R.A. Dickey
Playing out innings while pedalling uphill
As a major-league baseball player, to choose to throw a pitch that is unorthodox, methodical and unpredictable, is to be unorthodox yourself. It’s no surprise then that R.A. Dickey – the Toronto Blue Jays’ knuckleballer and avid cyclist – is the type of rider who loves to meander off the beaten path. Dickey arrived in Toronto in a 2012 off-season in a trade with the New York Mets. In September, a day after the former Cy Young Award winner pitched six and two-thirds innings to secure a victory against the Los Angeles Angels – keeping the Blue Jays in the playoff hunt – the 42 year old took my call from the dugout. He chatted about his passion for pedalling. When I asked him to compare the knuckleball and cycling, Dickey laughed. “Life is about metaphors isn’t it?” he said. “Let me try to figure this one out.” After a pause, the pitcher replied, “There is a real freedom in both. Jumping on a bike and taking off for 20 mi. and not being held down, you are out in the open. As a knuckleballer, there is also a lot of freedom in just trying to produce a good knuckleball and the result will take care of itself.” “That’s another similarity,” Dickey continued. “It’s all about the process. Throwing my pitch and being a baseball player – so much of it is about a dedication to the process and not worrying about the result whereas cycling, for me, is all about process: what is my cadence and how am I executing my pedal stroke.”
Cycling, Dickey said, gives him an edge, both physically and mentally. An edge, which other players who aren’t up early pounding the pedals in the off-season, don’t always have. It is also one of the reasons Dickey has had such a long career.
“Early in my career, I ran a lot – 25 to 30 mi. a week in the off-season,” he said. “With cycling, you don’t put as much strain on your joints and that is huge for me. You use your legs so much when you pitch to control your mechanics. Cycling was a real sport-specific workout for me. I found the more I did and the harder I pushed myself on the bike, the better I felt going into spring training.”
“I remember my early years with the Mets. I would bike from the house I rented to the park and home again frequently,” Dickey added. “Even this past spring training, I biked with teammate Brad Penny from the condo to the park numerous times. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing.”
Cycling, for the knuckleballer, is also therapeutic and cathartic. “I love being outside,” he said. “I love pushing myself. I can think of nothing better than being on a nice bike, on a long ride. It’s something I really relish.”
Growing up in Tennessee, Dickey tooled around on bikes, but his real love for the sport and hobby didn’t blossom until his teenage years. “I went on a trip one time when I was around 13 years old,” Dickey recalled. “We started in Nashville and rode to Bowling Green, Ky. I rode the whole way on an old 10-speed bike. It was really cheap and about three-quarters of the way there, my gears locked, so I only had my two hardest gears left. I had to finish the rest of the ride using only these gears. I remember how challenging it was, but also when I finished how rewarding it was. I was hooked.”
At home during the off-season, Dickey rides about 190 km a week. He is still as hooked on the sport as he was back when he was a teen. His favourite ride is one that takes him on a loop through the heart of Music City. “There is a real old part of town in Nashville that has about an 8-mi. stretch that goes through Belle Meade,” he said. “That is one of my favourite rides of all time. I often do a loop. If I do it a couple of times, it’s close to 20 mi; it’s a nice ride that takes the right amount of time. It’s pretty with a lot of hills. It’s also challenging and cool because the park is in the shade, plus there is a long straight away, so I can go fast.”
Does Dickey disconnect from the world of baseball when he is on the bike or does he use this time alone on an open road to visualize the perfect pitch or striking out the toughest batter in a playoff game? “At least half the time I’m on a bike, I’m thinking about facing a certain team or a certain batter, producing a certain result that is favourable for our team and for myself,” he explained. “I try to ingrain that into my subconscious so when I’m competing, it’s something I visualize, see and experience. I will create these scenarios when I’m riding – especially when it’s harder like when I’m pushing up a good incline