By ROB SULLIVAN Dwight Gooden should be running for office. During Sundays appearance at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, the Doc worked the crowd at the exclusive Harbor Club like an old pro, slapping fans on the back, shaking hands, posing for pictures and even yukking it up with reporters. Gooden also threw out the games first pitch and probably should have stuck around to throw a few innings as Bluefish pitching was hammered in an 8-5 loss to the Lancaster Barnstormers. The event was scheduled as a fundraiser for the Wakeman Boys and Girls Clubs of Fairfield and Bridgeport, and was a natural for Gooden who said that his calling in life is to work with young people. In fact, Gooden works with children a great deal in his capacity as a public relations professional for both the Yankees and the Mets. Working with kids is my true passion, but I still have a great passion for baseball, said the 1984 National League Rookie of the Year. I watch baseball all the time. You can easily find me at Yankee stadium or Citi Field and I watch games on TV all the time. And Im always reading Baseball Weekly. Dave Blagys, President and CEO of Wakeman Boys and Girls Club, recalled that he could never think of Doc Gooden without thinking about Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg where the Mets used to hold spring training. I met you at Al Lang Stadium, Blagys told Gooden. But I can never stop thinking about Tommy Wall, the old singing hot dog vendor. His slogan was Dont be a meanie, buy a weenie. I thought his singing may have distracted you, but I guess it didnt. Gooden laughed but said he always loved Tommy Walls singing. The former pitching great told the 40+ people in attendance that his favorite places to pitch were Shea Stadium, the old Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium. He said his favorite battery mate was easily Gary Carter, and that the two toughest hitters against him were Chili Davis and Wayne Krenchicki. Gooden also shared his favorite moment in baseball with the crowd. That would be my no-hitter that I threw at Yankee Stadium and not just because it was a no-hitter, he explained. My Dad was having open heart surgery the next day and he watched that game in the hospital. Well, he never made it out of the hospital so that was the last game he ever saw me pitch. Gooden also told how Houston Astros pitcher Mike Scott, a long time New York Met nemesis, got away with doctoring the baseball for so many years although everyone in the game knew he was throwing illegal pitches. It was Alan Ashby, said Gooden, referring to the Astros catcher. Hed scuff the ball on his shin guard and throw it back to Scott. They searched Mike Scott all the time and never found anything because he never had anything. You still have to know what youre doing, though. I tried throwing with a scuffed ball and I couldnt get it to do anything. Sometimes a chain of events can lead to unusual things happening and on Monday, a chain of events led to Bluefish catcher J.R. Towles returning to a major league organization. On Sunday, Oakland As starting catcher John Jaso suffered a concussion and was placed on the disabled list. Oakland then traded to Texas for catcher Geovany Soto, who was called up by the Athletics. This left a need for catching in the Rangers organization which signed Towles and assigned him to Triple A Rock Ridge. Towles is now a step away from a return to the majors.
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