So tell me how good RA Dickey is... because he's getting fucking hammered all over the park
Robert Allen "R.A." Dickey (born October 29, 1974) is an American baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins and New York Mets.
After limited success in the majors as a conventional starting pitcher, he learned to throw a knuckleball. As of the 2012 season, Dickey is the only active player in the majors who uses the knuckleball as his primary pitch. In 2012, Dickey was selected to his first career All-Star Game, won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award and became the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young Award.
Contents [hide]
1 High School
2 College
3 Professional career
3.1 1996–2006: Texas Rangers
3.1.1 Transition to the knuckleball
3.2 2007: Milwaukee Brewers
3.3 2007–2009: Minnesota Twins & Seattle Mariners
3.4 2010–2012: New York Mets
3.4.1 2012: Cy Young Award season
3.5 Toronto Blue Jays
4 Pitching style
5 International career
6 Awards, honors, and notable achievements
7 Personal life
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
[edit]High School
Dickey attended Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee.
[edit]College
Dickey attended the University of Tennessee, where he played college baseball for the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team in the Southeastern Conference. He majored in English literature at Tennessee, where he had a 3.35 GPA and was named Academic All-American.[1] He was also named Academic All-SEC.[2]
[edit]Professional career
[edit]1996–2006: Texas Rangers
Dickey was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round (18th overall) of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. After being drafted by the Rangers, Dickey was initially offered a signing bonus of $810,000, before a Rangers team physician saw Dickey's throwing (right) arm hanging oddly in a picture. The Rangers subsequently did further evaluation of Dickey, leading to the discovery of a missing ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow joint, and reduced their offer to $75,000.[3][4] Dickey has been quoted as saying, "Doctors look at me and say I shouldn't be able to turn a doorknob without feeling pain,"[3] making his ability to pitch somewhat remarkable.
Dickey debuted with the Rangers in 2001. "His stuff was dime-a-dozen, though: a high-80's fastball, an occasional fringy breaking ball, and a forkball he dubbed 'The Thing.'"[4] The start of the 2004 season was thought to be a turning point in Dickey's career, as he managed to compile a 4–1 record through his first five starts. This hot streak was short-lived however, and he ended up finishing the season a disappointing 6–7 with a 5.61 ERA.[5]
[edit]Transition to the knuckleball
Throughout his career, Dickey did not know that his "forkball" pitch was actually a hard knuckleball, but by 2005, Dickey had realized that the best way to extend his career was to perfect the pitch.[3] At the beginning of the 2006 season, the Rangers gave Dickey a chance to try out his knuckleball at the major league level by naming him the 5th starter. However, after giving up 6 home runs in his first start on April 6, tying the modern era baseball record with another knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, he was demoted to the Rangers' Triple-A minor league affiliate, the Oklahoma RedHawks.
[edit]2007: Milwaukee Brewers
On January 13, 2007, he signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers and spent the 2007 season with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. After finishing the season with a 12–6 record and a 3.80 ERA, Dickey was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year.[6]
[edit]2007–2009: Minnesota Twins & Seattle Mariners
Dickey pitching for the Seattle Mariners in 2008
Dickey became a minor league free agent after the season. On November 28, 2007, he signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins that included an invitation to spring training, but was claimed in the Rule 5 Draft by the Seattle Mariners on December 6, 2007.
On March 29, 2008, the Mariners traded minor league catcher Jair Fernandez to the Twins to retain the rights for Dickey and initially optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma, recalling him to the major league club on April 14.[7]
On August 17, 2008, Dickey tied the record for most wild pitches in an inning, with four. This came against the Minnesota Twins in the fifth inning. He joins four others, including Hall of Famers Walter Johnson and Phil Niekro, who have accomplished this feat.[citation needed]
In 2008, he led the majors in games started with fewer than five days of rest, with six.[8]
He became a free agent after the season after refusing a minor league assignment. On December 23, 2008, Dickey signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Minnesota Twins.[9] He would go on to pitch in 35 games for the Twins in 2009.
[edit]2010–2012: New York Mets
On January 5, 2010, Dickey signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets, receiving an invitation to spring training.[10] He was assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons to begin the season. While playing for the Bisons, Dickey threw a one-hitter on April 29. He gave up a single to the first batter, and then retired the next twenty-seven in a row.[citation needed]
On May 19, 2010, the New York Mets purchased Dickey's contract from the Buffalo Bisons, and he made his first appearance as a Met against the Washington Nationals on the same day. In his debut for the Mets, Dickey pitched well, going six innings, giving up five hits, two earned runs, and striking out two, but received a no-decision. His next start, May 25 against the Philadelphia Phillies, he went six innings again, giving up 9 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7 in an 8–0 shutout for his first victory as a Met. On August 13, 2010, Dickey threw a complete game one-hit shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies — the only hit being a single surrendered to Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels.[11] Dickey finished the 2010 season with a very strong ERA of 2.84, which was 7th best in the National League and 10th in all of baseball, and served as a rare bright spot on an otherwise disappointing season for the Mets.[12] In 2010, Dickey posted career highs in Games Started (26), wins (11), complete games (2), innings pitched (174.1), strikeouts (104), ERA (2.84), WHIP (1.19), and BAA (.252).
Dickey in his Mets debut
On January 29, 2011, Dickey agreed to a two-year contract with the Mets. Under the agreement, Dickey received a $1 million signing bonus, $2.25 million in 2011, and $4.25 million in 2012. In addition, the Mets have a $5 million option for 2013 with a $300,000 buyout.[13] During the 2011 season, Dickey posted career bests in game starts (32), innings pitched (208 ⅔) and strikeouts (134). He finished the year with a record of only 8–13, despite an impressive 3.28 ERA that was 12th best in the National League.[14]
[edit]2012: Cy Young Award season
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Dickey's performance in the first half of 2012 drew comparisons to some of the most dominant pitching streaks of the last 50 years.[15] Mets Manager Terry Collins remarked, "I've never seen anything like this. Never. I've seen some dominant pitching, but nothing like what he's going through right now."[16] Hall of Fame Pitcher and fellow knuckleballer Phil Niekro commented on Dickey, "I had a few streaks, but nothing like he’s going through. I don’t know if any other knuckleballer has ever been on a hot streak like he has been. He is just dynamite right now."[17]
On May 22, 2012, Dickey struck out 11 batters in a 3–2 win against the Pirates.[18] In his next start on May 27, Dickey pitched 7 ⅓ innings against the San Diego Padres and recorded 10 strikeouts.[19] This was the first time in his career that he recorded double-digit strikeouts in back-to-back games and he became the first Mets pitcher to do so since Pedro Martinez in 2006. Over the two games, Dickey allowed one run in 14 ⅓ innings for an ERA of 0.63 and for this performance he was named National League Player of the Week for the week ending May 27, 2012.[20] Then on June 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals, Dickey threw a seven-hit complete game shutout.[21] On the road against the Nationals on June 7, Dickey went another 7 ⅓ scoreless innings in recording his ninth win of the season.[22] During his next outing on June 13, Dickey allowed only one hit, struck out a career-high 12 batters, and walked none, facing only 29 total batters to lead the Mets to a a 9–1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The only hit was an infield single on a ball that third baseman David Wright failed to field cleanly. The New York Mets formally appealed the official scorekeeping of the only hit allowed to be changed to an error on Wright, but MLB denied the appeal.[23] By keeping the shutout alive into the ninth inning before giving up an unearned run (on a throwing error, two passed balls, and an RBI groundout), Dickey set a new Mets franchise record of 32 ⅔ consecutive scoreless innings, besting Jerry Koosman's 31 ⅔ in 1973. The win was Dickey's eighth consecutive victory, and improved his record to 10–1 over only 13 starts, with a 2.20 ERA. Dickey was the first pitcher in the major leagues to reach 10 wins during 2012.[24] In his last five games, Dickey had struck out 50, given up three walks, and allowed only one earned run. On June 18, 2012, Dickey pitched a complete game one-hit shutout against the Orioles to improve his record to 11–1. He became the first pitcher since 1988 to throw two consecutive one-hitters (Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays), and the first in the NL to do so since 1944 (Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves). He won for the sixth consecutive start and ninth straight decision overall, and set yet another new career high with 13 strikeouts.[25] He also became only the 3rd pitcher (Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan (twice)) in MLB history to have two complete game one-hitters with 12 or more strikeouts in one season, and is the only pitcher to do it in back-to-back starts.
On June 24, 2012, Dickey's streak of consecutive scoreless innings without an earned run came to an end at home in a game against the New York Yankees. Dickey's record was snapped at 44 ⅓ innings without an earned run. On July 1, 2012, Dickey was named to the National League All-Star Team, the first in his career. He was also honored with being the National League Pitcher of the Month after going 5–0 with a 0.93 ERA for the month of June.[26] After the All-Star break the Mets lost 5 straight games to extend their losing streak to six, their worst stretch thus far this season. Then on July 19 Dickey helped defeat the Nationals and snap the Mets losing streak.[27] The win was his 13th of the season and with it he became the first NL pitcher to reach 13 wins.[27] On August 9, Dickey tossed his NL-best fourth complete game of the season and allowed just one run while striking out 10 for his sixth double-digit strikeout game of the year. On August 31, Dickey achieved his 17th win of the season by pitching a five-hit complete game shutout, the third of his year. The win marked the first time a Met pitcher had reached 17 wins since Al Leiter in 1998.[28]
On September 27, 2012, Dickey won his 20th game of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5. Dickey tied his career high with 13 strikeouts in the game.[29] In his 2012 season, Dickey set new career bests in games started (33), wins (20), complete games (5), shutouts (3), innings pitched (233.2), strikeouts (230), ERA (2.73), WHIP (1.05), and BAA (.226).
On October 18, 2012, Dickey had abdominal surgery to repair a core muscle injury and is expected to be ready for spring training.[30]
On November 14, 2012, Dickey won the NL Cy Young Award, beating out Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. He became first knuckleballer in MLB history to win the award.[31] He also became the third Met pitcher to win the award, joining Tom Seaver (1969, 1973 and 1975) and Dwight Gooden (1985).
[edit]Toronto Blue Jays
On December 16, 2012, the Mets agreed to trade Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays (along with Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas) in exchange for Travis d'Arnaud, John Buck, Noah Syndergaard and Wuilmer Becerra, contingent on him agreeing to a contract extension with the Blue Jays.[32] The two sides agreed on December 17 to a two-year, $25 million extension with a club option for a third year in 2016 at $12 million, the deal became official once he passed his physical.[33][34] On February 5, 2013, manager John Gibbons said Dickey would be the opening day starter for the Blue Jays.[35] Dickey lost his first start for his new team, giving up four runs and five hits in six innings in a loss to the Cleveland Indians.
[edit]Pitching style
Dickey, alone among active pitchers, relies primarily on the knuckleball. He uses the pitch around 80% of the time. His repertoire is rounded out by two-seam and four-seam fastballs (82–85 mph) and a rare changeup (76–78 mph).[36] Dickey's knuckleball comes in two forms — a "slow" knuckler in the low-to-mid 70s that has been clocked as low as 54 mph, and a "fast" one in the upper 70s, sometimes reaching as fast as 83 mph. Dickey tends to use the slow knuckleball when he is behind in the count, using the fast one when he is ahead.[37] However, he resorts to a fastball in most 3–0 and 3–1 counts.[36]
On June 20, 2012, it was reported that Dickey was helping coach an 18-year-old knuckleball pitcher from Long Island, helping him become a walk-on pitcher for the University of Maryland Terrapins.[38][39]
[edit]International career
Dickey was a member of the 1996 US Olympic Baseball team that won a bronze medal in Atlanta. Dickey started two games, recording wins in both.[40] 17 years later, Dickey once again pitched for Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He started two games, going 0–1 with a 5.00 ERA.
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