If this were just four years ago, it would have been just another pick-up — end of story. As 2012 is coming to a close, however, the acquisition of R.A. Dickey has further bolstered a revamped Toronto Blue Jays roster making fans even more excited for the upcoming season.
A trade between the Jays and New York Mets (Dickey’s old team) had been speculated all week but after the passing of physicals and the signing a two-year, $25 million contract extension, R.A. Dickey is officially the newest member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Plus, with the one year he had remaining on his contract with the Mets, Dickey will be in Toronto for at least the next three years.
Despite picking up a pitcher who went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA last season en route to winning the National League’s Cy Young award, the Jays made a gamble by trading catcher Travis d’Arnaud, arguably their best prospect. Toronto also added pitching prospect Travis Syndergaard and recently-acquired catcher John Buck in the deal for Dickey. The trade also makes Dickey the fourth reigning Cy Young winner ever to be traded joining David Cone in 1995, Pedro Martinez in 1998 and Roger Clemens in 1999, all of whom like Dickey were traded to teams in the AL East.
In weeks past, I mentioned how determined Jays’ general manager Alex Anthopoulos was in turning the state of the franchise around. In November, the GM sent shockwaves throughout the baseball world acquiring All-Star pitchers Mark Buerhle and Josh Johnson in a blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins. Then, AA went out and signed outfielder Melky Cabrera from the World Champion San Francisco Giants.
After going a combined 22-28 in addition to a 5.18 ERA in his first seven seasons in the Majors, which included stops in Texas, Seattle and Minnesota, Dickey turned a corner once he headed to the Big Apple in late 2009. During his time with the Mets, he went 39-28 with a 2.95 ERA with his best season coming, as previously mentioned, this past year.
Now with Dickey in the fold, the Blue Jays have a pitching rotation so deep that Ricky Romero, who was the team’s number-one man just this past April, could now the number-five starter and after a 9-14 record with a 5.77 ERA in 2012, Jays fans have to be relieved to see Romero at the bottom of the rotation with all due respect to the lefty.
But there’s something special about Dickey that only few pitchers in Major League history can say about themselves. R.A. Dickey is most notorious for throwing the one pitch even the greatest of hitters and most accurate of statisticians cannot predict: the knuckleball.
Since Tim Wakefield retired following the 2011 season, R.A. Dickey has since become the sole knuckleballer in the Majors. The pitch causes so little strain on a pitcher’s arm that no one seems concerned that Dickey is already 38 years old – and for good reason as knuckleball pitchers have longevity like no other hurler. Wakefield was 45 when he retired, Charlie Hough was 46, Phil Niekro was 48 when he called it quits and Hoyt Wilhelm pitched until he was 50. By those numbers, Dickey could last another decade assuming he’s effective enough to help the Blue Jays reach the playoffs and then some.
But for what he’s accomplished on the field pales in comparison to what he’s accomplished off it.
Earlier this year, I bought a copy of Dickey’s newly-released memoir, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball. What I expected as nothing more than a light, entertaining read from a professional athlete turned out to be one of the most articulate, brutally honest pieces of writing I have read in a very long time – and I’ve read stacks of biographies. Having gone through a traumatic childhood where he was sexually abused, Dickey turned to baseball where he soon excelled. After being drafted first-overall by the Texas Rangers in 1996, Dickey’s lifelong dream of playing baseball was dashed (or so he thought). Dickey discovered from an X-ray that he did not have an ulna collateral ligament in his throwing elbow which is essential for any pitcher hoping to make the Major Leagues much less excel at said level. After being deemed finished just five years ago, Dickey bounced back and did so with a vengeance. My thoughts of R.A. Dickey’s chilling memoir cannot do the book enough justice so if you’re looking for a true story of determination, resiliency and sheer inspiration, look no further than the new Toronto knuckleballer’s memoir.
R.A. Dickey now joins an intimidating Blue Jays rotation that includes the aforementioned Mark Buerhle and Josh Johnson along with Rickey Romero who will look to have a better campaign in 2013.
Alex Anthopoulos has thrown caution to the wind and while some would suggest that he’s made risks that are a little too great, what he’s done this off-season is much easier to stomach then the team’s previous winters where the Jays decided to stay conservative by building from the inside. Year after year, the play-it-safe method worked only briefly until the team’s hopes were dashed within the first few weeks of the season leading fans to say the same dreaded phrase they’ve been uttering since 1993: “Wait ‘till next year.”
Dickey’s arrival will give the Toronto Blue Jays more reason to be optimistic about the future both short- and long-term, it will put them on the map as the only team with a knuckleballer (and an effective one at that) and finally, it will give fans more than enough incentive to root for the good guy, having someone they can relate to on a personal level. Like all of us, R.A. Dickey’s road to success has come with plenty of setbacks but he’s answered those setbacks with character, resilience and the will to be better.
With everything he’s been through, it’s impossible not to cheer for, nay, admire someone like R.A. Dickey.
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Ryan Cowley is a writer at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter @RyanACowley.
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