December 5, 2012 Life changed for R.A. Dickey only a little more than two years ago. Longtime minor-leaguer finally hit the majors with a new pitch: the knuckleball. Since then, he has won the Cy Young Award, given annually to the best pitcher in the National League– another pitcher wins for the American League– as a member of the New York Mets. He scaled Mount Kilimanjaro. He was featured in the baseball documentary Knuckleball!. He wrote a book, Wherever I Wind Up, a memoir detailing his unique and topsy-turvy career. And now he’s made an appearance on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show to talk about it all.
The Nashville-born star is renowned for his knuckleballl, the most difficult pitch in baseball; Dickey is just one of a handful of major leaguers in history to master it. His memoir details his unexpected path to success: after struggling the minors, he committed himself to a rebirth. Dickey spent years learning to throw a knuckleball. Finally, in 2010 at 35 years old, he found himself as a regular starter for the Mets. Two years later, he won the Cy Young.
Dickey is a noted book lover, and he told Stewart about his path to authorship: “I’ve always been drawn to the written word. I think there’s something very permanent about it,” he said. “I became a voracious reader in high school…and had a passion for trying to tell story.”
Click here to watch the full interview (two parts). To read Chapter 16’s interview with Dickey, click here.
For more updates on Tennessee authors, please visit Chapter 16’s News & Notes page, here.
