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Dickey's Memoir

Gwreck Nov 02 2011 12:06 PM

Buried in this story about Dickey's Kilimanjaro Climb is that he is writing a memoir: He will be releasing his memoir, "Wherever I Wind Up," in March.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 02 2011 12:09 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I'm sure glad success hasn't gone to his head.

Lefty Specialist Nov 02 2011 12:44 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Let's hope he doesn't wind up in a hospital.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 02 2011 12:49 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Tom Seaver would slap this guy in the nuts if he met him.

bmfc1 Nov 02 2011 12:50 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-Wind-Up- ... 815&sr=8-1

Ceetar Nov 02 2011 12:54 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

i might read it.

Edgy MD Nov 02 2011 01:49 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Tom Seaver would slap this guy in the nuts if he met him. Tom has 'written" his share o' crap.

A Boy Named Seo Nov 02 2011 01:57 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I'll read the eff out of this. He's had a pretty interesting career story in itself, but he's a smart and charming dude who I bet could write circles around most other jocks, and probably a few ghost writers, too. Seaver probably wants to slap everyone he meets in the nuts.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 02 2011 02:01 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Edgy DC wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Tom Seaver would slap this guy in the nuts if he met him. Tom has 'written" his share o' crap. Oh, not the book. Tom would strongly disapprove of mountain climbing in the offseason.

bmfc1 Nov 02 2011 02:12 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

The CPF Book Club is in order!

Benjamin Grimm Nov 02 2011 02:13 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Last time we tried that, we all read the same book (Frank Thomas' Kiss it Good-bye) and nobody had anything to say about it! http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/inde ... nth=2006-1 http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/inde ... nth=2006-2

Valadius Nov 03 2011 07:50 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

He's getting inducted into the Tennessee Baseball Hall of Fame in January. I hope his plaque (or whatever they use down there) is of the Dickey Face.

metirish Nov 03 2011 07:55 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Last time we tried that, we all read the same book (Frank Thomas' Kiss it Good-bye) and nobody had anything to say about it! http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/inde ... nth=2006-1 http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/inde ... nth=2006-2 saw it in the garage recently gathering dust.

attgig Nov 03 2011 02:40 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

new vid of what he's gonna do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... w8fc_wuuYw [youtube:moj7qwgj]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xw8fc_wuuYw[/youtube:moj7qwgj] and he's raising money for it too: http://www.crowdrise.com/bombayteenchallenge

Edgy MD Nov 08 2011 08:15 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Ceetar Nov 08 2011 08:37 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

hah, great title.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 08 2011 08:44 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

MY RELENTLESS QUEST TO ASCEND THE 9-WIN PLATEAU

Ceetar Nov 08 2011 08:46 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: MY RELENTLESS QUEST TO ASCEND THE 9-WIN PLATEAU Well, he's done that twice.

metirish Nov 09 2011 06:38 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

A friend from home climbed Kilimanjaro recently with her 11 year old daughter, an epic journey .It took months and months of preparation, like climbing the highest peaks and mountains in Ireland, then a six day climb, obviously Dickey isn't just going to roll up there and expect to climb the damn thing is he? http://www.facebook.com/sineadandsarah

A Boy Named Seo Mar 25 2012 09:24 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Dickey's book out this week, $18 American dollars. I'm in. Also, this piece on RA was in the Star-Ledger today. Eminently likable guy. Mets' R.A. Dickey finally can appreciate his years of toil Published: Sunday, March 25, 2012, 5:15 AM Updated: Sunday, March 25, 2012, 7:04 AM By Andy McCullough/The Star-Ledger Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey's life's work has finally been rewarded: fame, fortune and security for his family. PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Anne Dickey dreaded late March. Baseball teams shed the excess from spring training rosters around then, and too often her husband was swept up with the debris. Life as the wife of a baseball player can be a logistical nightmare. At this time of year, it can just be cruel. In 2008, his third full year as a knuckleballer, R.A. Dickey appeared to have sewn up a spot in Seattle’s bullpen. Anne booked a flight from Nashville, Tenn., to be with him when the season began. “Sure enough,” she said, two days before Opening Day, the hurler learned his spot with the club didn’t exist. His wife flew to Seattle anyway. Then they drove 35 miles south and searched for a place to rent near the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, Wash. “It was just so hard, and emotional,” Anne Dickey said. She punctuated stories like this with rueful laughter as she drove her two sons home from a park in Nashville. Her eldest son Eli’s light saber poked out of her Toyota Sienna. A “Star Wars” aficionado, R.A. Dickey calls the minivan their Millennium Falcon. His wife calls it “our big splurge” after he inked his $7.8 million contract with the Mets last winter. The contract represented the first concrete foothold of fortune for a family that had chased a decade-old dream. The Greeks used a word that could well describe the last year of R.A. Dickey’s life: kairos, when long-desired opportunities become apparent and a man must take advantage. At dinner last week, R.A. Dickey, 37, referenced this “kairotic moment.” In January, he scaled Mount Kilimanjaro. On Thursday, his memoir hits bookshelves. Next month, a documentary featuring him debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival. The fanfare occurs as his family settles into a life of hard-earned comfort. No longer does a car in need of repair or a felled tree branch set off stress. No longer does his wife book plane tickets for herself and her four children with the worry that her husband might be shipped elsewhere. “The practical side of it was just relief,” Anne Dickey said. “You could just take a deep breath. Even still, now, I’ve just been pinching myself. Like, ‘Oh, yeah, isn’t it great?’?” STAYING HUMBLE One day last week, R.A. Dickey offered a hand and slid into a restaurant booth. “What can I get you to drink?” a waitress asked. “Sweet tea?” R.A. Dickey said. “Sweet tea? It’s raspberry.” “Can I taste it?” he asked. His tone was pleasant, almost sheepish. “And if not, I’ll just swap it out for lemonade or something.” The tea came a few minutes later. He took a sip. Lemonade it is, he decided. This is R.A. Dickey’s time, the moment of his entrance into the national sporting consciousness. He arrived at the Palm City Grill on St. Lucie West Boulevard after an off day filled with interviews. He spent the morning speaking to ESPN cameras, then flinging knuckleballs at Jeremy Schaap. His publisher, Penguin, has sold an excerpt of his book, “Wherever I Wind Up,” to Sports Illustrated. R.A. Dickey understands the reason he has gained prominence as a writer is his competence as a pitcher. He led the Mets’ starting rotation with a 3.08 ERA the past two seasons. Manager Terry Collins considers him ballast for the rotation. “It settles the whole staff,” Collins said after R.A. Dickey threw one-hit ball over six innings Thursday, “knowing that even nights when you’ve had to burn your bullpen a couple nights in a row, he’s going to go out there and take the baseball.” R.A. Dickey achieved that status after five years harnessing the knuckleball. In turn, he established a modicum of consistency. That, he says, is what has changed most for him. His lifestyle as a major-league millionaire resembles his lifestyle as minor-league striver. After he ordered a 6-ounce filet — with a baked potato, extra butter — Dickey drifted back, briefly, to his childhood. “My family of origin is such that. ...” His words hung for five seconds. “I’ll say things were humble for us.” “So I come from a place where I know I can eat peanut butter and jelly for a month straight and be fine,” he said. That sensibility transferred to his adult life. The first baseball cruelty he suffered is well-told: After the Texas Rangers selected him 18th overall in the 1996 draft, a physical showed his right elbow contained no ulnar collateral ligament. His bonus plummeted from $850,000 to $75,000 — or less than what R.A. Dickey believes he would have received had he signed out of high school as a 10th-round pick with Detroit. He and his wife learned to strike a balance. She joked that if she were fully in charge of the finances, the family would be broke now; if her husband ran the show, their money would “be buried in a can in the backyard.” Some winters, he worked odd jobs — painting, assisting in a physical therapy lab, anything for a little extra cash. After he became a father, R.A. Dickey traveled to Venezuela and Puerto Rico for winter ball, earning money “in case some emergency happened,” he said. Baseball does not pay its players like paupers. In 2004, when 28-year-old Dickey earned his first full season of service time, his salary was $337,500. But the expenses can still pile up. If a family wants to stick together during the season, his wife said, it needs to find a place near the team, in addition to the permanent home in Nashville. So they kept a tight budget and tried to avoid debt, ever mindful that his career could end at any time. An opportunity came their way in 2007. R.A. Dickey came close to walking away that year before he latched on with Milwaukee, which housed its Triple A affiliate in his hometown of Nashville. Each year thereafter presented enough progress to continue. After 2010, when R.A. Dickey finally established himself as a bona fide big-league pitcher, he opted for stability over future earning potential. He struck his deal with the Mets, which features a $5 million club option for 2013, in January to avoid arbitration. Then he flew to New York for his physical and some meetings with publishing houses. He learned he’d passed his physical while inside his literary agent’s office. “It was all I could do not to weep in front of her,” he said. With his coffers suddenly flush, he bought the minivan. He snagged a pair of iPhones. He paid some debts. He bolstered his children’s college funds. And he felt a long-awaited sense of relief. So after many years of turmoil, his life has settled. That’s why he reaped the opportunities before him. He had been writing his book for years — now he could find a publisher. An Ernest Hemingway story about Kilimanjaro captured his imagination as a boy — now he could summit the mountain and raise money for charity. The obvious question: What comes next? Anne mentioned taking their two girls to India this year. R.A. Dickey intends to pen short stories. He does not know if he’ll have the time. Better yet, he isn’t worried if he has the time. “I don’t feel like I have anything pressing that I really need to do, or have to do, or even want to do,” he said. “I just want to be a good baseball player.” He grinned. “Which is hard enough.” SWEET REWARD The other day, Anne Dickey ran into an old acquaintance, and they got to talking about her husband because most everyone asks about him these days. She mentioned the book, the most obvious emblem of his success. “I’ve always been so proud of him,” the acquaintance said. “He never gave up.” “It was just so nice to hear,” Anne Dickey said as she wheeled the Millennium Falcon toward home. “And nice for me, as his wife, to say, ‘Yeah, I really am, too.’ I don’t want that to ever get old.” Andy McCullough: amccullough@starledger.com; twitter.com/McCulloughSL

metirish Mar 25 2012 09:58 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Just pre-ordered it for the Kindle ......looking forward to reading it on the 29th...hey just noticed that Wayne Coffey is the co-author ,this is the guy that was writing the Randoph book when the Mets fired him right? I remember he was a bitter fella after that,

TheOldMole Mar 26 2012 07:00 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Why all the Dickey hostility?

Benjamin Grimm Mar 26 2012 07:52 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I remember that I used to read every Mets book that came out. Then Lenny Dykstra "wrote" a book, and I just couldn't go there, so that cured me. Dickey seems like a good guy, and I'm certainly rooting for his success to continue, but I do roll my eyes at his faux intellectualism. I doubt that I'll read his book, but who knows? If I eventually see it on a remainder table for a buck or two I might pick it up and let it ripen on my bookshelf for a few years before I finally read it.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 26 2012 08:10 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

TheOldMole wrote: Why all the Dickey hostility? There was a point early last season where everyone was so enamored of Dickey's 50-cent words and Star Wars references they gave him a pass on a stretch of starts where he non-Dickeyly gave away nearly every lead the team gave him. I was mad not so much at Dickey but at the free ride he was getting inspiring a "STFU Dickey" campaign I kept up mostly for fun even after he pitched more Dickeyly later in the season.

Edgy MD Mar 26 2012 08:12 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

The obsession with Dickey's nutsack had been getting creepy by then.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 26 2012 09:31 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

TheOldMole wrote: Why all the Dickey hostility? That's a question I've been asking for the last year or so. I don't know about faux-intellectualism-- the guy reads a lot, and knows big words, and gives-- diction aside-- more thoughtful postgame interviews than 99% of pro athletes do. He's in roughly the same percentile regarding perspective on the fragility of it all. And he's an amiable goof who throws a goofy, workingman's-weirdo pitch. And oh yeah-- he's given the team more innings, starts, and "quality starts" than any other pitcher on the roster since he joined the major-league team.

Vic Sage Mar 26 2012 09:34 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: TheOldMole wrote: Why all the Dickey hostility? That's a question I've been asking for the last year or so. I don't know about faux-intellectualism-- the guy reads a lot, and knows big words, and gives-- diction aside-- more thoughtful postgame interviews than 99% of pro athletes do. He's in roughly the same percentile regarding perspective on the fragility of it all. And he's an amiable goof who throws a goofy, workingman's-weirdo pitch. And oh yeah-- he's given the team more innings, starts, and "quality starts" than any other pitcher on the roster since he joined the major-league team. This ++doubleplusgood

Ceetar Mar 26 2012 09:52 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: And oh yeah-- he's given the team more innings, starts, and "quality starts" than any other pitcher on the roster since he joined the major-league team. He has a better (basically the same) ERA as Tim Lincecum over that time.

G-Fafif Mar 26 2012 10:00 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

If you caught MLBN's 30 For 30 on the Mets, the highlight was clearly R.A.'s lighthearted tour of the St. Lucie clubhouse, including leading the cameras to Mike Pelfrey in the Jacuzzi (no closeups, I'm delighted to say). He came off as more of a fun teammate than I would have guessed when I first became mesmerized by his postgame interviews in 2010. Maybe job security makes you loosen up. I enjoyed JCL's STFU R.A. campaign, which surprised me given that I was so in love with him when 2011 started. Everybody's a more intriguing personality when pitching/playing well.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 26 2012 10:02 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Vic Sage wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: TheOldMole wrote: Why all the Dickey hostility? That's a question I've been asking for the last year or so. I don't know about faux-intellectualism-- the guy reads a lot, and knows big words, and gives-- diction aside-- more thoughtful postgame interviews than 99% of pro athletes do. He's in roughly the same percentile regarding perspective on the fragility of it all. And he's an amiable goof who throws a goofy, workingman's-weirdo pitch. And oh yeah-- he's given the team more innings, starts, and "quality starts" than any other pitcher on the roster since he joined the major-league team. This ++doubleplusgood Again, great numbers overall and super guy but received an awful lot of oral while getting off to a 1-5 start last year that practically buried us. [url]http://www.cranepoolforum.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15884

attgig Mar 26 2012 10:12 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Again, great numbers overall and super guy but received an awful lot of oral while getting off to a 1-5 start last year that practically buried us. [url]http://www.cranepoolforum.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15884 I think in the end, wherever the mets wind up, people still appreciate truth, authenticity and a perfect knuckleball.

Vic Sage Mar 26 2012 10:26 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Again, great numbers overall and super guy but received an awful lot of oral while getting off to a 1-5 start last year that practically buried us. http://www.cranepoolforum.net/phpBB3/vi ... =1&t=15884 yeah, Bucket, except your first STFU was posted on 4/14 when Dickey was 1-2 (1 excellent start, 1 mediocre-bad start, 1 terrible start) which indicates some latent hostility not derived from a 1-5 start that hadn't yet occurred at that point.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 26 2012 10:31 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Vic Sage wrote: Again, great numbers overall and super guy but received an awful lot of oral while getting off to a 1-5 start last year that practically buried us. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15884 yeah, Bucket, except your first STFU was posted on 4/14 when Dickey was 1-2 (1 excellent start, 1 mediocre-bad start, 1 terrible start) which indicates some latent hostility not derived from a 1-5 start that hadn't yet occurred at that point. Oh STFU

Edgy MD Mar 26 2012 10:33 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I wonder if striking a modest handful of gold in the Dickey signing wasn't such a wonderful turn of good fortune amidst so much bad that some can't bring ourselves to trust it to any more than a begrudging degree, and so hold onto our <3's ever more tightly, lest the gold suddenly reveal itself to be the fool's variety most turns out to be.

metirish Mar 26 2012 10:36 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Edgy DC wrote: I wonder if striking a modest handful of gold in the Dickey signing wasn't such a wonderful turn of good fortune amidst so much bad that some can't bring ourselves to trust it to any more than a begrudging degree, and so hold onto our <3's ever more tightly, lest the gold suddenly reveal itself to be the fool's variety most turns out to be. Justified!

Vic Sage Mar 26 2012 10:57 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Oh STFU well said.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 26 2012 10:59 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Thanks. Also, it's been proven the stepped up aggressiveness of the STFU Dickey campaign caused him to start pitching better.

Ceetar Mar 26 2012 11:27 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Thanks. Also, it's been proven the stepped up aggressiveness of the STFU Dickey campaign caused him to start pitching better. Then you've really dropped the ball on the STFU Bay campaign.

Vic Sage Mar 26 2012 12:53 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

yeah, really. wtf?

Ceetar Mar 27 2012 07:41 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

some powerful stuff here, an excerpt: [url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/03/26/dickey.excerpt/index.html

metirish Mar 27 2012 09:07 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Not sure this is powerful as kind of funny and not in a ha ha way. In the bathroom one day before a game, I turn to get a towel after washing my hands and notice something underneath one of the stall partitions. I take a step closer. It is a syringe. The sight of it makes me cringe, the shiny thin needle lying randomly on the tile floor. My mind races with thoughts about how and why it got there. I know as much about needles as I do about jewelry, but I'm pretty sure this isn't a sewing needle. it reads like a bad novel.

Edgy MD Mar 27 2012 09:12 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Rangers 2001. I imagine the clubhouse was littered with 'em.

G-Fafif Mar 27 2012 09:21 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

metirish wrote: it reads like a bad novel. Man, I hope they asked JCL to blurb the back cover.

Vic Sage Mar 27 2012 09:25 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

the guy reveals being sexually abused as a child and you guys are criticizing the writing style? really?

metirish Mar 27 2012 09:27 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Vic Sage wrote: the guy reveals being sexually abused as a child and you guys are criticizing the writing style? really? I didn't read that, shit......

Edgy MD Mar 27 2012 09:47 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

The babysitter has her way with me four or five more times that summer, and into the fall, and each time feels more wicked than the time before. Every time that I know I'm going back over there, the sweat starts to come back. I sit in the front seat of the car, next to my mother, anxiety surging. I never tell her why I am so afraid. I never tell anyone until I am 31 years old.

G-Fafif Mar 27 2012 09:53 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

It's a chilling incident yet all I keep seeing as he describes it is an eight-year-old body with R.A. Dickey's adult head, beard and all.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 27 2012 12:37 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

G-Fafif wrote: It's a chilling incident yet all I keep seeing as he describes it is an eight-year-old body with R.A. Dickey's adult head, beard and all. [Fighting hard not to laugh] [Losing fight]

Farmer Ted Mar 27 2012 01:03 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

It might be the finest piece of nonfiction baseball writing since Ball Four. Perhaps above all, it's a classic epic quest, a flawed hero's unlikely odyssey to the major leagues and to discovering the mystical pitch that helped him get there. "You know what it is to me?" asks Dickey. "A vision I saw to fulfillment."

Edgy MD Mar 27 2012 02:49 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Contemplated suicide as recently as 2006.

Ashie62 Mar 27 2012 05:08 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Thats a conversation stopper.

Edgy MD Mar 27 2012 05:36 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Farmer Ted wrote: It might be the finest piece of nonfiction baseball writing since Ball Four. Perhaps above all, it's a classic epic quest, a flawed hero's unlikely odyssey to the major leagues and to discovering the mystical pitch that helped him get there. "You know what it is to me?" asks Dickey. "A vision I saw to fulfillment." You're a fast reader.

Farmer Ted Mar 27 2012 06:25 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

No, a fast poster who forgot to give attribution. Me, epic failure. Must climb Kilimanjaro for forgiveness.

G-Fafif Mar 28 2012 06:13 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

From Mike Kerwick's notes column in the Record: Collins on R.A. Dickey’s new book: "I didn’t know there was a book. I can’t worry about books at the moment." Terry a little uptight as Opening Day nears? Or is he miffed that R.A. had this to say about Game 162 of 2011? On Terry Collins’s decision to pull Jose Reyes from the lineup after his first at-bat in his last game as a Met in an attempt to preserve his lead in the National League batting race: “The whole thing was very unfortunate, and to my mind, could’ve been handled better by everybody. At the very least, I would’ve loved to have seen Jose go out to short for the top of the second. … It would’ve been a more fitting departure for a player who truly leaves it all out on the field.” More excerpts here.

Ashie62 Mar 28 2012 08:42 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Interesting stuff for sure. I find it hard to read. The syntax and phrasing of the writing are awkward. This book needed someone to edit it properly.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 29 2012 08:30 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Nice article by Andy Martino. (Is he "Tracksuit"? I can never remember...) Tale is man-made for NY Mets' R.A. Dickey, goes against conventions of macho sports world for his own sake Knuckle-baller breaks the mold in memoir NEW YORK DAILY NEWS R.A. Dickey's memoir, scheduled to hit bookstores Thursday, reveals that he was abused as an 8-year-old and contemplated suicide as recently as 2006. PORT ST. LUCIE — Sports offers many definitions of manhood, most of which are warped and backward. A man plays through pain, even if that is an unhealthy choice. A man does whatever it takes to be bigger and stronger, even if it means shooting steroids. A man treats women as conquests, even if he is married. And a man does not stand apart from the crowd, or say anything controversial, unless he is a winner on the field. “Why is R.A Dickey writing a memoir?” a friend of mine in baseball, a good person who slipped into that old mentality, asked this week. “What does he have, 40 wins?” Yes, R.A. Dickey is 41-50 in his career, and for years wallowed in the minor leagues. With his knuckleball refined, he is now a valuable member of the Mets rotation, but he is not an All-Star. Since arriving in New York, with an ambitious vocabulary and Phish-fan hair, he has hardly acted the part of traditional macho athlete, a persona that has triggered the occasional eye roll from old-school members of the Mets family (although he is highly respected by most teammates, who see his on-field toughness). But if we could break free of the sports-world mold and imagine a more complete definition of manhood, it would look like what I saw in the Mets clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon: Dickey, his voice quiet but firm as he labored to stifle emotion, discussing being sexually abused as an 8-year-old, as revealed in his memoir, “Wherever I Wind Up,” written with the Daily News’ Wayne Coffey, and published on Thursday by Penguin/Blue Rider. There he was, flanked by sportswriters in a locker room he shared with professional athletes — and all the buttoned-up attitudes they often display — ripping open the rawest, most infected wound of his life. Addressing people who usually ask him about pitch selection and muscle strains, he answered questions about child molestation, and its impact on his life and marriage. He spoke about his inability until recently to tell his wife, Anne, about his life-defining trauma. He spoke about the suicidal thoughts that arose after he cheated on Anne, and felt like a hypocrite posing as a Christian. This is not to praise everything about Dickey; when he said about the memoir that “the only person I throw under the bus is me,” he meant it. In “Wherever I Wind Up,” we meet a surly husband, an adulterer and a young man unable to face the deepest parts of himself. For most of the book, the reader might not love this character called “R.A. Dickey.” But it is in his willingness to be self-aware, ultimately confronting his flaws and embracing the need to treat himself and others with sensitivity, that the character is redeemed. And then, after reconnecting with Anne and processing the abuse he suffered, Dickey took the most courageous step: He shared with the world what he could not tell his family just a few years ago, and stood in the clubhouse — the epicenter of old-fashioned manly repression — and did it again. The often-cruel Internet lit up with appreciation. On comment boards and on Twitter, victims of sexual abuse thanked Dickey for sharing his story, and emphasized how his decision would help eradicate a taboo that ruins lives. With his openness, sensitivity, and above all, willingness to be publicly vulnerable, Dickey failed to live up to the traditional ideas of manhood often promoted in sports. In doing so, he became the type of man who has a chance to be healthy, happy and a true model for us and our sons.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 29 2012 08:42 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

The excerpt in the Snooze today relates a separate incident of sex abuse, not a babysitter but an older male kid. I don't know if that got out yet.

soupcan Mar 29 2012 10:49 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Someone said to me this morning that they have a hard time finding sympathy for an 8-yr. old boy getting sexually 'abused' by a 13 year-old girl. As callous as that sounds, I think we all know what he meant and unfortunately though, that's probably going to be the reaction from a lot of muy macho types in response to Dickey's story. Two things about that: - I think the vast, vast majority of 8 year-old boys would be incredibly uncomfortable in that situation and if you come across someone who says that they wouldn't have, then I'd say to them that they have a very unrealistic memory of their own psyche at that age. - If you still can't make them understand, ask them what their response would be if it were their own 8 year-old son that was the victim.

Edgy MD Mar 29 2012 11:00 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

"Muy macho types" should just read the book.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 29 2012 11:04 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

That would involve reading a book.

metsmarathon Mar 29 2012 11:11 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

i wish i could say that i'm shocked by that mindset. it's just unfathomable. i don't care who you are, how old you are, what your gender or orientation is, or how good you look, and i certainly don't care about the identiy, age, gender, or appearance of the aggressor. there is simply no point in your life when non-consensual sexual contact is not a deeply troubling, life-altering thing. and if you can't see that when the victim is 8 and the aggressor is in a position of authority, be it only a teenage babysitter, you're fucking blind. at no point does any victim of rape look back upon the incident and think, "dude, that was fucking awesome! i got me some fucking pussy!!" fools.

Edgy MD Mar 30 2012 09:02 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Mets supposedly discussing giving Revealing All Dickey a contract extension.

themetfairy Apr 08 2012 09:18 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I just finished the book this evening. Despite the intensely personal accounts of Dickey's struggles and tribulations, it is a compelling and inspirational read. Not your typical jock bio, for sure. It had to have been difficult for him to write this, but apparently cathartic as well. I have a lot of admiration for him for being able to be so brutally honest with himself, and to be able to do it publicly to boot.

TransMonk Apr 10 2012 10:56 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

For nerds like me...Dickey will be on NPR's Fresh Air today to talk about his book. http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 10 2012 05:35 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

A little clunky/hokey in spots, and as confessional memoirs go, it isn't as lurid or as viscerally powerful as, say, Rousseau or Kathryn Harrison, nor as engrossing as "Running With Scissors." And the recent Hayhurst book is more funny. But that might be a little unfair. It kicks the living poo out of most jock bios, and as Fairy said, it's pretty compelling, and damn if he doesn't come off more likable (perhaps at the cost of penning a better, more vivid, slightly more gloves-off bio).

bmfc1 Apr 10 2012 05:49 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I liked it, didn't love it. The timing for the book was poor as it suffered by comparison to the excellent "Out of My League", by Dirk Hayhurst (also enjoyed by LWFS). I loved his interactions with the knuckleball gods. I didn't like him talking about God as often as he did. That's him and that's fine but it's a big part of his book and it was often too much for me. Don't look for dirt on other players, other than about A. Rodriguez. I admire him for persevering and finished the book a bigger RA Dickey fan than before.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 10 2012 05:54 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

bmfc1 wrote: Don't look for dirt on other players, other than about A. Rodriguez. There was also the shoe-kicking veteran Texas righty (Heiling?).

themetfairy Apr 10 2012 05:59 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I loved the story about his future mother-in-law yelling at Nolan Ryan

bmfc1 Apr 10 2012 07:08 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Don't look for dirt on other players, other than about A. Rodriguez. There was also the shoe-kicking veteran Texas righty (Heiling?). It was 2001. I think he said that the pitcher was released soon after. RA made his debut on April 22d. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams ... ions.shtml It wasn't Jonathan Johnson who is RA's buddy. It wasn't Brantley who bought him clothes. So if the transaction log is accurate, it was Kevin Foster (whomever that is) who was released in August. Helling pitched the entire season for Texas.

Nymr83 Apr 10 2012 07:29 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Dickey was on yesterday's Baseball Today podcast (at www.espn.com/podcenter) promoting the book. I'm in the middle of Hayhurst's "Bullpen Gospels" and loving it, "Out of My League" is next on my list, and then I'll probably give Dickey's book a shot.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 12 2012 12:13 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

R.A. Dickey on public radio's Fresh Air.

attgig Apr 20 2012 09:05 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

knuckleball the movie @ tribeca film festival: clip1:http://bcove.me/9f9ho1x9 clip2: http://bcove.me/r5u38im6 http://www.knuckleballmovie.com/ http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/kn ... 5F7GqtSQsI Sat 4/21 8:00PM Tribeca Drive-in FREE EVENT Sun 4/22 3:00PM AMC Loews Village 7 - 1 RUSH TICKETS Fri 4/27 4:00PM AMC Loews Village 7 - 2 BUY TICKETS Sat 4/28 4:00PM Tribeca Cinemas Theater 2 Note RUSH TICKETS wished i lived in ny...

Ceetar Apr 20 2012 09:12 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I may go. Probably going to be the city tomorrow afternoon anyway. Obviously depends on the weather since it's an outdoor event.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 20 2012 09:31 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Read Aloud Dickey better not surrender the lead twice to a division rival in a road rubber game next time around or people are going to start blaming his NPR appearances and film-festival openings.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 20 2012 09:42 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Read Aloud Dickey better not surrender the lead twice to a division rival in a road rubber game next time around or people are going to start blaming his NPR appearances and film-festival openings. Well, you certainly are fixated on that.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 20 2012 09:52 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I promise to give it up when he stops blowing leads.

attgig Apr 20 2012 10:02 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Read Aloud Dickey better not surrender the lead twice to a division rival in a road rubber game next time around or people are going to start blaming his NPR appearances and film-festival openings. maybe you're onto something... madden curse translated to knuckleballers...

Edgy MD Apr 20 2012 10:17 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Doug Flynn better start showing some power or people are going to start blaming all the dog porno he's doing.

Edgy MD May 03 2012 12:39 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Dickey pitching the wiffleknuckler in Tompkins Square Park.

metirish May 03 2012 01:32 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Shocked to see a camera crew there, probably just happened to be in that area.

Vic Sage May 03 2012 01:33 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I promise to give it up when he stops blowing leads. blow this. He's been our best SP for the last 2+ seasons, and has had exactly 1 bad outing this year (out of 5 starts),, beating division rivals ATL, PHI and MIA so far. Whatever your problem is with Mr. Dickey, he ain't the problem. so please remove your cock from his ass and find a new horse to ride in on. or something.

Fman99 May 03 2012 01:38 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Wait, who's fucking the horse's ass?

Vic Sage May 03 2012 01:42 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

yeah, i got lost somewhere in the midst of a mixed and particularly vile and inapt metaphor. I knew i could count on you, though, to jump into the breach... or whatever. sorry, i just can't get that Doug Flynn "dog porno" out of my head.

Edgy MD May 03 2012 01:47 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

We're about 17-18 days short of Dickey's second anniversary of Metness.

Mets – Willets Point May 03 2012 02:17 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Vic Sage wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I promise to give it up when he stops blowing leads. blow this. He's been our best SP for the last 2+ seasons, and has had exactly 1 bad outing this year (out of 5 starts),, beating division rivals ATL, PHI and MIA so far. Whatever your problem is with Mr. Dickey, he ain't the problem. so please remove your cock from his ass and find a new horse to ride in on. or something.

Ceetar May 07 2012 01:33 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Don't look for dirt on other players, other than about A. Rodriguez. There was also the shoe-kicking veteran Texas righty (Heiling?). It was 2001. I think he said that the pitcher was released soon after. RA made his debut on April 22d. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams ... ions.shtml It wasn't Jonathan Johnson who is RA's buddy. It wasn't Brantley who bought him clothes. So if the transaction log is accurate, it was Kevin Foster (whomever that is) who was released in August. Helling pitched the entire season for Texas. Tim Crabtree maybe? [url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/crabtti01.shtml Jeff Brantley most likely [url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brantje01.shtml Just finished the book. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It was interspersed with some pages about last year, which I found particularly interesting. Mentoring Pelfrey, hopping a fence with him to kick field goals on a back field near Digital Domain Park in order to win a bet with David Wright. Passionate farewells to Beltran and Reyes as well as mentioning that Beltran probably bought suits for any number of rookies to look good on road trips. Also confesses that he was disappointed that they did trade Beltran and K-Rod, truly believing they were in the race. Jerry Manuel doesn't come off real good either, not that you'd expect him to.

seawolf17 May 07 2012 05:42 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Just finished this; I was curious to know who the shoe-kicker was too. Brantley makes sense; good detective work. Really enjoyed it; Dickey's not a great writer, but he has an interesting tale.

TransMonk May 15 2012 06:55 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

I finished this over the weekend. It was pretty good. It seemed like a lot of it was about praising his wife in an attempt to show how sorry he was for messing around on her and there was a lot of God-talk. But overall, a pretty interesting read. I enjoyed the part where he was being courted by the Twins in 2008 when they were in the middle of putting together the trade for Johan to the Mets. He met with them at the winter meetings and told them that he could pick up the slack if they traded Johan. Good book, for a ballplayer.

Edgy MD May 15 2012 08:33 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

And of course, he's spent much of his Mets career doing just that. Is there any reason his 2011 chapter was interspersed into little chapterlets throughout the book? It didn't really help the narrative. My guess is that the book comes to the dramatic conclusion in 2010, and the rest is boring tiresome "Life After Garp" epilogue, but he had this extra material by the time he was finished, and it would have been conspicuous had they left 2011 out, so they chopped it up and turned it into garnish. Poor 2011!

Ceetar May 15 2012 09:19 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Edgy DC wrote: And of course, he's spent much of his Mets career doing just that. Is there any reason his 2011 chapter was interspersed into little chapterlets dispersed through the book? It didn't really help the narrative. My guess is that the book comes to the dramatic conclusion in 2010, and the rest is boring tiresome "Life After Garp" epilogue, but he had this extra material by the time he was finished, and it would have been conspicuous had they left 2011 out, so they chopped it up and turned it into garnish. Poor 2011! year, it was a little weirdly spaced, but I did enjoy a bunch of that 2011 stuff (Pelfrey and Dickey jumped a fence to kick field goals in Spring Training for instance) so i'm glad it didn't get cup.

bmfc1 Jun 07 2012 04:58 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Good article on R.A. in [u:2cmyjtiz]The Washington Post[/u:2cmyjtiz]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/na ... story.html

Ceetar Jun 07 2012 06:35 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

one from yesterday about his using Game of Thrones music as his intro: [url]http://www.sportmanagementacademy.com/2012/06/06/a-baseball-game-of-thrones-r-a-dickeys-new-alliance/

Nymr83 Jun 07 2012 07:25 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Edgy DC wrote: And of course, he's spent much of his Mets career doing just that. Is there any reason his 2011 chapter was interspersed into little chapterlets throughout the book? It didn't really help the narrative. My guess is that the book comes to the dramatic conclusion in 2010, and the rest is boring tiresome "Life After Garp" epilogue, but he had this extra material by the time he was finished, and it would have been conspicuous had they left 2011 out, so they chopped it up and turned it into garnish. Poor 2011! That's probably right, but I found the glimpses ahead to the "good times" of 2011 to be uplifting intervals while reading through his struggles. This was one small area in which I found his book to be superior to Hayhurst's "out of my league"

Mets – Willets Point Jun 13 2012 07:34 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I promise to give it up when he stops blowing leads. Promise?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 13 2012 07:43 PM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Mets – Willets Point wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I promise to give it up when he stops blowing leads. Promise? I think it's been proven that giving RA Dickey shit when you guys were all blowing him has only made him a better pitcher. I renege on any and all promises. PS, ask anyone here, I outbid a roomful of Mets fans to Dickeify my fantasy roster, I know what the score is.

G-Fafif Jun 15 2012 07:21 AM Re: Dickey's Memoir

Just finished Wherever I Wind Up. Much to recommend it. Dickey comes across less as the mesmerizing and quirky vocabularian of postgame media scrums and more as a perpetually (and not unreasonably so) insecure human being whose enormous athletic ability (No. 1 draft pick, three-sport star in school) took a wrong turn via physical misfortune. The baseball part of the book is the fight to repurpose himself as a "trustworthy" knuckleballer, with most of the story about the frustration and only a little of the apparent triumph of the past couple of years (which he seems unwilling to accept as anything but temporary). The personal part, about the sad childhood and the lapses of adulthood, is compelling, though nobody outside his professor in continuing education class would ever have read it had he not had the good sense to succeed as a professional baseball player. Big on the spiritual stuff. Very big. I both love and hate having to consider ballplayers as people, loving it because it makes them so much more real, hate it because I don't want to temper my dismay for a bad outing by understanding more might be going on than YOU SUCK! Dickey's memoir is an outstanding advertisement for understanding.