K Korner Founder Has Passed
By Jay Horwitz
Dwight Gooden was sad to hear about the passing of Dennis Scalzitti. You might wonder: Who is Dennis Scalzitti?
Well, in the 1980’s, Dennis and his good friend Bob Belle founded the K Korner in left field at Shea Stadium. They would post a K card for every strikeout Doc made, and there were certainly plenty of cards. Their Korner became a must-see for fans every time Dwight pitched.
At first, Doc told me he never paid any attention to the Korner.
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“I would tell people I only cared about winning games and not strikeouts,” he said to me with a smile. “I didn’t want anyone to think I wasn’t properly focused.”
But that wasn’t the truth. He really enjoyed the Ks as they went up.
“The Korner kind of motivated me,” Doc added with a smile. “If the board said I had eight strikeouts, I tried extra hard to get to 10. The crowd really got into it, that’s for sure.”
Gooden and Scalzitti met many years ago at Shea Stadium.
“What Dennis did for me was a big part of my career,” Gooden explained. “I owe him a lot. My condolences to his family.”
