1974
Born October 29, 1974
Nashville, TN, USA
R. A. Dickey Marquee
b. October 29, 1974 · Texas Rangers 2001, 2003–2006, Seattle Mariners 2008, Minnesota Twins 2009, New York Mets 2010–2012, Toronto Blue Jays 2013–2016, Atlanta Braves 2017
R. A. Dickey pitched for Texas across two stretches of his career before brief stops in Seattle and Minnesota, and reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher in New York, closing out his career with Toronto and Atlanta, retiring in 2017.
His career pitching line reads 120 wins and 118 losses, a 4.04 earned run average, 1,477 strikeouts, and 2,073 innings pitched across sixteen major-league seasons, with 15 complete games and 6 shutouts along the way.
He won the Cy Young Award in 2012, a rare feat for a knuckleball pitcher, and took the Branch Rickey Award and a Gold Glove around that same period.
His single All-Star selection came in 2012, the same year as the Cy Young Award. A right-handed player, Dickey came from Nashville, Tennessee, born there on October 29, 1974. That knuckleball carried him from journeyman starter to Cy Young winner over a sixteen-season career.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 2012 |
| Branch Rickey Award | 1 | 2012 |
| Cy Young Award | 1 | 2012 |
| Gold Glove | 1 | 2013 |
| MLB Players Choice Outstanding Pitcher | 1 | 2012 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 2012 |
| Player of the Week | 1 | 2012 |
| This Year in Baseball Breakout Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 2012 |
| This Year in Baseball Starter of the Year | 1 | 2012 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 2012 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | TEX | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2003 | TEX | 38 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2004 | TEX | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2005 | TEX | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2006 | TEX | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2008 | SEA | 32 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| 2009 | MIN | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2010 | NYM | 27 | 51 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .255 |
| 2011 | NYM | 33 | 59 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .136 |
| 2012 | NYM | 34 | 72 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | .153 |
| 2013 | TOR | 34 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| 2014 | TOR | 35 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 2015 | TOR | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2016 | TOR | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2017 | ATL | 31 | 61 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | .148 |
| Career | — | 402 | 267 | 13 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 49 | 0 | .169 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | TEX | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 6.75 |
| 2003 | TEX | 9 | 8 | 38 | 13 | 1 | 116.2 | 135 | 66 | 38 | 94 | 5.09 |
| 2004 | TEX | 6 | 7 | 25 | 15 | 1 | 104.1 | 136 | 65 | 33 | 57 | 5.61 |
| 2005 | TEX | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 29.2 | 29 | 22 | 17 | 15 | 6.67 |
| 2006 | TEX | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 18.90 |
| 2008 | SEA | 5 | 8 | 32 | 14 | 0 | 112.1 | 124 | 65 | 51 | 58 | 5.21 |
| 2009 | MIN | 1 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 64.1 | 74 | 33 | 30 | 42 | 4.62 |
| 2010 | NYM | 11 | 9 | 27 | 26 | 0 | 174.1 | 165 | 55 | 42 | 104 | 2.84 |
| 2011 | NYM | 8 | 13 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 208.2 | 202 | 76 | 54 | 134 | 3.28 |
| 2012 | NYM | 20 | 6 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 233.2 | 192 | 71 | 54 | 230 | 2.73 |
| 2013 | TOR | 14 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 224.2 | 207 | 105 | 71 | 177 | 4.21 |
| 2014 | TOR | 14 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 215.2 | 191 | 89 | 74 | 173 | 3.71 |
| 2015 | TOR | 11 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 214.1 | 195 | 93 | 61 | 126 | 3.91 |
| 2016 | TOR | 10 | 15 | 30 | 29 | 0 | 169.2 | 169 | 84 | 63 | 126 | 4.46 |
| 2017 | ATL | 10 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 190.0 | 193 | 90 | 67 | 136 | 4.26 |
| Career | — | 120 | 118 | 400 | 300 | 2 | 2073.2 | 2033 | 930 | 663 | 1477 | 4.04 |
On this day & linked events
2001
Major-league debut: R. A. Dickey
R. A. Dickey made a major-league debut on April 22, 2001.
2017
Final major-league game: R. A. Dickey
R. A. Dickey played a final major-league game on September 26, 2017.
Image: dbking on Flickr, CC BY 2.0