As the Mets’ season came to a crushing end, one of the greatest pitchers in the club’s history sat in a Florida prison cheering them on.
Dwight Gooden, the man who helped pitch the Mets to the 1986 World Series title, has been following this year’s team from the Gainesville Correctional Institution, where he is serving a seven-month sentence for violating probation.
Gooden is scheduled to be released Nov. 9, one week before his 42nd birthday.
In an exclusive letter to The Post, he wrote about his state of mind, his plans for the future and his thoughts on this year’s Mets and Yankees.
“I am very anxious and also a little nervous,” Gooden wrote of his impending release, “because I really want to get this thing right this time more than ever.”
Gooden responded to questions posed by The Post in a two-page letter. It was mailed before the Mets were eliminated Thursday night by the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.
Gooden, who pitched for the Mets from 1984 to 1994 and for the Yankees in ’96, ’97 and 2000, has struggled with drug addiction since the ’80s. His latest run-in with the law came after he used cocaine March 12, violating probation received for fleeing a 2005 traffic stop.
With his release due, Gooden is hopeful about the future.
“My plans are to put my recovery first, no matter what,” he wrote, “because if I don’t, I’ll lose anything I put before it. Also, re-establish my relationship with my kids, get married and get back into baseball.”
Yankee slugger Gary Sheffield is Gooden’s nephew. In his letter, Gooden asked if Sheffield would be back with the team next year and commented on this year’s Bronx Bombers, even suggesting that maybe he could help coach the pitching staff.
“I can’t believe the Yankees lost,” he wrote. “No pitching depth, so hopefully this would help me get back with the Yankees.”
Gooden said he liked the balance of young players and veterans on the Mets this year and, like all Met fans, lamented the loss of injured pitchers Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez.
Gooden is also enormously grateful for the support of his New York fans.
“My message to the fans is: Thanks so much for all of your support throughout the years of my ups and downs,” he wrote.
“. . . All I can say at this time is: Thank you, thank you, thank you, and I love you all.”