Tracy McGrady is on a baseball mission, trying to pitch for the independent Atlantic League Sugar Land Skeeters, a dream partly inspired from his days watching Dwight Gooden pitch for the Mets.
“I admired the Doc,’’ McGrady, the 6-foot-8, seven-time NBA All-Star told The Post this week. “The Doc was a bad boy, man. He was nasty.’’
No one is pulling harder for McGrady to succeed than Gooden.
“This is his dream, and I’m definitely pulling for him,’’ Gooden said. “Baseball is my passion, too. I saw some video of him throwing and he looked like he knew what he was doing. For a guy who hasn’t played baseball for so long, that showed me that he has ability, and now it’s just a matter of putting it all together. And with his height, that helps him a lot.’’
Amazingly, there is another Mets connection to this quest. McGrady spoke at length with Darryl Strawberry a couple months ago before making his final decision.
“We were in the same suite at a Rockets game and we were talking,’’ the righty McGrady said. “Straw told me to go for it, it’s a great story. This is all about the love of the game.’’
Recalled Strawberry: “I told him the whole key is to be confident in yourself and not worry about what anybody else thinks. He’s a great athlete, he can do this. He just has to work on his fundamentals. He was real excited about it.’’
This really is about McGrady’s love for baseball. Basketball was his game, he scored more than 18,000 points during his NBA career — with the Raptors, Magic, Rockets, Knicks, Pistons and Hawks — but baseball was his love from the time he was five years old.
“This might sound crazy, but I loved baseball more than I did basketball,’’ said McGrady, who lives in Houston, 20 minutes from Sugar Land. “I had a great passion for it. This is a dream I had for such a long time. My dream was to play in the major leagues. For 16 years playing in the NBA, this dream was always in the back of my mind.’’
McGrady, 34, hasn’t pitched since his junior year in high school. He was going to pitch his senior year, as well as play basketball, but he transferred to Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., which did not have a baseball team.
He has been working the past three months on his pitching. He is throwing in the mid- to upper-80s, and has a slider, forkball and change to go along with his fastball. Two years ago Scott Kazmir was pitching for the Skeeters on his MLB comeback trail.
There are other factors at work here, too.
“I want the African-American athlete to get back to playing baseball,’’ McGrady said. “I don’t think these guys think baseball is cool. Basketball is so globalized and they make it cool because of the LeBron Jameses and the Kobe Bryants being glorified. We don’t have that as baseball players. I think I can set an example — I played basketball but this sport is also cool. I can be that example.’’
“Tracy was a seven-time All-Star in basketball,’’ Gooden said. “He’s cool. This is not only about his dream but it’s about getting the message out to inner city kids, black kids to let them know that baseball is a great game, a great way to have camaraderie and stuff like that, so hat’s off to the guy.’’
Noted Strawberry, “Tracy and I were talking about that how African-American kids have gotten away from baseball. It’s so important to get those kids back in the game.’’
Skeeters manager Gary Gaetti, a 20-year major league veteran, said he believes McGrady can pull this off.
“I watched him throw [Wednesday] and he looked good,’’ Gaetti said. “He’s very smooth with his mechanics. I think he’s got plenty in there. He looks like a pitcher and he has been working with [former major league pitchers] Tom House and Scipio Spinks.’’
This week McGrady had some area minor league players stand in against him. Barrett Barnes, a first-round pick of the Pirates in 2012, came away impressed, telling KRIV-TV that McGrady’s 87-mph fastball seemed more like 91.
“He’s so tall, and his downward slope, you’re not going to see that often, the ball gets on you much faster,’’ Barnes said.
There will be comparisons made to Michael Jordan’s baseball journey, but this is much different.
“Michael had a different motivation on why he wanted to play baseball. His father wanted him to play,’’ McGrady said. “Mike gave that a shot, and it took him some time, rightfully so, to feel comfortable out there. But I think he was starting to get the hang of it before he went back to basketball. I watched that documentary on him, and at the end of it, he was doing pretty well in baseball.’’
This is no sideshow, this is about his love of baseball.
“Independent teams don’t have money to pay like the major league clubs,’’ McGrady said. “I am not in this for the money. This is strictly my love for baseball, and I am excited about this great opportunity and great challenge.’’
If he could face one batter, past or present, who would that be?
“I would love to pitch against Ken Griffey Jr.’’ he said. “And Bo Jackson, he was a bad boy, too.’’
The Skeeters catcher is Koby Clemens. He and his dad, Roger Clemens, worked with McGrady. Texans stick together.
“Rocket told me, ‘Don’t be scared to throw at the batter inside. If he’s standing right on top of the plate throw, right inside at his ass,’ ” McGrady said. “When you have the ball, you are in command on the mound.
“I’m training twice a day. This is not a gimmick,’’ McGrady said. “I have a sense for the game.
“Wherever this leads me, that’s where I’m going to take it. If I could take this to the major leagues, I would love that — even if I go out there and get crushed my first time. That would be great.
“You’re in control,’’ he said of standing on the mound with the baseball. “It’s like having that basketball in your hand and taking the final shot of the game.’’
Tracy McGrady is not about to pass up this final shot.