooden mowing down Major League batters in the ‘80s and early ‘90s and decided to help Gooden help himself long before his trial.
The skinny, ghost of a man standing in that courtroom was frightening, and the judge realized it.
Sports fans should pray that Gooden uses the two months of forced “cold turkey” to begin a road back to respectability.
The other path is to a cemetery, and Gooden looks like he has one foot in a grave already.