R. A. Dickey

R. A. Dickey
New York Mets – No. 43
Starting Pitcher
Born: October 29, 1974 (1974-10-29) Nashville, Tennessee
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 22, 2001 for the Texas Rangers
Career statistics (through 2011)
Win-Loss	41-50
Earned run average	4.34
Strikeouts	509
Teams
Texas Rangers (2001, 2003–2006) Seattle Mariners (2008) Minnesota Twins (2009) New York Mets (2010–present)

Robert Allen "R. A." Dickey (born October 29, 1974 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Mets. He was previously with the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. After having limited success in the majors as a conventional starting pitcher, Dickey has since made the transition to becoming a knuckleball pitcher. He has the notable distinction of being the only remaining active knuckleball pitcher in MLB.

College

Dickey majored in English literature at the University of Tennessee, where he had a 3.35 GPA and was named Academic All-American. He was also named Academic All-Southeastern Conference.

Professional career

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 arm hanging oddly in a picture. The Rangers subsequently did further evaluation of Dickey, leading to the discovery of a missing ulnar collateral ligament, and reduced their offer to $75,000. Dickey has been quoted as saying "Doctors look at me and say I shouldn’t be able to turn a doorknob without feeling pain," 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.'" 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.

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 discovered that the best way to extend his career was to perfect the pitch. 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.

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.

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.

On August 17, 2008, Dickey tied the record for most wild pitches in an inning, with 4. This came against the Minnesota Twins in the 5th inning. He joins four others including Hall of Famers Walter Johnson and Phil Niekro among others who have accomplished this feat. He became a free agent after the season after refusing a minor league assignment.

In 2008, he led the majors in games started with fewer than four days of rest, with six.

On December 23, 2008, Dickey signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Minnesota Twins. He would go on to pitch in 35 games for the Twins that season.

2010—present: New York Mets

On January 5, 2010, Dickey signed with the New York Mets to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. 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.

On May 19, 2010, the New York Mets purchased Dickey's contract from the Buffalo Bisons, and 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 a full 6 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 6 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. On September 8, 2010, Dickey recorded his tenth win, marking the first time that he has reached double digit wins in his major league career. He 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. In 2010, Dickey had a career year and recorded 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).

On January 29, 2011, Dickey agreed to a 2 year contract with the Mets. Under the agreement, Dickey will receive a 1 million dollar 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. [1]

In the 2011 season, Dickey followed his breakout season with another solid year posting career bests in game starts (32), Innings Pitched (208.2) and strikeouts (134). He finished the year with a record of only 8-13, despite his impressive 3.28 ERA that was 12th best in the National League.

Career Stats

(Source: Yahoo Sports)

Pitching

Year       Team    G       GS      W       L       SV      BS      HLD     CG      SHO     IP      H       R       ER      HR      BB      K       ERA     WHIP    BAA 
2001    TEX     4       0       0       1       0       0       0       0       0       12.0    13      9       9       3       7       4       6.75    1.67    .283 
2003    TEX     38      13      9       8       1       0       3       1       1       116.2   135     68      66      16      38      94      5.09    1.48    .292 
2004    TEX     25      15      6       7       1       0       0       0       0       104.1   136     77      65      17      33      57      5.61    1.62    .311 
2005    TEX     9       4       1       2       0       0       0       0       0       29.2    29      23      22      4       17      15      6.67    1.55    .254 
2006    TEX     1       1       0       1       0       0       0       0       0       3.1     8       7       7       6       1       1       18.90   2.70    .471 
2008    SEA     32      14      5       8       0       0       0       0       0       112.1   124     65      65      15      51      58      5.21    1.56    .284 
2009    MIN     35      1       1       1       0       0       1       0       0       64.1    74      34      33      8       30      42      4.62    1.62    .290 
2010    NYM     27      26      11      9       0       0       1       2       1       174.1   165     62      55      13      42      104     2.84    1.19    .251
2011    NYM     33      32      8       13      0       0       1       1       0       208.2   202     85      76      18      54      134     3.28    1.23    .256 
Career          204     106     41      50      2       0       6       4       2       825.2   886     430     398     100     273     509     4.34    1.40    .276     

Batting

Year       Team    G       AB      R       H       2B      3B      HR      RBI     BB      K       SB      CS      AVG             OBP     SLG     OPS      
2001    TEX     4       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       N/A             N/A     N/A     N/A      
2003    TEX     38      1       0       1       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       1.000           1.000   1.000   2.000    
2004    TEX     25      0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       N/A             N/A     N/A     N/A      
2008    SEA     2       4       1       1       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       .250            .250    .250    .500     
2009    MIN     4       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       N/A             N/A     N/A     N/A      
2010    NYM     25      51      7       13      2       0       0       5       3       8       0       0       .255            .296    .294    .590     
2011    NYM     31      59      0       8       0       0       0       2       1       11      0       0       .136            .150    .136    .286     
Career          129     115     8       23      2       0       0       7       4       19      0       0       .200            .227    .217    .444     

Fielding
Year    Team    POS     G       GS      INN             PO      TC      A       E       DP      FPCT     
2001    TEX     P       4       0       12              1       2       1       0       0       1.000    
2003    TEX     P       38      13      116             5       19      14      0       1       1.000    
2004    TEX     P       25      15      104             7       31      22      2       0       .935     
2005    TEX     P       9       4       29              1       10      9       0       1       1.000    
2006    TEX     P       1       1       3               0       0       0       0       0       N/A      
2008    SEA     P       32      14      112             6       29      23      0       1       1.000    
2009    MIN     P       35      1       64              6       15      8       1       0       .933     
2010    NYM     P       27      26      174             17      61      44      0       4       1.000    
2011    NYM     P       33      32      208             7       67      58      2       5       .970     
Total                   204     106     825             50      234     179     5       12      .979    

International career

Medal record
Competitor for United States
Men's Baseball
Summer Olympics
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Team

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.

Personal

Dickey has a wife named Anne, with whom he has two daughters, Maria Gabriel and Lila Anne, and a son named Van. A born-again Christian, he helps operate the Ocala, Florida-based Honoring the Father Ministries which provides medical supplies, powdered milk and baseball equipment to the impoverished in Latin America.

One of his favorite hobbies is reading. In fact, he keeps a stack of books in his locker at all times, including a Life of Pi by Yann Martel and a collection of works by C. S. Lewis. In addition, if he had not become a professional athlete, he would have wanted to be an English professor. Dickey named his bats "Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver" from "The Hobbit" and "Hrunting" from "Beowulf." Dickey mixed up Orcrist and Sting when explaining the origin of the name. Dickey also incorrectly stated that Beowulf used Hrunting to slay Grendel's Mother. Beowulf used it in battle against Grendel's Mother, but the sword proved ineffective.

In November 2011, Dickey announced that he would risk his 2012 season salary ($4,250,000) to attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (He credits this aspiration to his boyhood reading of The Snows of Kilimanjaro by author Ernest Hemingway). [2]. While climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, he set out to raise awareness of the issue of human trafficking in India. His climb was in support of an organization called "Bombay Teen Challenge" that ministers to victims of human trafficking and their children in the heart of the redlight districts. Dickey returned from this trip in January 2012 with Mets catcher Dave Racaniello and the Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kevin Slowey, and together raised over $100,000.

His autobiography which is entitled “Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball,” (written along with New York Daily News reporter Wayne Coffey) is scheduled to be released on March 29, 2012. [3]

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Alan Schwarz, "New Twist Keeps Dickey’s Career Afloat" New York Times, February 27, 2008
• Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
• "Elusive Knuckleball Gives Pitcher Chance at Majors" NPR. February 28, 2008.