Gooden topped the league in all three categories and was unanimously selected as the NL Cy Young Award winner. With one of the most dominant seasons ever recorded in Major League Baseball history, he became the youngest player to ever earn the top prize for a pitcher. The New York Mets won the division title with a 93-69 record, but they were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the season when their opponent, the Atlanta Braves, beat them handily. Dwight John Gooden was born on January 4th, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised by his mother after his father died when he was young. His mother had several boyfriends who also lived in the house with them, but none of them stayed long enough for Gooden's mother to get married. She had another son when she was 16 years old and then she got married to a man named Fred Goodman. They had a daughter together named Janice. When Gooden was 11 years old, his mother decided to move her family to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, so she could be near her sister. There, he met other baseball players and this inspired him to play baseball himself. During this time, his mother bought a house in Tampa where Gooden would attend high school. He went to Tampa Bay High School where he played baseball for the school team.