Three New York sports teams athletes from the 1980s and ’90s returned to Roslyn recently to participate in The Bridge Golf Outing, one designed to raise funds for the organization that helps rehabilitate and house people struggling with mental illness and substance abuse.
The event was held at The Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor and included Dwight Gooden, New York Knicks star Jon Starks and former Yankee Jim Leyritz.
The golf outing not only raises funds but also awareness, as many professional athletes, like the attending legends, have faced challenges with mental health and substance use.
The Bridge extends comprehensive healthcare, therapy, and housing to over 4,000 New Yorkers each year, primarily focusing on the community’s most vulnerable, including the elderly, disabled, and veterans.
Gooden, Leyritz and Starks played in foursomes with golfers who are bidding in an auction for the opportunity; other auction items include sports memorabilia and luxury vacations. Leyritz recorded a video for The Bridge Golf Outing as a call to action on the issues of mental health and substance use that have impacted the lives and careers of many professional athletes.
In his 16-year career, Dwight Gooden bounced back from numerous setbacks. He won World Series titles with the 1986 New York Mets and 1996 New York Yankees. He was the 1984 Rookie of the Year and the 1985 Cy Young award winner. In all, Gooden pitched 11 years with Mets. After repeated violations, he was suspended from the game for the entire 1995 season. Signed by George Steinbrenner for the 1996 season, Gooden pitched a no-hitter as the Yankees won their first World Title in 18 years.
Leyritz was also a member of that 1996 Yankees’ squad. During his nine-year career with the New York Knicks, Starks was a key member of the 1994 Eastern Conference winning team. He will always be remembered for “The Dunk.” In game two of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls, Starks was in the court’s right corner, and closely guarded by B. J. Armstrong. Patrick Ewing came to set a screen for Starks, who faked to the left, as if to exploit the screen, but then drove along the baseline and, with his left hand, dunked over both Horace Grant and Michael Jordan. To this day, Knick fans talk about that play.
—Information from The Bridge Inc.
Return Of The Nineties In Roslyn Harbor
John Starks and “The Dunk” (Courtesy of Amazon)
