Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry will be inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame this summer, highlighting a class that features four key members of the 1986 World Series champions.

Popular manager Davey Johnson and general manager Frank Cashen also will be feted on Aug. 1 before the Mets host the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field.

"This group of guys, they're my friends," Gooden said on a conference call Tuesday. "We'll always be connected. I'm just very honored to go in with this group of guys. Just blown away by it."

They are the first new members of the team's Hall of Fame since Tommie Agee was chosen in 2002.

The club re-formed its Hall of Fame committee in November, after fans and media criticized the Mets for not celebrating their own history enough in their new ballpark, which debuted last year.

The Mets will open their Hall of Fame and Museum this season in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field. It will feature a plaque for every member of the team's Hall of Fame -- the 2010 class will make 25 in all.

"I am truly honored and blessed to see this day come," Strawberry said. "When I look back over it, there was no greater days than being a Met."

Gooden's dominant pitching and Strawberry's power hitting helped lead the Mets to a World Series title in 1986 and another NL East crown in '88. Drugs and legal troubles derailed their careers, but both still hold a special place in the hearts of many Mets fans.

They were big hits at a young age. Strawberry was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1983 and Gooden took the award in '84. Strawberry still owns franchise records for homers, RBIs, runs and extra-base hits, while Gooden trails only Tom Seaver in wins and strikeouts.

Doc and Darryl formed a fast friendship, and it's only fitting that they'll be honored together.

"For me, being inducted, it's like a homecoming," said Gooden, who also pitched for the Yankees, Indians, Astros and Tampa Bay. "Everything has come full circle for myself. I'm just honored and overwhelmed for this day to come."

Strawberry left the Mets as a free agent in 1991 to sign with his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers. He also played for San Francisco and the New York Yankees.

"I think the biggest thing that I regret more than anything is that I left New York and left the Mets. That was the biggest mistake I ever made," Strawberry said. "That has always been home for me."

Johnson took over a team that had endured seven straight losing seasons and immediately turned the Mets into winners. He managed them from 1984-90 and compiled the best winning percentage (.588) of any manager in franchise history.

"I'm very honored and humbled, and you guys know it's not very easy to humble me," Johnson said. "I can't believe I'm even in this group. This is a great group."

Johnson's teams gained a reputation for being cocky, partying hard -- and winning.

"It was fun being in New York on that team. There was something exciting every day," he said. "I was just the problem solver. If any problem came up, I was the one to snuff it out."

Cashen, nicknamed "The Bowtie," moved into the front office in 1980 and built those talented teams, turning the Mets from perennial losers into consistent contenders.

"As far as I'm concerned, you couldn't go in with a better group of people. Everybody knows the success we had," Cashen said.

Cashen said the stroke he had in 2002 has left him walking with a cane, but other than that he feels good. Johnson said he had left knee surgery Monday after tearing his miniscus on a golf swing.

"I feel like either a member of the '87 Mets or the 2009 Mets," Johnson said, referring to a pair of injury-riddled clubs.

All four were informed of the news by Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon last Friday.

"I told him it just doesn't make my day, it makes my year," Strawberry said.