DICKEY 2012 - 9/13/17
An unexpected guy
Had an unexpected year
With an unpredictable pitch
The knuckleball
As per the man
Was a pitch he learned
Out of desperation
Three years prior
Found himself off
The Minnesota Twins playoff roster
Now a star
On the biggest market
Wearing blue and orange
And created quite a name
For himself
In 233.2 innings pitched
34 games
33 starts
20 wins
6 losses
2.73 ERA
5 complete games
3 shutouts
230 strikeouts
The stats were great
But it was more than that
Against two AL East clubs
Tampa Bay
Baltimore
Back-to-back
One hitters
Night after No-han
He shutout the Cards
At exactly 100 pitches
Even the last home start of the season
Something as simple
As running out
An infield single
And being safe
He was on a complete roll
Off the field
He became a phenomenon
Part of a documentary
Based off his pitch
E60 on his struggles
And life he has lead
His autobiography
Hitting book shelves
And a guest spot on
LETTERMAN!
But the crowning achievement
Was being named a National League All-Star
He should have started
Personal opinion
But Coach La Russa
Gave it to Matt Cain
Regardless
He came in the 6th inning
And struck out
Mark Trumbo
And earned himself
A notch in
All-Star game history
With a K
In his last home start
September 27, 2012
Besides the infield single
He went 7.2 innings
8 hits
3 runs given up
Threw 128 pitches
Had 13 K’s
After TC took him out
Citi Field gave him
A standing ovation
Well deserved
But most of all
Win number 20
The first in a Mets jersey
To do so
Since Frank Viola in 1990
History was made
And he was humbled in front of the crowd
A few weeks later
The 2012 NL Cy Young
Was awarded to him
Beat out Gio Gonzalez
For the incredible honor
A few weeks after that
The Mets traded him
While the value was high
And sent him to Toronto
Got back Travis d’Arnaud
And a young Texas arm
Named Noah Syndergaard
To this day
The trade still pays dividends
The bottom line is simple
Despite a lot of lean years
In Queens
Some glimmers of hope
Keep the dream alive
The Mets had that in 2012
#43 brought passion
Heart
And a little geekdom
To become an unlikely
Underdog hero
And an inspiration
To baseball fans
Who can simply dream
Anything is possible
Like a thrown
KNUCKLEBALL.
Jon Harder
