The Conservative Cave
The Bar => Sports => Topic started by: BlueStateSaint on June 19, 2012, 11:12:17 AM
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I figured that this guy would get better this year (last year's 8-13 record was an aberration), but not this good this fast. :-)
Mets' Dickey goes from gimmick to greatness
Last Updated: 10:57 AM, June 19, 2012
Posted: 3:41 AM, June 19, 2012
The most amazing part is not that knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw his second-straight one-hitter last night. The most amazing part is that he doesn’t even consider himself to be the Mets stopper.
“I feel we’ve got a bunch of guys on this team that are capable of being stoppers,’’ Dickey said after he mystified the Orioles 5-0 at Citi Field, allowing only a fifth-inning single by Wilson Betemit. “I’ve always said I’d much rather be thought of as a starter of streaks than a stopper of streaks, so we’ll see how that keeps going.
“I don’t feel like it’s a dream, but I do feel like this is fun and enjoyable,’’ he said of his magical run that pushed his record to 11-1.
Dickey became the first pitcher in 24 years to throw back-to-back, complete-game, one-hitters; Toronto’s Dave Stieb did it in 1988. Dickey, who has not allowed an earned run over 42 2/3 innings, struck out a career-high 13 last night.
Dickey may not consider himself a stopper even though he won after the Mets had lost three straight, but he may be starting a knuckleball revolution.
More here: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/from_gimmick_to_greatness_mIWEPFNkk1IIZWTJvShgDI#ixzz1yFwOYq6t
The thing is, knuckleballers are a tight-knit group. So, we get this:
Dickey's knuckler wows even Niekro
By Marty Noble | MLB.com Columnist | Archive
NEW YORK -- This is how extraordinarily effective R.A. Dickey has been of late: People came to Citi Field on Monday night expecting a shutout. Or more. Honest. A countdown to 27 consecutive outs began before the Mets batted. Twenty-six to go, 25 to go, 24 ..."
Nothing approaching this level of anticipation has gripped the Mets' home ballpark since late in the 1985 season when Dwight Gooden was at his career best and stingiest. That is how good Dickey has been.
He essentially plays catch with Josh Thole or Mike Nickeas for nine innings. The presence or stature of the batter is immaterial. Seldom does the guy with the bat interfere in any meaningful way. Dickey threw 114 pitches in nine innings against the Orioles Monday night, 15 were hit, one for a base hit. Wilson Betemit -- with a clean single in the fifth inning -- is the one who interfered. So Dickey's 14th start of the season became the 37th one-hitter in the Mets' history, and the countdown was suspended. Another is tentatively scheduled for four days hence.
The Mets haven't seen the likes of this since Gooden pitched 49 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run 27 summers ago, and that is because the game never has seen anything comparable to this. Yes, we've had Orel Hershiser and Don Drysdale and all their zeros. But they were conventional pitchers who produced longer streaks with velocity and conventional pitches. Dickey does it with pitches that wrinkle, drop, break and strike his catcher in the side of the head. For now, he controls the game as no other knuckleballer has.
No less an expert than Phil Niekro knows that the challenge of commanding the wrinkle over a period of weeks is daunting if not overwhelming.
The rest of that one is here:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120619&content_id=33546398&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Dickey's contract is up at the end of the season. I've emailed the owner of MetsBlog and told him that Sandy Alderson needs to start at two years, $26 million, with a third year as an option at $15 million. If he wins 20 games this year (entirely possible, as he should have 18 more starts), go two years, $30 mil with the option year at $17 mil. Yeah, he's older, but he's a heluva nice guy, very humble and easy to root for, and he's filling the seats at Citi. Plus, he could have a couple more stellar seasons, and I damned sure don't want to see him have them in any other uniform than the one he's wearing now. O-) :yahoo:
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It may be time for more fair weather, and new fans to "Meet the Mets" !
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Well, the owner of Metsblog got back to me and told me that Dickey's got an option for next year, which the Mets would be idiots if they didn't pick it up.
Also, this showed up on Metsblog, having been spoken today:
“Boy, I’ll tell you, he’s on fire. He is the talk of baseball right now. The talk of sports. I’ve never seen a knuckleballer that has pitched as well as he has. I certainly haven’t done that and I don’t know of any other knuckleball pitcher that I’ve seen has done that. Everybody in baseball is talking about this guy. Boy, I’ll tell you, he is on fire.â€
~ Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio.
Remember Frank Viola? Well, his son's with the Mets low-A affiliate in Savannah GA (the "Sand Gnats"--Frank Sr. is the pitching coach) and Frank Jr. had Dickey teach him the knuckleball. Frank Jr. is 28, so the knuckleball is his only shot at getting to The Show. Also, Dickey has tutored an 18-year-old high school pitcher in throwing it.
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The only pitch I ever learned in high school was a knuckle ball. I never learned to throw a curve or change up. Then again, I wasn't a pitcher, but had a strong enough arm to throw batting practice for the team every day.
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Carton said "I wish I had a Dickey that worked once a week" LOL
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Well, the owner of Metsblog got back to me and told me that Dickey's got an option for next year, which the Mets would be idiots if they didn't pick it up.
Also, this showed up on Metsblog, having been spoken today:
Remember Frank Viola? Well, his son's with the Mets low-A affiliate in Savannah GA (the "Sand Gnats"--Frank Sr. is the pitching coach) and Frank Jr. had Dickey teach him the knuckleball. Frank Jr. is 28, so the knuckleball is his only shot at getting to The Show. Also, Dickey has tutored an 18-year-old high school pitcher in throwing it.
Wow..when did the Mets buy the Gnats? Last I knew the Washington Nationals owned them.
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Wow..when did the Mets buy the Gnats? Last I knew the Washington Nationals owned them.
A couple of years ago.
http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t543