Ho-hum. Another R.A. Dickey one-hitter? Must be Monday.
I kid…I kid. There’s hardly any other way to express my admiration for the other-worldly performance put on by one Robert Allen Dickey for the New York Metropolitans in the year 2012 A.D. I can’t believe what I’m seeing, so I go back to my default mode: the New Jersey wiseacre. Superlatives are starting to wear themselves out. Dickey’s games are sending members of the MSM and the blogosphere into paroxysms of joy. The all-knowing Francesa jokingly compared him to Sandy Koufax after the previous one-hitter last Thursday (6/14). He thought he was 
kidding. There have been serious comparisons to vintage Seaver and electric Gooden. From an excitement-generating standpoint, I can get it. If we’re speaking of style, they are poles apart. Koufax, Seaver and Gooden each had a lightspeed hummer to go along with their breaking stuff. That’s what made the breaking stuff so effective: the contrast between smoke on the letters and a wicked downward hook. Dickey has no such fastball. He is a knuckleballer – the most unconventional knuckleballer you’ll ever see, I’ll grant you – but his fire is far to the south of Bobby Parnell, let alone Seaver/Gooden/Koufax. That’s part of what makes this all so remarkable. He isn’t relying on the old rock-back-and-heave-it. He can’t. He has to have an idea out there, and right now, he might be the definition of “brainy.” And while I doubt you’ll see Dickey’s mural above 42nd Street, as Gooden’s was, he’s generating the same kind of buzz as ’85. He’s a different kind of pitcher – hell, a different kind of person – than 20-year-old Doc, that’s for sure. But the numbers are beginning to become staggering. The good folks over at the Elias Sports Bureau have provided some agate to keep us further agape:
As has been noted, Dickey became the tenth man to throw consecutive one-hitters or no-hitters (that’s you, Vander Meer!).
So far in 2012, Dickey has 11 wins, an ERA below 2.50 (he’s at a flat 2.00 after last night’s performance) and averaging at least one strikeout per inning pitched. Check out the company he’s in with that impressive trio: Francisco Liriano in ’06, Randy Johnson in ’00, Pedro Martinez in ’99 and Koufax in ’66. Pretty impressive group, no?
Dickey is the leader – in MLB history — in most consecutive starts with no earned runs and eight or more strikeouts (five). Ahead of Martinez in 2002, Ray Culp in 1968 and Gaylord Perry the year before.
Dickey is one of four pitchers to have seven consecutive starts with eight or more strikeouts and two or fewer walks – Johnson, 2001, Curt Schilling, 1997, Koufax, 1965
And he’s pitching for peanuts. There has been some speculation as to what he could fetch on the trade market from a contender – as if the Mets weren’t one, at this point – and what he would command on the open market when he’s eligible for free agency after 2013.
I say we don’t find out.
I would see if R.A. would accept a contract extension that would take him into retirement. I would offer a five-year deal at about $17 million per (average annual value). With Dickey, it’s never been about the money anyway.
Johan Santana, on the other hand, carries the triple burdens of reputation, history and fragility to the mound with him lately. Before the no-hitter, before Dickey’s emergence, Johan was the bellwether for the staff. It was uncanny in this early season how often a Jonathon Niese or a Dillon Gee would follow a solid Santana performance with one of their own. Conversely, if Johan had a bad game, so would Niese/Gee. For once, the MSM wonks were right: as Johan went, so went the Mets. Since the no-no, Johan has been struggling: a dreadful start against the Yankees and a scuffling barely-there win against the Rays. His next start — tonight against the Orioles — should tell us what kind of shape he’ll be in going forward. It’s no longer a lock, however.
It’s a good thing Santana has Dickey around to grab the glare.
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Wow – I’m surprised that you are willing to go that far with the contract, both in years and dollars. Even more surprising is the feeling that he might actually be worth it.
I suppose there’s no chance he pulls a Wakefield and keeps rolling over the same team-friendly contract, is there?
Hmn… Charles, I detect a bit of “lin-sanity” in your remarks. There is a long way to go.
These two, along with David Wright, are clearly the MVPs of the team and will need to consistently play at a high level for the team of even dreaming of sniffing postseason play.
Guys like Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Josh Thole and Scott Hairston are solid roleplayers that will have more variability, as will the bullpen and revolving door that is second base. If more of these guys can figure it out than not, they’ll go far. If you’re worrying about Dickey, Santana and Wright figuring it out… well we’ve already been through the mid-90s and 2001-2004.