The Texas Rangers drafted R.A. Dickey with the 18th overall pick in the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. Back then, his stuff was dime-a-dozen. His fastball could hit the high-80′s, he had a breaking ball when he needed it, and a forkball he called “The Thing.” Dickey first broke into the bigs in 2001. Between then and 2006 he posted a 5.72 ERA in 266 innings.
A lot of people thought 2004 was going to be the turning point in Dickey’s career. He started that season 4-1, but when things were all said and done he’d gone 6-7 with an ERA of 5.61. Dickey first began experimenting with the knuckleball in 2005, and Texas gave him a chance to use it as a starter in 2006. In his first time on the mound that year, Dickey gave up six home runs. Six. Matching the record of another knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield. He never pitched for the Rangers again.
Fast forward to 2010. The New York Mets are making their first spring cuts, and the 35-year-old Dickey, who’d been trying to latch on as the team’s last guy out of the bullpen, is sent to minor league camp.
Alright, let’s fast forward again, to last night, when the very same Dickey (well, he’s 37 now) threw his second one-hitter… in a row. To top it off, he did it against Buck Showalter’s Baltimore Orioles. Guess who was managing the Rangers when Dickey gave up those six home runs. Guess whose idea it was for Dickey to start throwing the knuckler.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t say thank you to [Showalter]. He’s the one that gave me the opportunity to cultivate that pitch at the foundational levels down in the minor leagues with the Texas Rangers. He believed I could do it. Now, it took a while for me to get it. He gave me the… I’m trying to think of the right word. He gave me the canvas to be able to operate on. He was the guy; he and Orel [Hershisher] kind of pushed me in that direction. I’m thankful they did,” Dickey told ESPN.
Now get this: it’s the first time since 1988, when Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays did it, that any Major Leaguer has thrown two consecutive one-hitters. The last time a National Leaguer did it was in 1944, 65 years ago, when Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves accomplished the feat. Only 10 pitchers have allowed one hit or fewer in consecutive games since 1900. And R.A. Dickey? R.A. Dickey is the only man in the history of modern baseball to throw back-to-back one-hitters with at least 10 strikeouts in each. Last night, Dickey fanned 13 Orioles, and on June 13 in Tampa Bay, the man struck out 12.
R.A. Dickey was a “bust” of a first-round pick who had an RADickeylous (sorry) name for his forkball. Was. Now, with 68 games (or 42 percent) of the season in the books, R.A. Dickey is the leading candidate for the NL Cy Young. He’s also the Mets’ ace, which might not mean much if their roster didn’t contain the two-time Cy Young winning, no-hitter throwing, Johan Santana. But it does.
Dickey is now 11-1, no other Mets pitcher has ever reached 10 games over .500 so quickly. While Dickey did it in 68 games, the previous Met record belong to Tom Seaver, who reached 13-3 in the 77th game of the Mets’ 1969 season. Dickey already owns the Mets record for most consecutive scoreless innings with 32 2/3, but he’s also gone 42 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run, the second best streak in franchise history. The team record is Doc Gooden’s, who went 49 innings in 1985.
But enough about the Mets. Dickey’s 11 wins lead the majors, and he’s tied for the league lead in ERA (2.00), strikeouts (103), and complete games (three). And for those who complain about baseball being a “slow” game, last night’s contest took all of 127 minutes.
Anything could happen from now until October, but R.A. Dickey is the best pitcher in the majors this season, and 42 percent is by no means insignificant.
