KISSIMMEE — For those who’d like to know, Doc Gooden is doing just fine these days. He pitched four shutout innings against a predominantly rookie Yankee lineup yesterday afternoon, further solidifying a job as the Astros’ fifth starter when the regular season begins in April.

It will be his fifth season and third team since he sat out all of 1995, suspended for repeatedly violating baseball’s drug and alcohol aftercare program. While his on-the-field play hasn’t always lived up to his brilliant years with the Mets, Gooden, now 35, has remained clean and in baseball, something that can’t be said for Darryl Strawberry.

Gooden hasn’t spoken with his friend and former teammate since Strawberry entered a drug rehab center after being suspended for failing a drug test. While some fear being away from baseball might do Strawberry more harm than good, Gooden thinks being disconnected from the sport is exactly what he needs.

“People say they want him back in baseball. But maybe baseball is the problem,” Gooden said as he iced his right shoulder in the Astros clubhouse. “All my troubles happened during the baseball time. I had to find out what led to drugs and alcohol. [Find out] what triggered me to do that. For myself, baseball was an escape and I wasn’t really facing my problems head on. But once I was out that year, I had to face it head-on. It made me find out there were places I can’t go, certain people I can’t hang around, certain changes I had to make in my life and stick to that.”

We all know the story. Doc, with the Cy Young arm, and Darryl, with the home-run swing, owned New York baseball in the mid-1980s. They both wound up with drug problems that got them suspended from baseball. They both came back with the Yankees in 1996 and won a World Series. Gooden moved on to the Indians in 1998 and ’99 and now is back in the National League with the pitching-needy Astros.

He credits his year away from baseball for giving him the kind of perspective he thinks Strawberry might find. “The year out of baseball was probably the best thing for me because I had to do a lot of soul searching,” Gooden said. “I had to do it for myself that time. It wasn’t about doing it to get back and put on a uniform again or doing it for my wife and kids or anything like that. I had to do it for myself and totally put baseball out of it. Once I was able to put baseball aside and focus on what I needed to do to stay clean, that’s when things got better for me.”

He hopes the same approach will work for Strawberry. “Throw baseball out,” Gooden said. “If he gets himself together, maybe there’s still a chance for him to come back and play. But I think he’s got to focus on himself right now. Some people say he needs baseball. I understand what they’re saying. But if you’re in recovery and you understand the program, baseball is secondary. If you don’t take care of yourself and your problem, there won’t be no baseball. There won’t be anything else.”

As Gooden speaks, his sons Devon (5) and Darren (3) enter the clubhouse and clutch their father’s legs. He has three other children, who fulfill his life away from the ballpark. Gooden understands that some people always will view him as a athlete who did drugs. They don’t totally trust him, the way no one trusts Strawberry now.

“We put that on ourselves, once you have that fall,” Gooden said. “Even at home when I’m in the restroom, my wife is like, ‘You’ve been in there quite a bit. What’s going on?'”

He laughs telling that story. It’s a secure, confident laugh. Gooden is a lock to make the Astros rotation after signing a minor-league contract with the club last January after injuries and being yo-yoed from the rotation to the bullpen contributed to a 3-4 record and a 6.26 ERA with Cleveland.

The Astros, who beat the Yankees 6-4 yesterday, need him while Scott Elarton works his way back from off-season shoulder surgery. Elarton’s recovery is ahead of schedule, but the Astros don’t want to rush him back. A May 1 return has been targeted, which would give Gooden a month to prove he can still pitch as a starter.

“It’s a chance to come back to the National League and play with a team that has a chance to play in late October,” Gooden said of his decision to sign with the Astros.

He already has circled Aug. 28 on his calendar. That’s when the Astros open a three-game series at Shea against the Mets. Gooden says he can still hear the cheers of ’86 and uses it for motivation.

“Those are the things that drive me now,” he said, “especially when you’re trying to get going for another year. Just remembering those moments and what you once accomplished. Even now when you take the mound, you still have that voice telling you you can do that. It gives you that extra incentive to shoot for it.”