R.A. Dickey Wins NL Cy Young Award

It has been a long, long road for Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey. 

A guy who struggled to find a home in Major League Baseball, bouncing around as both a spot starter and reliever in the majors and minors, Dickey was this close to finding himself on the way out of baseball. Nobody understood the potential Dickey possessed in that right arm of his, and in turn it took time for him to hone the skills of the knucker.

Since coming to the Mets in 2010, Dickey has found a home, becoming one of baseball's most reliable and consistent starting pitchers. While his win-lose record didn't indicate it in 2010 and 2011, Dickey was quickly becoming the ace of the New York Mets staff. His uncanny ability to not only fool hitters, but blow them away with his hard-knuckler solidified his spot in the Mets rotation.

Now R.A. Dickey has a Cy Young award to show for his efforts. After a fantastic 2012 season, in which Dickey won 20 games for a beligurered Mets team was quiet an accomplishment. It is one thing to win 20 games, it is quite another when it is done on a team that doesn't produce much runs. But that is what Dickey was able to do. Every fifth day, he put the Mets on his back, and gave the team a heck of a chance to win when he was on the mound.

With each good performance, and each win, the Mets confidence in their 38-year-old ace grew with each start. He was the guiding light in an otherwise dismal season. Dickey's performance throughout the year, not only trumpeted the no-hitter by Johan Santana last summer, every start Dickey made became a must see event, including his much-ballyhooed appearance in the All Star Game. 

The reason why Dickey has received so much acclaim and attention is very simple: Dickey is a true professional, a gentlemen, who never forgot where he came from, playing in a game dominated by guys with big time egos and even bigger paychecks.

Now Dickey is alone as the first knuckler to ever win the Cy Young award, and is the third Mets pitcher to win the honor, joining Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden.

Dickey deserved the honor, and now the Mets need to show him how much his efforts mean to this franchise by completing an extension to sign him. He wants to remain a Met, as a way to thank the organization for believing in him when so many others didn't.

"Just being mentioned in the same breath as those guys is an honor. But for me, this is an honor to be shared. It's a great honor, and I am not a self-made man by any stretch of the imagination. There have been countless people who have poured into me in a way that has changed my life -- not only on the field, but off," Dickey said.

Enjoy R.A. you earned every ounce of it!