Sixteen players have worn No. 16 for the Mets since Dwight Gooden’s tenure ended, but Travis Jankowski in 2022 will be the last, because, come Sunday, that No. 16 will be retired for Doc.
And as he told Evan and Tiki on Friday, the only reason he even got 16 is because of a guy who played all of 21 games of professional baseball.
“In high school, I wore Nos. 5, 9, and 10; those are my favorite numbers, but when I got drafted, I went to Kingsport for rookie ball, and there was a guy there named Russ Orrick who I’ll never forget – he had been in rookie ball for like three years and he goes, ‘I don't care if you’re a bonus baby or not, you're not getting my number,” Doc said. “I asked the equipment manager who had 10 and he said Orrick, and somebody had 5, so I said, ‘give me the closest number you have to 10 besides 13,’ because I always thought 13 was a bad luck number. He gave me 16.”
The next year in Lynchburg 16 was available again, so Doc took it, and the rest is history…sort of.
“I said, well, 16 is my number now, and fast forward to 1984, I go to spring training as a non-roster player, and I went number 64 with no expectations of making the club,” Doc said. “I made the team only because of Davey Johnson, and I remember when I made the team, our general manager, Frank Cashen, told me if I have any problems with anybody or I need anything, to come to him. So we get to Shea Stadium to work out and in my locker is a jersey hanging up with my name on the back and it's got number 35. So I go to Charlie Samuels’ office, the equipment manager, and I asked for No. 16, and he was like, ‘get out of here, kid, just be happy you made the team. So I got out of his office and I ran up to Frank Cashen's office and said I want number 16, nobody has it but Charlie won't give it to me, and Frank came in there made Charlie give me 16 – but I found out later the reason Charlie didn't want to give me 16 because he was good friends with Lee Mazzilli, who was the last guy that was 16 before me.”
When Mazzilli returned in 1986, Doc offered 16 back to Mazz, but as Doc tells it, ‘he said no, that's your number now, you enjoy it’ – and as Mazzilli wore No. 13, Gooden stayed with his number, and together, they won it all.
“It was the days where you offered it back to him, but you're hoping he says no,” Gooden said. “But 35 didn’t look right.”
Mets fans of a certain age will always equate 16 with Doc, even as such luminaries as David Cone wore it after Gooden, but there was one he can laugh about, and one he’s proud to have shared it with.
“No knock against anybody, but last year I was doing an autograph signing at the American Dream Mall, and I go by the sporting goods store and it's got a Hideo Nomo No. 16 Mets jersey hanging up,” Gooden laughed. “You’re like, wow, that, that kind of hurt a little bit. But I mean, I felt good when like Derek Bell, when he was there, he wore 16. I was on the Yankees, and Derek, we grew up in Tampa together. He's the same age as my nephew, Gary Sheffield, and so Derek Bell's mother was good friends with my sister. When Derek went to the Mets, he actually called me and asked me if I minded if he wore 16. Not that he had to ask, but that made me feel pretty good that he would take the time out to do that.”