Toronto Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey is celebrating his 40th birthday today, a fact noted on his “Across the Years” insert card from the 2013 Allen & Ginter baseball card set.
Celebrities sharing Dickey’s birthday include actors Bela Lugosi and Winona Ryder, astronomer Edmund Halley, former New York Ranger Mike Gartner and Dan Castellaneta, who is identified as “Homer Simpson’s voice” on the back of the card. Also celebrating a birthday today are current Mets’ pitcher Dana Eveland and former Mets outfielder Karim Garcia.
Dickey became one of my favorite New York Mets players in 2011 and his Cy Young Award-winning performance was the highlight of 2012 for Mets fans. Since being traded to Toronto, Dickey has gone back to being a mid-rotation innings eater rather than a true ace. He finished 2014 with a 14-13 record and a 3.71 ERA in 215.2 innings, very solid numbers.
The Blue Jays could decide to deal Dickey this winter – he’s in the last year of his current contract, which will pay him $12 million in 2015, but the team does hold a $12 million option for 2016. Wherever he ends up, I hope he continues to enjoy success and I will keep rooting for him.
Mike Pelfrey‘s Minnesota Twins got the better of R.A. Dickey‘s Toronto Blue Jays as he and three relievers combined to pitch a four-hit shutout.
From my point of view, the wrong ex-Met won.
R.A. Dickey pitches at the Rogers Centre on July 6, 2013 (Photo credit: Vinny Haynes)Jose Reyes bats at the Rogers Centre on July 6, 2013 (Photo credit: Vinny Haynes)Mike Pelfrey pitches at the Rogers Centre on July 6, 2013 (Photo credit: Vinny Haynes)
The first series of Topps 2013 baseball cards are due to arrive in hobby shops on January 30th, but you could get lucky and spot them at retailers like Target and WalMart earlier.
We’ve finally reached the end of 2012. On both a personal level and for the baseball teams that I follow, it wasn’t really a good year.
I’ve watched my father’s health decline throughout the year. I don’t usually get too personal on here, but my dad’s the one who taught me about baseball and took me to my first games – I can’t really talk about the game or look back on 2012 without thinking of him.
Gary Carter as manager of the Long Island Ducks in 2009 (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
I didn’t know Gary Carter, but his death was a loss for me and many other baseball fans as well as those who did know him personally. Carter was one of the rare few members of the 1986 Mets who tried to do admirable things off the baseball field as well as on it, and he will always be my favorite baseball player.
Moving from the sad to the frustrating, the New York Mets collapsed again after a strong start to the season in 2012. Only the disaster that was the Miami Marlins saved the Mets from finishing in last place in the National League East. The team’s finances continue to be the most interesting story surrounding the Mets this off-season, and the biggest trade that Sandy Alderson made sent the Mets’ second-best player to Canada for talented prospects who aren’t likely to help before 2014 or later.
Mike Ness pitches for the Newark Bears on Opening Day (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
The Newark Bears muddled through another losing season, finishing the year 30 games under .500 and with the lowest attendance in the Can-Am League.
Yep, not really a banner year anywhere.
But even so, there were bright spots. For the Bears, Mike Ness had a magical afternoon on July 11th when he pitched a no-hitter against the eventual league champion team despite a defense that committed six errors behind him.
It took 50 seasons (and a missed call by an umpire), but the Mets finally got their own no-hitter on June 1st.
And if Johan Santana was amazing that night, R.A. Dickey was amazing all season long. Despite an offense that seemed to go days between scoring runs in the second half, Dickey became the Mets’ first 20-game winner since Frank Viola and their first Cy Young Award winner since Dwight Gooden.
R.A. Dickey pitches for the New York Mets on May 27th, 2012 (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
Dickey’s one-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles on June 18th was the best baseball memory I’ve had at Citi Field. That night, he became the first pitcher in all of baseball to throw back-to-back one-hitters since Dave Stieb did it for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988.
David Wright (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
David Wright set new franchise records for RBIs and hits – I was in the ballpark when he set the RBI mark in April. During the off-season, he signed a contract extension that will likely allow him to retire as a Met, so we can watch him extend and set more franchise career records.
Jonathon Niese and Ruben Tejada took steps forward, and Matt Harvey made a positive impression once he was promoted from the minor leagues. And if Ike Davis‘s overall numbers for 2012 aren’t especially pretty, he did finish strong after a terrible start.
And on a personal note again, I’m thankful for the friends I’ve made who I’ve gone to baseball games with, who have helped me with my autograph or baseball card collections, or who’ve just spent time talking baseball with me here, on Twitter or on Facebook.
There’s a quote from a Doctor Who episode that seems like a perfect way to sum up 2012:
The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things…. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.
This year’s almost gone, and next year promises another pile of good and bad things for us. Let’s try to enjoy the good ones – such as those magical performances at the ballpark, or times spent watching the game with friends or family – and not let the bad ones spoil the rest.
What stood out for you in 2012? What are you looking forward to in 2013?
From the beginning of last season to the end — when you cheered with all you had that Thursday afternoon when I won my 20th game — I felt that this was a shared journey, that we were all in it together. What a great way for an athlete to feel…. I hope you know that I will never forget my three years in New York, and never be able to adequately thank you for everything you’ve given me.
I was stuck at work, so I didn’t get to watch Dickey win his 20th. I was at Citi Field for his second consecutive one-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles this year, and it’s one of my favorite memories at the new ballpark.
I hope that Dickey wins another Cy Young Award with Toronto, and I hope that the prospects he was traded for help the Mets win another World Series championship.
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