I just heard on the news that Dwight Gooden is in trouble again after being pulled over by police because of driving erratically and refusing to get out of the car and take a field sobriety test. After giving cops his license, he then fled in his car. The police decided not to engage in a chase because they felt it would have put others at risk.

The story sounds a bit fishy to me. I know these high speed chases put citizens at risk, but allowing someone they believe is drunk or high isn't exactly keeping the public safe. I guess it's less dangerous than a chase and since these police cars almost all have video cameras and they have his license, they can apprehend him later.

The item about Gooden in the Phila. Daily News ended with this:

Maybe if one of them married Whitney Houston... eek!

Or Anna Nicole! And maybe David Kelley can produce it!

I suppose Dwight fled because he didn't want Mr. Policeman to see that white stuff he probably had in his glove compartment.

What a freakin loser! And to think, I use to like this guy. I can no longer forgive people like him. When will it ever end...

Even the moron, Gary Sheffield, weighed in by saying, "I've done pretty much everything you could possibly do," Sheffield said Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. "It just comes to a point where you have to let him go through what he's got to go through. Sometimes, it is God's plan for us to back off and let him do it, because the family has tried everything."

At least he was smart enough to turn himself in. Now he'll be held without bail. He'll sit in jail (or a secure substance-abuse treatment center, if a bed becomes available) until a hearing on October 25th.

He obviously has a serious addiction problem. I saw him on TV last night, and he looked wizened and ill. I wonder if he's using crack or meth; if so, he really needs rehab--the real thing, not the pass-right-through kind--and quickly. It's horrible to know that his son also has similar problems.

I always ask, how could someone with so much promise end up like this? Gooden could have written his ticket to the Hall of Fame; from 1984-1990 he was easily one of the best pitchers in baseball, but I guess the success, the pressure of others' expectations, and drugs brought him down, as they did Darryl Strawberry. They are a tragic pair. Both of them.

Part of me does feel bad for Dwight Gooden, as I do for any addict. Part of me also gets furious that someone with every physical advantage, and who's been given so many chances, still can't get it together. The picture of him being arraigned was tragic: in leg irons, looking old, painfully thin and haggard. Standing by his side, as I'm sure she's done many times, was his mother, looking sad and tired, but completely dignified. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way for Dwight......

Doc was released from prison today. Hopefully he can stay out of trouble. He was really missed at the '86 Mets reunion this summer.