Welcome Back, Dwight Gooden

After seven months in jail — in a jail in Florida, no less — fallen phenom Dwight Gooden is scheduled to be released today. A time has not been announced yet. Gooden's jail time was intriguing because he could have chosen three years probation but decided not to, because another drug offense during that probation would have put him away for five years.

We wish Gooden good luck with his re-entry into society — might we suggest getting together with an old friend and telling some old war stories? — and hope he can stay clean, if just so our memories of him aren't diminished even further than they already have been. Gooden, by the way, is 41 years old, a figure that astonished us; he's actually younger than Kenny Rogers.

Gooden Ready For Release From Prison Thursday [USA Today] Life Lessons With Darryl Strawberry [Deadspin]