Don't forget those runners
Chris Wright

mysportsguru.com

“Gentlemen, start your Nikes.” 

Okay, so Dwight Gooden never actually said that to base runners leading off first base, but the right-hander admits he often felt like the usher waving the green flag to start the race.

“Early in my career, it was like a track meet when I pitched,” Gooden says. “I just kicked and fired. I didn’t worry too much about the runners. I got to the majors real early (age 19) and never really had a chance to work on that part of my game.”

Consequently, runners worked him over, much like any power pitcher who relies on a high leg kick to generate speed for his fastball. He experimented with the quicker slide step delivery to home but found that counterproductive: He’d rather make a runner sprint 75 feet to second than make a mistake and have two players jog around the bases. 

 Power pitchers typically have moves easier to read than Dr. Seuss. 

“With a runner on, there are two things you have to worry about: the runner and making a quality pitch, ” he says. “I worry about the runner 40 percent and the hitter 60 percent. I concentrate more on the hitter. You can’t afford to give up a big hit by taking the hitter for granted and making a mistake. That has happened a lot.”

Power pitchers typically have moves easier to read than Dr. Seuss. Gooden was no different. Yet it wasn’t a pitching coach who helped the good Doctor find a remedy. It was Vince Coleman, then the premier base stealer in the National League, who joined the Mets—and Gooden—in 1991.

And while Gooden’s move might not scare away thieves as effectively as The Club—in 1999 runners stole 27 bases off him—at least now he’s remembering to take the key out of the ignition.

“Vince told me what base runners were looking for,” Gooden says. “He said the biggest thing was that I needed to vary my time to the plate. I was too consistent: one-one thousand, two-one thousand and then I’d go to the plate. Runners would see that and there would be nothing different. Then they’d go.”

 "With a runner on, there are two things you have to worry about: the runner and making a quality pitch." 

They’re still going, but back then, when he was striking out nine batters a game and had a microscopic ERA, Gooden could afford to let them run. Now he realizes the value of keeping opponents close to the bag—perhaps preventing a runner scoring from first on a double to the gap—and says few things excite him as much as catching a runner straying too far.

“Some runners just want to see your best move,” Gooden says. “So instead, you give them a courtesy throw over. If you know all they want to do is try to get a read on your move, then you give him one at 50 percent. Then you try to deke them.

“When you get one, oh yeah, you like that. It’s like a free out.” 

Not to mention a yellow caution flag to the next runner who gets on.