Extremely iconic but also intensely troubled 1980s New York Mets cornerstones Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden are the subjects of the very next ESPN 30 for 30 film, entitled “Doc & Darryl.” Several months ago, when Bristol sent out their promotional snippets describing the upcoming season of 30 for 30, I was immediately compelled to this edition. I had a feeling it would be the best film of the season, and the greatest baseball documentary of the entire series.
While it’s far from perfect, I was definitely right on both counts. The ’90s nostalgia craze 30 for 30s are good, but nothing beats the overzealous ’80s for subject matter; think Pony Exce$$ for Major League Baseball with this one.
And move over “Catching Hell,” as there’s a new ace of the baseball 30 for 30 pitching staff.
First, the gist of it and important FYIs about “Doc & Darryl,” the blockquoted text is from the ESPN release.
“Doc & Darryl,” premiering Thursday, July 14, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Directors Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio explore the lives and careers of former New York Mets superstars, the young flame thrower, Dwight “Doc” Gooden and feared power hitter Darryl Strawberry.
When they were good, they were great; the biggest stars on a team that captured the imagination of New York City and won the 1986 World Series. But when life spiraled out of control for both men, Gooden and Strawberry inadvertently broke the hearts of Mets fans. “They were going to be our guys for years,” laments Jon Stewart in this evocative yet searing 30 for 30 documentary.
Reunited at a diner in Queens, the pitcher and the power hitter look back on the glory days of the mid-80s and the harrowing nights that turned them from surefire Hall of Famers into prisoners of their own addictions. Listening to Doc talk about missing the World Series parade down the Canyon of Heroes, or Darryl counseling others at his ministry, you can only wish that these two very different men had not followed the same destructive path.
You can also watch a very short promotional trailer for the film at this link. HBO Real Sports did a profile of Darryl Strawberry a couple years ago and it conveyed how today The Straw is all about what Karl Marx called “the opiate of the masses,” instead of narcotic opiates, as he runs his own ministry and addiction treatment center. Here’s an excerpt from the mission statement on the Darryl Strawberry Ministries website.
Pastors’ Darryl & Tracy Strawberry are driven to see the multitudes saved and set free through the grace and power of Jesus Christ. They lived defeated lives, were separated from God, for many years. Addictions, abuse, divorces, cancer, jail-time, and other issues are just a few things that plagued their lives. In 2003, they had lost it all! But God’s plan was not to be undone.
Darryl and Tracy found true redemption and restoration in Jesus Christ. Today, they share their story as a powerful illustration of the true power of God, and His redeeming love.
Strawberry’s narrative is one that has a complete story arc. If you’ve followed him in the news, you’ll know that he has stayed out of legal trouble for the past 13 years. This documentary chronicles the Straw’s path through life and conveys the redemption phase that he’s entered now. He seems to be doing just fine. There’s closure, at least for the film’s sake.
We don’t reach that climax with Gooden, not in this film. With addiction, everything is precarious, and progress can become regress on the turn of a dime. We don’t know what Doc is doing these days, how he’s making ends meet or where he’s truly at on his path, given how Gooden has still been on legal probation for all of the 2010s. We just know that although Strawberry and Gooden arrived to the New York Mets just one year apart, they’re at very different stages of their individual life journeys right now, and who knows, you could easily remake this film in a decade and have a totally different ending for one, if not both of these superstars.
It’s a back to basics kind of documentary; just two guys hanging out, trading war stories, reminiscing about days gone by. No doubt the ’86 World Championship team is the highlight. As the title of the iconic Jeff Pearlman book said “the bad guys won,” (and then it’s approximately 4000 word subtitle).
If there’s one talking head who’s missing from this doc it’s Pearlman, and if there’s one who stands out above the rest, it’s Stewart.
“The stories that these guys have, even Caligula is over in the corner like “c’mon guys, wow” is the line of the film, and it’s delivered by Stewart in reference to that team. The ’86 Mets are also described as marauders from the middle ages, who came to take your women, take over your bars at night. kick your ass on the field, and then do it again the very next day, and keep on doing it, city to city the whole year. That team thrived on being hated, and they had 4 or 5 bench clearing brawls that season to verify their penchant for inciting conflict.
Well, the over-the-top sex, drugs, and rock n roll of that team seems fun to talk and read about, “Doc & Darryl” also shows you the very human cost here. It’s real life, and it’s quite dark and disturbing. It’s not a fun cartoon.
Straw says in the film that the first time he met Doc Gooden was he was passed out drunk. Really, this film isn’t as much about sex, drugs and baseball as it is about drinking, drugs and more drugs. Or drinks, drugs and legal issues.
It’s a film about substance abuse and the painful grip of addiction.
It delves into the world of baseball being dominated by greenies, metamphetamines, so much so that to be playing without taking “greenies” is said to be “playing naked.” It reminds us how while the ’90s was the steroid era, the ’80s was the speed era, and we’re not talking about the ability to steal bases and shag fly balls.
Doc & Darryl may have some feel good moments (they would have had much more if the very under-utilized Bill Maher had more screen time), but it is anything but a summer feel-good movie. It’s one that you need to see, but prepared to feel your heart get heavier as you proceed in watching it.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram