Rubber Dickey

Every baseball season brings its share of surprises. Players who inexplicably underperform (see Lind, Adam and Lee, Cliff). Star players who experience resurgence (see Hamilton, Josh). Players with a new opportunity who take it and run (see Cabrera, Melky). And of course, young players who experience a breakout and make an impact earlier than expected (see Trout, Mike and Harper, Bryce).
But every once in a blue moon we see a journeyman player who figures something out and emerges to an All-Star level out of nowhere. The last man cut from this mold in recent memory was Kent Bottenfield in 1999 (journeyman pitcher who had never won more than 5 games with 5 different teams prior to winning 18 with St. Louis that year).

Aging hefty, lovable pitcher from a Disney movie? No, 1999 NL All-Star Kent Bottenfield who had just 26 career wins prior to winning 18 with the Cards that year. Subsequently, he faded away into oblivion. Will Dickey suffer the same fate? Not likely.  (Reuters)

This year's Kent Bottenfield Award goes to R.A. Dickey. To be perfectly honest, the Mets signed him prior to 2010 to be a placeholder in their rotation. Actually, that's being pretty generous. When he came on with the Amazin's, he had not even a guaranteed rotation spot. Despite pitching pretty admirably over the past two seasons (2.84 and 3.28 ERA, respectively), Dickey has never established himself as a standout pitcher in this game.

Apologies to my fans of locker room humor, but this guy has garnered more respect than to receive an unabated barrage of jokes about his last name. "Knuckling Dickey" (see above) is about as edgy as I'll get here. (Jesse Thorn)

This year has changed all that. Not only does Dickey sport an 11-1 record to go with a 2.00 ERA, but he also leads the National League in strikeouts (103). What makes this all the more remarkable is that prior to 2006 (at age 31), Dickey had never thrown a "knuckleball" in the major leagues. After battling arm troubles across 5 spotty seasons with the Rangers, Dickey elected to re-invent himself by transforming his knuckle-esque forkball into a true "hard knuckleball." This year, he truly is spinning stuff that has hitters baffled.

What grip would suit Dickey (that's what she said) if this card photo were shot today? (Baseball Almanac)

Now, Dickey is starting to threaten the baseball record book. He's the first pitcher in 25 years to throw back-to-back one hitters. On top of that, he has not allowed an earned run in 42 2/3 innings. Because of his unconventionally nasty "stuff", there is no hitter in baseball looking forward to facing him right now. As of this blog, he is poised to start for the NL in July's All-Star Game.

It remains to be seen whether Dickey will continue his assault on MLB, or if he will threaten 20 wins (as it appears he will). However, one thing he has done is provide Mets fans with an anchored player who is truly easy to root for. In the interest of focusing this blog, I will not even get into his troubled upbringing (and sexual abuse endured as a child). All this does it make it easier to pull for the guy.

He has become a player who is the voice of the team. Someone who their young guys look to for leadership. When you hear him speak, his humbled tone is remarkable. He gives the impression that he is counting every blessing that he gets. He has taken this second chance and made the most of it. What makes it all even better is that he is 37 years old, and does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.