My Favorite Baseball Player is Totally R.A.D.

I'm really excited about this week's Around the Horn prompt: favorite player. Because my favorite baseball player is one of my favorite human beings in the universe. I have extremely high standards for my favorite athletes -- not just anyone gets the "favorite" label -- and it truly doesn't get much better than this guy. His mere existence makes me kind of emotional.

Everybody, meet RA Dickey.

There is nothing in the world that's better than a happy RA Dickey.

Here's why he is Extremely Important.

1. He's the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner, an Olympic bronze medalist from Atlanta 1996, a first-round pick in the MLB draft, pitcher of a 20-win season… you get the picture. But he's also the victim of sexual abuse, grew up in a broken home plagued by divorce, alcoholism and borderline homelessness, floundered in the minor leagues for over a decade, and contemplated suicide on more than one occasion. He's overcome so much -- so. much. -- and has achieved such incredible success in spite of it all.

I sort of did a thing with my Dickey shirsey the day he won the Cy Young.

2. Not only did he suffer more than any person should ever have to suffer, but he came out of it a better person. No discernible bitterness, no chip on his shoulder. He went to therapy, renewed his faith, and is just the biggest sweetheart teddy bear. (And I've met him, so I can say that for a fact!) Before the 2012 season, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for a charity that rescues girls from sexual slavery in Mumbai. He's just all heart. I think all of his suffering did nothing but made him kinder.

When I met him I told him I might cry if he got traded… and then a week later I cried when he got traded.

3. After he was drafted by the Texas Rangers, he and the rest of the Olympic team's starting rotation were on the cover of Baseball America before winning Olympic bronze. But someone in the Rangers organization saw that cover and noticed that RA's pitching arm was hanging funny. So they gave him a physical and realized that he's missing his ulnar collateral ligament. Doctors have no idea how he can throw at all, let alone throw without any pain, and suddenly he was a medical mystery and a huge liability for the Rangers. This ended up costing him his big contract and thus began his long slog through the minors… but if you recognize the term UCL, it's because that's what pitchers tear before needing Tommy John surgery. RA Dickey will never need Tommy John surgery because he's literally missing that body part. (And with the slew of pitchers needing Tommy John these last few weeks, that should make him invaluable!)

Your loss, Rangers. Your loss.

4. Not only did RA succeed with a trick elbow, he succeeded with a trick pitch. The knuckleball has sort of been known as a gimmick because nobody can really figure it out, but for RA, it was his last hope. His career as a fastball pitcher was going nowhere, and finally Orel Hershiser told him it was learn the knuckleball or call it quits. So he learned the knuckleball as a last-ditch effort to save his career, and ended up becoming the first-ever knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young. Can I get a hell yeah?

5. He's a huge nerd. HUGE. He studied English in college, keeps a stack of books in his locker and names his bats after literary characters. He's written an autobiography and a children's book. He tweets about things like Harry Potter and art recommendations. And he is the BIGGEST Star Wars fan.

Look at this DORK in his Star Wars onesie. :)

6. He's not perfect. He doesn't pretend to be perfect. He knows that he's screwed up a whole lot and, if I had to guess, he would be the first person to tell you as much. But he spent so long thinking he was absolutely worthless, and has worked so hard to make himself better. He truly deserves everything he's ever achieved and then some.

Oh god this is so long and barely even scratches the surface. One day I might have to chronicle my time as his fan, because it's been quite the experience and I'll never forgive the Mets for trading him. But in the meantime, I highly recommend his autobiography (even though it'll probably break your heart into a million pieces). And if you're looking for a baseball player to fall in love with, I'm willing to share RA with you. :)

5 People I'd Pay $30 To Meet

Earlier this week, I was chatting with Brandon and we ended up on the topic of how I met Jim Craig and Buzz Schneider. Brandon has met Jim Craig for professional reasons, and got to interview him (and also Mike Eruzione and Mark Johnson and let's. not. talk about it.), while I met them at an autograph show for about $30 apiece. Always one to defend my own sanity, I mentioned that the list of people I would pay $30 to meet is very short. I mean, it was on my bucket list to meet Jim, and I named my car after Buzz. I'd only pay to meet people who are very near and dear to my heart.

That prompted quite an interesting discussion as we both mulled over who exactly we would be willing to pay $30 to meet. This "meeting" means an autograph, a picture and a brief conversation. It was actually kind of hard to even make a list at all, and took a good amount of thinking, but I finally came up with my picks!

For some reason, I fell in love with Kristi when I was barely older than a toddler. Actually, I think that reason may have been because she played Jasmine in Aladdin on Ice. I'd really love to meet her just so I could tell her I wrote to her when I was five. And that she wrote back to me. Aaaaand that I still have the note she sent me.

I loooove Apolo. I think of him whenever I yawn particularly big. Is that weird? What can I even say about this dude? He's probably my favorite modern-day Olympian, and he will forever hold a place in my heart.

I feel like I mention Pav really super frequently on this blog (or maybe I'm just confusing this with Tumblr...), but that's because he gives me all the feels. I mean, not only was he an absolutely ridiculously talented hockey player, he's short and quiet, so I feel like we're kindred spirits. And in addition to that, he's kind of a hermit, so if he were ever to emerge and do an autograph signing, I'd pay that $30 in a heartbeat. Hell, I'd pay several times that! And probably cry tears of joy.

Personally, I'm more in awe of Eric's Olympic achievements than pretty much anyone else's in the history of ever. By far. I mean, hello, he swept every speed skating gold medal! Let Usain Bolt start winning marathons in addition to the 100m and then we'll talk about greatest Olympic achievements! But wow, if I ever get to meet Eric Heiden, I'll have to work really hard to pretend I'm not starstruck.

If you're looking for a guy that singlehandedly changed the face of his sport forever, this is him. All high jumpers now use the technique first developed by Dick Fosbury. No exceptions. It's pretty amazing. He's the definition of revolutionary. And legendary. And probably a bunch of other -arys.

If we're being real about this, I could've easily included a solid half of the Miracle on Ice hockey team on this list (especially since my Jim Craig and Buzz Schneider extravaganza was originally supposed to include Mark Johnson). And I would've included R.A. Dickey, but I've already met him... for free. Aw yes. :)

What's kind of interesting is that I think there are different tiers of being willing to pay to meet someone. The people I listed are the people I'd pay to meet without even thinking about it, hands down, no questions asked, willing to go by myself. But I'm sure there are more great athletes I'd decide to pay to meet after weighing the situation a little, and rolling it around in my brain. (See also: John Carlos. You can't say no to meeting a legend like that!)

I also tried to think of non-athletes I'd pay $30 to meet, but I only came up with two: Jon Bon Jovi and J.K. Rowling. So clearly we know where my priorities lie!

What about you, friends? Who would you pay $30 to meet?

Thoughts On Being A "Fan"

Well, I was supposed to have a really cool post published today. But then the cool thing said cool post was supposed to be about got postponed, leaving me utterly post-less (and really annoyed). So what's a blogger to do? Write about something cool that happened a year ago that's sort of relevant to what I was going to write about, of course!

A year ago -- almost exactly to the day, actually -- I met RA Dickey. This was back when he was still a New York Met (*sniffle*), and he did a meet-and-greet photo session at the M&M Store in NYC. (Odd, yes, but I wasn't about to question it.) That was in the afternoon, and that morning I'd been planning on going into the city anyway, to see a free Pentatonix show (which was fab, and I got to meet them afterwards too, so basically it was the best. But I digress).

They are the awesomest. And I told Kirstie I like her blazer. :P

By the time the Pentatonix thing ended, it was well into the chunk of time that RA was supposed to be meeting and greeting. So I hightailed it from Grand Central Station to Times Square by foot -- 'cause the subway would take too long! -- and arrived at the M&M Store, out of breath, to see... nothing.

*sad trombone*

I knew it'd be a close call, but I thought I'd at least be able to make it right at the tail end! I was seriously bummed but figured I might as well take a lap around the store, just in case. So I went up the escalator to the second floor and saw the little area all set up, but still nothing. I meandered around the store a little bit, not willing to give up yet because something felt kind of fishy. And then I turned a corner and there he was; RA Dickey, with a handful of store employees, picking out gifts for his kids.

Note to everyone out there: if you ever want to feel like your stomach dissolved, run into your favorite athlete unexpectedly.

So I scrambled away (because I wanted to meet him, but OH GOD what if he saw me?!?!?! #logic) and noticed a line forming, so I hopped on at the end. It turned out that the meet-and-greet hadn't even started yet, and that I was one of the first dozen or so people there. So the line in front of me dwindled quickly, and suddenly it was my turn, and I was walking up to RA Dickey and shaking his hand.

"I'm such a huge fan of yours," I said.  (Super eloquent, right?)

He smiled, looking genuinely happy. "It means so much to me to hear you say that."

Thrilled with the state of my life, I went to stand beside his throne (seriously) to prepare for the picture and couldn't help telling him, "I might actually cry if you get traded."

He laughed in that flattered, embarrassed sort of way, we smiled for the camera, and I thanked him and scurried away.

But then, plot twist! The camera was supposed to send the pictures directly to a computer so they could be printed and put into a festive, pre-autographed frame. When I went over to get mine, there'd been some sort of malfunction, and several pictures hadn't loaded onto the computer. The employees were trying to figure out the situation and explain it to those involved, and that's when RA spoke up.

He pointed at me. "Did she get her picture?"

No, no I hadn't. Oh darn, I had to stand next to him again and get it redone!

This picture gives me such a case of the warm-fuzzies. :)

A week later he was a Toronto Blue Jay, and I actually did cry when he was traded.

So why the heck am I blathering on about this, you ask?

Well, because I hate that being considered a fan of someone or something has such a negative connotation. Not all of us scream and cry and beg our favorites to marry us, and hearing about the fan that threw herself at Ryan Lochte and injured him absolutely disgusted me. Seriously, are you KIDDING me?! Some of us are perfectly rational human beings and simply want to meet a favorite athlete to thank them. I don't understand the whole hero-worship thing. Whenever I've met someone famous, my first thought is always about how, oh yeah, they're just a regular person. They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else. So as excited as I may be, I pretend I don't have butterflies, wipe my sweaty palms on my pants and act like I would around any other human being.

I collect experiences, not autographs. Honestly, autographs mean nothing to me. What do you even do with an autograph? The frame in which my picture was given to me has RA's autograph on it, and I don't think I've thought about it since that day. Even pictures are kind of take-it-or-leave it. They can go missing or be deleted, after all. But I'll always treasure the experience of telling him how much he meant to this Mets fan, and getting to see that he actually is as wonderful in person as you'd expect him to be. Those 15 seconds mean a whole heck of a lot more than a scribble on a piece of paper.

So sure, call me a fan, but let's not be under any delusions as to what that means. I work in sports, I'm a rational person, and I may be a fan of the Mets, but I probably also hate them more than you do.

Favorites Friday: RA Dickey

Good to see his delivery face hasn't changed much!

Did YOU know the MLB's current National League Cy Young award winner was an Olympian? Back before he was baffling the majors with his knuckleball, he was a fresh-faced fastball pitcher for Team USA in Atlanta in 1996.

I didn't know this until well after I called myself a huge fan of his, and it just got added onto a rapidly growing list of reasons why I love him. I talked last week about the phenomenon of liking an athlete more the more I get to know about him; RA Dickey was my first (and, until Jim Craig, only) experience with this. But it got to a point where some new little tidbit or sound bite would come to light and I would just laugh, because of course it was perfect. Again.

When Dickey started with the Mets, I knew nothing about him. He pitched about .500 for the season, but always seemed to get awful run support because his ERA was low. So the rest of the team got blamed for that, in my mind. And besides, he was a pitcher that hit pretty decently, so I liked him.

The next season was a hot mess, and due to no fault of his own. Again, his ERA was respectable, but his run support was atrocious. Utterly laughable. I watched him pitch quality start after quality start, only to lose because the team just wasn't hitting. I'm a total sucker for an underdog, so I probably have this awful season to credit my fandom to. I saw this amazing pitcher who was being completely let down by his team and was FURIOUS for him.

This was when I first decided I wanted to buy his jersey and found out that it didn't exist. Seriously. So I had to settle for watching interviews, where I discovered that he's a humble, well-educated, well-read, eloquent, nerdy, soft-spoken, polite family-man, and then get even angrier that I couldn't wear his name and number on my back.

But then he signed a contract extension for 2012 and, hallelujah, the Mets came to their senses! I immediately ran to the Mets store in the mall and bought the first one I could find. Who cares that it was a men's shirt and I was basically drowning in it? I chopped a few inches off the bottom and the sleeves and was good to go!

And then... the 2012 season happened and I wanted to cry with happiness. He became the Mets' star, pitching full games, setting the record for consecutive shutout innings, becoming the first pitcher to reach 10 wins, striking out everyone... I was so proud, and had never felt more like a hipster in my entire life. "I've liked him since before his jersey was available in stores! HAH!"

Then he won the Cy Young Award and the Mets traded him to Toronto. >.< The rational, sport administration major in me understands that this was probably the best for all parties involved and what their goals are, but... god, I still hate the Mets for doing it. I was able to meet him in NYC a week (almost to the day) before he was traded, and after telling him I'm such a huge fan of his (to which he responded "It means so much to me to hear you say that!"), I said, "I might actually cry if you're traded." He laughed in that flattered, embarrassed sort of way, but I was serious.

Best. Day. EVER.

And I did. How can you not cry when a player gets traded and tweets "thank you for making me feel wanted" to his New York fans? It still makes me weepy. He's a player that names his bats after books, travels to India to aid an organization dedicated to stopping human trafficking, and dresses up like Star Wars characters with his kids. He's not exactly your run-of-the-mill athlete.

But he WAS named to Team USA for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, which means I can get a jersey with his name on the back and still be able to root for the team on the front. This solves 99% of my baseball-related problems! (The other 1% being how this Miamian/New Yorker is going to watch Toronto's games. I miss him and the season hasn't even started yet.)