Greed and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Doc Gooden, Lawrence Taylor, Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, and the Mafia in 1980s New York

On October 28, 1986, just one day after winning one of the most thrilling World Series in history, the New York Mets were feted by more than two million fans with a parade through the city. In news accounts of the event, there was a small aside, as this one in the New York Times: "Notable in his absence was the pitcher Dwight Gooden, who Mets officials later said had overslept."

No, the Mets' twenty-one-year-old phenom had not slept too late. He had not slept at all, in fact.

For Gooden, hi...