Sad

This story was a long time developing. & the end result is prison, again. F. Scott Fitzgerald made equally crappy decisions, but he was never forced into prison. Richard Nixon did far more damage, yet never spent a second in prison. This is not to make light of Mr. Gooden's faults & mistakes, it's called perspective & it's about race.

"Twenty years ago this week, Dwight Gooden landed on the cover of Time magazine. The April 7, 1986, headline read: 'Doctor K, Baseball's Hottest Pitcher.'
The story included a quote, haunting in retrospect, from legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax:
'I'd trade anyone's past for Gooden's future.'
By Wednesday, that once-promising future had crumbled into the sad spectacle of the present.
Gooden had admitted to violating probation by buying cocaine in St. Petersburg and getting high. Another in a long line of strikes against him.
'I had a relapse,' Gooden told Circuit Judge Daniel Perry just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
The judge gave the former major league pitcher a long look through his wire-rimmed glasses.
'Well, Mr. Gooden, I'm going to give you a choice,' Perry said. 'You can get me out of your life today. I'll give you a year and a day' - in state prison - 'and this thing will be over, and you can go about your merry way.'
Then, the alternative.
Gooden could remain a free man, completing his community service and taking three drug tests each week while continuing rehabilitation. But if he violated probation again, 'I'm going to put you in prison for as long as I possibly can,' Perry promised. That could mean five years or more.
Gooden, 41, listened quietly.
'It's up to you what you want to do,' Perry said. 'My advice to you: Take the year and a day, get this behind you, and I'm out of your life.'
The fallen star talked with his attorneys for a few minutes, then took the judge's advice. He would accept a stint in prison."