R.A. Saves the Day

Readers of Mets Kool-Aid know that we have loved R.A. Dickey from the very start of his Mets career. In fact we surmised that the R.A. stood for "Ridiculously Awesome", only to be disappointed to later find out that it was really Robert Alan.

While Dickey was previously just a good story and seemingly destined to be a flash in the pan, he has recently developed into so much more. In the past week alone R.A. has emerged as a true leader of the 2010 Mets, in addition to being one of their best and most consistent pitchers.

That leadership began to shine through two starts ago when Dickey was unceremoniously pulled from the mound due to an alleged injury in the midst of a great performance. After years of watching the the fragile minds and bodies of Oliver Perez and John Maine, Mets fans probably expected to see Dickey walk quietly to the dugout once Manuel took the ball. But while most 35 year old journeymen with 61 career starts would have done just that, R.A. furiously plead his case to stay in the game and even won the argument for a few minutes before finally getting yanked. He knew that the Mets were struggling mightily and needed him to stay in the game. It was a fire that we have not seen from any current Met other than Johan Santana.

Fast forward to yesterday, when the Mets again needed Dickey to step up and stop the bleeding. After losing an absolute heartbreaker the night before with Santana getting shelled, it was as much of a must win game as you can have in July. All Dickey did was bounce back from his "injury" and respond with 8 innings of shutout ball and a win against a solid Cardinals lineup. On the day that the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt, a loss would have been even more devastating, but R.A. would not let that happen.

Dickey's impact was not only limited to the mound. After the game, he made everyone think twice about giving up on the season just yet: “I’ve got to tell you, you can say a lot of things about the 2010 New York Mets, but you don’t ever say we don’t play hard. I mean, look at Angel Pagan's uniform and Jose Reyes after a 13–inning heartbreaker last night, coming off a 2–9 road trip. We don’t give up, and we’re not going to give up… These guys don’t give up and it’s an honor to be on the team.”

With those words, Dickey officially elevated himself to fan-favorite status and Mets leader. Hopefully he can be the Mets' version of Tim Wakefield for the next five or so years. If the rest of the Mets can think and play like him, they may be able to make 2010 memorable instead of just looking forward to the future.