New York Mets legend Dwight “Doc” Gooden will be rounding the bases in Long Island on Saturday to help strike out Alzheimer’s disease.
Gooden, 59, will join participants in the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Alzheimer’s Walk in the Park at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, L.I., beginning at 9 a.m.
At the event, which should last until noon, Gooden will greet walkers, participate in opening ceremonies, sign autographs and take pictures with fans.
All proceeds from the walk will support families with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Gooden a.k.a. “Dr. K” said he jumped at the chance to be an “ambassador” at the walk.
“The impact that this disease has on families…everyone is affected by this,” Gooden said during an interview with Audacy Mets Radio earlier this week. “So, I’ll be at the park, signing autographs, walking, as well, talking baseball…it’ll be a good day for a good cause.”
The fight against Alzheimer’s hits close to home for Gooden, who recently lost a close friend to dementia.
At age 19 in 1984, Gooden made his Major League Baseball debut with the Amazin’s and led the league in strikeouts. Two years later, he helped the Mets win the World Series.
The pitching powerhouse played in Major League Baseball for 16 seasons in a roller-coaster career with ecstatic highs but also deep lows due to addictions to cocaine and alcohol — fights, he later reflected, that taught him more about life than the pitching mound ever would.
He retired in 2000, after a stint with the New York Yankees, whom he also helped pitch to a World Series championship.
In April, the Mets retired his number: 16.
“Through everything, the suspensions, my time in jail, my bouts with cocaine and drinking, the fans have always been there for me,” Gooden told the Daily News before his number was retired. “People say I should have made the Hall of Fame. That may be true. But what I am doing now — going to schools, churches and hospitals, and speaking to kids — is more important than a plaque. I am telling kids, basically, not to do as I did. No good can come from doing drugs or drinking.”
The walk is free to attend. However, walkers are encouraged to raise funds, either individually or as part of a team, through the walk Web site at www.alzfdn.org/walk.
Walkers who fundraise at least $100 can meet Gooden and receive an autographed baseball. Those fundraising $250 or more will also get a professional photo opportunity with the former Cy Young Award winner and World Series champ.
AFA’s President and C.E.O. Charles Fuschillo said he’s excited to have Gooden on this year’s walk.
“We are grateful to Dwight Gooden for serving as our honorary Alzheimer’s Ambassador for the event and invite everyone to help us strike out Alzheimer’s,” Fuschillo said. “The funds and awareness raised will make a tremendous difference for families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related illnesses in their time of need.”
More than 6.9 million Americans, including 410,000 New Yorkers, are living with Alzheimer’s disease right now, and that number is expected to more than double by 2060, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
