According to NY Daily News, the Yankees have reached out, saying they’re willing to pay for any rehabilitation Dwight “Doc” Gooden considers receiving — but the 51-year-old is insisting publicly that he doesn’t have a drug problem.
Family and friends close to him though, would beg to differ.
Darryl Strawberry and Gooden’s former drug counselor Ron Dock, said on Tuesday the Yankees responded to Strawberry’s recent and very public plea for his former teammate to seek help for his cocaine addiction.
The Yankees saw the story in the Daily News on Monday and they called me and said, ‘What can we do to help?’ A lot of individuals have reached out to me too, but for the Yankees to show that type of support to Doc, I’m very grateful to them for that.
Strawberry and Gooden both played for the Yankees (the Mets too) — and had well-documented drug problems that ended their baseball careers.
Dock, who was a former addict himself, became a certified addiction counselor, and had Gooden as a client after being suspended in the 1995 season for testing positive for cocaine, and then the Yankees — working for them for 17 years before leaving in January.
The Yankees reached out to me as well as Darryl. They know I have a relationship with Dwight. He was my first client when I became certified as an addiction-and-recovery coach in 1995. They said they’re willing to pay for Dwight’s treatment, which is a huge gesture on their behalf. They’ve always tried to do right by Dwight, going back to George Steinbrenner when he gave him a chance to play again.
Dock now counsels addicts at Strawberry’s recovery centers in Florida, and is urging Gooden to seek the help he needs for a cocaine problem they believe is out of control.
I believe this is a watershed moment for Dwight. He can’t hide anymore, he can’t smokescreen because everybody knows. He’s getting ready to hit bottom now. His (paid) appearances are going to go away. I’m sure his drug dealer is running for the hills now, because of all the publicity.
On the other hand, long-time Yankee consultant and Gooden confidant, Ray Negron, disagrees with Strawberry and Dock’s public intervention saying “anonymity has always been the magic word” in cases like Gooden’s. However, they contend that statement, saying that if he continues his current lifestyle, it could be fatal.
There are a lot of Dwight Goodens out there, and this is how to do an intervention. If it has be public, let it be public. Are others willing to help someone at the cost of a friendship, like Darryl is doing? This is very important, what’s going on.
A spokesman for the Yankees has denied to comment but confirmed the offer, which only proves that they believe getting Gooden the help he needs, is very important to them too.