MLB

Gooden, Strawberry forever grateful to The Boss

When Dwight Gooden heard George Steinbrenner had died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, it seemed fitting.

That was the site of Gooden’s favorite moment with Steinbrenner. In January of 2007, Gooden’s father was near death at that same hospital. Steinbrenner postponed a business meeting and spent two hours at the hospital comforting Gooden.

“That touches my heart to this day,” Gooden said.

Both Gooden and Darryl Strawberry said yesterday that Steinbrenner was like a father to them. The duo — who captured glory with the Mets — found redemption with Steinbrenner’s Yankees.

“It’s a very, very dark day over your life,” Strawberry said. “It’s a very sad day. Just what he meant to so many people and the lives he’s touched and the impact he’s had on the game of baseball and this franchise, the empire he’s built with the New York Yankees. For him to give me the opportunity to play there when everybody said ‘no’ and he said ‘yes’ just speaks louder to me why I’m still here, surviving. I didn’t quit because of him and the impact he’s had on my life.”

Steinbrenner picked Strawberry and Gooden off the baseball scrap heap in 1995 and ’96, respectively. Drug problems had ravaged their careers, but Steinbrenner gave them another chance with the Yankees.

“He was like a second dad to me,” Gooden said. “He was a great guy, a mentor of mine, a great friend. I could always call him no matter what. In ’96 he gave me a chance to continue my career in New York, where a lot of people turned their backs on me at that time. In 2001, when I retired, he gave me a job with the Yankees. He was always in my corner.”

Steinbrenner would tell the players about his own problems with his suspensions from baseball and drive home the lesson that they could not give up.

They also saw the man who was driven to win championships.

“A lot of people question who he was because he was seen as always angry, but the man was all about winning,” Strawberry said. “I respect that. That’s all I ever wanted to do in life was be a winner. His legacy is as a winner.”

One of Gooden’s favorite stories about Steinbrenner was in 1996 after he first signed with the Yankees. He began the season 0-3. One night while leaving Yankee Stadium with his wife at the time, he saw Steinbrenner. They walked over and Gooden introduced his wife.

“He said, ‘When are you going to win a [bleeping] game?’ ” Gooden said. “He didn’t care too much about meeting her.”

While working for the Yankees, Gooden saw the charitable side of Steinbrenner, especially around their shared hometown of Tampa.

“I will definitely miss him,” Gooden said. “He’ll live on forever, especially in my heart.”

brian.costello@nypost.com