On Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis, R.A. Dickey became the first Mets to amass 18 victories in one season since Frank Viola and Dwight Gooden both achieved the feat in 1990.
With each win and with each quality outing, Dickey is solidifying his chances to become the first knuckleballer to win a Cy Young. If Dickey wins this coveted award, it could give legitimacy to a pitch that has too long been considered a ‘gimmick’ pitch. And if Dickey is to win the Cy Young, it will give the Mets fan something to hang their hats on in what has been an otherwise troubling, frustrating season .
Unlike how Jose Reyes won his batting title last year (bunting to get on base and then being asked to be taken out) and then bolting for his paycheck in Miami, if Dickey wins this highest honor for a pitcher it could help boost morale for a team in need of every single silver lining.
Dickey is everything you want in a pitcher. Dickey’s a grinder, a competitor, a perfectionist, a wonderful humanitarian and above all else he is a winner.
After Wednesday’s outing, Dickey is now tied for the most wins in the NL with Johnny Cueto, is second behind Cueto in ERA (by only six points mind you, as Cueto’s ERA is 2.58, while Dickey’s is 2.64) but absolutely destroys him in strikeouts as Dickey has 195 (third in the NL) while Cueto only has 149.
Most pundits claim the Cy Young is not about how valuable you are to your team and a team’s record should not influence voters. Consider that Cueto has had another Cy Young candidate Aroldis Chapman closing games for him, while Dickey has had to carry the load for himself for most of his victories.
Pushing aside biases, there is no way Dickey should not win this award. If Dickey does not win then it will be evident that there will be some voters who will still view the knuckleball as a bastard pitch and that a guy who relies on it is getting by on smoke and mirrors. That would be an absolute shame if that were to be the case. Results are results. This is not a beauty pageant.
With Johan Santana accomplishing the Mets’ first ever no-hitter and with Dickey perhaps winning the Cy Young award, this year will forever go down as a memorable season no matter how you slice it and one that could foster some hope for a bounce back season in 2013.
Now granted, there were some ugly, uninspiring moments that ruined most of the good vibes this year, if Dickey does win the Cy Young, it could mask what was an otherwise disappointing season.
I for one look forward to R.A. Dickey capturing that magical 20th win and then get awarded with ultimate hardware in the offseason. Considering the playoffs are not attainable, this will have to settle as the next best thing.
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Dan, well said. I loved his book, though his minimization was evident throughout.
This year is like a storybook magical ending for us. It has, along with the pitching of Matt Harvey, given us reason to cheer in an otherwise
depressing year.
I think Dickey handled the Reyes situation with tact, something I don’t think I would have.
Dickey is a positive influence in the dug out, a team first player, and someone of value to the younger players.
I don’t know how many years are left in his arm, but this has been magical. Watching major league players swatting in frustration and walking away shaking their heads has been a reason to smile. He’s a good guy having a year so good that it could not be said to be a “career year” because nothing in his career even hinted towards this.
Nice story Dan. I couldn’t agree more. From telling upper management to “take a hike” when they said not to climb Kilimanjaro to the 1 hitters and the June streak, and finally to 20+ Ws, RA has been an inspiration to all Mets fans. I like to think he is a shoe in for Cy, and if he doesn’t get it, well, let’s not got there yet. Johan’s no no was fabulous. We’ve had quite few other things go on too that give us plenty to look back in for the 2012 season, despite an otherwise average season.
Chris
Hopefully Chapman takes some votes from Cueto and the split helps RA. Gio Gonzalez has to be considered as strong competition also. Go RA !!!
Agreed, counting out Gio is a big mistake. RA has such a compelling story that even if the knuckleballer is viewed as a flea circus pitch, it would be such a great achievement in totality that all things being equal, they couldn’t make a better choice. MLB has image things, and RA brings it!
I agree with you, Dan.
However, there are two things working against Dickey:
1. You mentioned the perception of the knuckleball as a “trick” pitch. I think too many baseball “purists” think this way,
but I hope that I am wrong.
2. I believe there is an anti-NY bias, especially against the Wilpon-owned Mets. This should not be a factor, even though
the Wilpons are not sympathetic figures.
Gio Gonzalez is nice, but you are forgetting one of the front-runners. Clayon Kershaw. He has really excelled of late and is not leading in Strikeouts and Innings Pitched. At this point, Dickey, Cueto, and Kershaw can all be considered 1a,1b,1c, and not necesarily in that order.
It seems like most of the readers think that Dickey should be a lock, and right now, he’s not even the clear frontrunner. If the season ended right now it would be really close. The last 5 starts they have will be crucial for each starter. If i were TC, i would be thinking about how i might be able to get RA and extra start at the end, because that extra start might be able to push him over the top(if he needs it)
Gotta be honest this is not on the same planet as having a successful team season