Call him C.Y. Dickey!
In what most thought to be a lock became a formality on Wednesday when R.A. Dickey captured the 2012 NL Cy Young award in a landslide. Dickey received 27 first-place votes en route to becoming the oldest pitcher since Dennis Eckersley in 1992—and first knuckleball pitcher—to win the prestigious honor. Dickey is the first Mets’ Cy Young Award winner since Dwight “Doc” Gooden won the award in 1985.
This award caps off a remarkable season in which Dickey captivated the hearts of Mets’ fans everywhere by throwing 27 quality starts, back-to-back 1-hitters and becoming the first Mets’ 20-game winner since Frank Viola in 1990.
Dickey’s final stat lines read like this:
20-6 record, 2.73 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and league-high 230 strikeouts in 233.2 innings pitched.
Dickey was indeed the story of the year for the Mets and maybe even all of baseball. Every time he took the mound, Dickey gave the Mets a chance to win. It’s astonishing that Dickey won 20 of the Mets 74 wins this year. When you step back and grasp how unlikely this season was for Dickey, you would not be the first.
After climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in the offseason and releasing a book that disclosed his bout with sexual abuse, Dickey has truly conquered all obstacles and is resting at the mountain top-both literally and figuratively.
Dickey’s story from prospect to flameout and then reinventing himself as a knuckleballer to now Cy Young award winner cannot be overstated enough. Scripts in Hollywood are hardly this believable. That being said, don’t be surprised if a big-screen adaptation of Dickey’s story becomes a reality.
The thing is Dickey’s story still has a couple of chapters left to be written.
So, what do the next couple of chapters have in store for Dickey? A better question is where are the next couple of chapters going to be written?
Hopefully the Mets can sign Dickey to a semi long-term contract so that the Mets could be put in the best position to succeed. However, I get the side that says trading him now while his value is at an all-time high is beneficial, as Dickey could land a bumper crop of prospects if he is dealt to a team in search of some pitching stability.
It’s a tricky situation for sure, as you want to have someone on your roster that could draw fans to the stadium and give you a chance to win every time he steps on the mound like the way Dickey does. On the flip side, for a team that is still in a rebuilding mode, it would be great to get some reinforcements in the way of some young prospects.
Regardless, this is all about the here and now. This is about the moment Dickey and Mets’ fans find themselves in. We should all applaud the season Dickey just had, as it couldn’t have happened to a better guy.
Dickey’s Cy Young award along with Johan Santana’s no-hitter gave Mets’ fans some solace this year in what was otherwise an extremely disappointing season. So there is always that.
So hip, hip R.A.! Here’s to a Really Awesome season and hoping for more!
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Once every five games, the Mets were odds on favorite to win the game. It was a comforting feeling as a fan and a game worth looking forward to watching. I was happy and proud to be a Mets fan last night. Congradulations R.A for a well deserved award. You are a fine human being, who was able to transpose your accomplishment across the fan base by your actions and humility.
What a great thing to watch on WABC news last night. Dickey did a fantastic job this year, and I hope to god that the METS keep him. I am a VERY PROUD MET FAN TODAY. Watching that game alone was GREAT, 1st the 1 HITTER, then the NO HITTER. Very Proud to be a MET FAN, and watching U him last night on the news. Gotta LOVE THIS GUY, he gave his best and deserves the best of it all
I’m really surprised how un-close it was in the race. He recieved 27/32 votes. He and Kershaw had almost identical stats(at least the ones that count). I stated earlier that it was either choosing between more IP/CGs or between lower ERA/WHIP. However, i searched a little bit deeper into some more untraditional stats and i found that Dickey led the NL with 14.38 pitches/IP. Kershaw had almost 1 full pitch more per IP. So Dickey put up the same stats but was much more efficient. I think that, along with the incredible stretch in the middle of the season plus his story plus his unconventional pitch, was able to convince most voters.
Pay the man!
4 yrs./$56 mil. What do you think?
48M$
Congrats. What an awesome season for RA.
Perhaps it would sound better if we were to say “Reward the man!”
I would do 4yrs/56 million in a heartbeat. It sure is more cost effective than giving Wright 6 years 120 million and plus I think RA is already very close or has already exceede Wright in popularity so he could easily take over as the “face” for those who care about that stuff
I’d be surprised if the Mets went four years. I see them wanting to do another two-year plus an option like with his last contract. Maybe they stretch to make it three plus an option.
I think RA Dickey is someone special and who I was comfortable letting my 10 year old admire. I read and loved his book.
I also think we should trade him.
He has given us three good seasons but he is of more value to us in a trade for a young slugging outfielder, should one be available.
He seemed to wear down the 2nd half, and is now 38 years old. I don’t think he will have many more good seasons, in spite of being a knuckleballer for one reason: he throws it harder than anyone else.
I know that this is not emotionally the best thing to have Mets fans hear right now, but this fine man would bring some real talent back to NY that we desperately need.
He wore down in the 2nd half? In July he had a bad month, 5.13, but in August-Oct he posted a mid 2s ERA. That’s not wearing down to me. If you’re going by win totals(which you shouldn’t) he went 12-1 in the 1st half and 8-5 in the 2nd, but that was mostly due to the offense nonexistant offense in the 2nd half.
Whether you think he will have more good seasons is totally your opinion, but you better hope that the majority don’t think like you or else no one would give up anything for him!
As for the age thing, you may be right, but I would just like to point out that Jamie Moyer can still throw 80 mph and he’s 50 so there’s also no reason that Dickey can’t throw that hard into his late 40s as well.
I think R.A. is great and I hate to think of him pitching elsewhere. The thinking that says trade him for top prospects has a good deal of common sense attached to it.
However, with the Wilpons owning this team, I think that wanting to keep or trade R.A. is not the relevant issue. The issue is that the Wilpons
will only fund a winning team by pure luck. They won’t spend the money on the major league roster and their loyalty to Bud Selig will keep them from attracting and paying top-notch draft choices.
If I am accurate in my observation then they might as well keep him because the mediocre Mets are a better story with R.A. than a mediocre Mets team without him.
I agree with that line of thinking NormE