Happy Birthday, Doc!

By Jay Horwitz

I remember the scene like it was yesterday. Doc was 19 years old back then and was sitting in Davey Johnson’s office at Huggins Stengel Field in St. Petersburg, FL, it was late March of 1984.

Davey asked me to bring Dwight in for a talk. Doc was nervous when he walked in to sit down. He told me he thought he was being sent back to the minors for another of season.

The news was much better. Davey told Doc to go home and pack because he made the team and the bus for the airport and New York leaves in two hours.

Tears ran down Doc’s face. He asked for the phone and called his mother Ella and father Dan to give them the good news. Doc’s parents meant so much to him and still do.

A Rookie of the Yea Award, The K Korner and the Cy Young Award would soon follow.

Doc spends much of his time now working with kids and talking about the evils of drugs.

Happy Birthday today, Dwight. Proud to have been your friend for over 40 years.