R.A. Dickey: A lot of people don't trust the pitch. There's this kind...

The more I grew as a human being, the better I became at my craft.

R.A. Dickey

grew crafts humans

If you aren't willing to face your demons-if you can't find the courage to take on your fear and hurt and anger-you might as well wrap them up with a bow and give them to your children. Because they will be carrying the same thing...unless you are willing to do the work

R.A. Dickey

hurt giving children

It's a pitch you can extend your career with because it's less taxing on your body. It's like dog years, but in reverse. I feel like I'm 27 or 26 in knuckleball years!

R.A. Dickey

careers dog years

Ultimately, our lives hinge on the ability to make right choices and decisions. By God's grace, I made the most important decision a person can ever make. I invited Jesus Christ to be Lord of my life and made a commitment to follow Him. God offers each of us the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus by "confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead" (Romans 10:9). It is a wonderful and peaceful feeling to serve a God who loves me and cares about every detail of my life.

R.A. Dickey

believe commitment jesus

I would use sport as an escape from the pain of what was real. Instead of dealing with the pain, instead of being honest about the pain, instead of asking for help - if I had to do it differently, I would do it differently in that regard.

R.A. Dickey

pain real sports

Out of sheer stubbornness, I just would keep going - just hoping that at some point something would click. I certainly held onto the hope that it might. I had no guarantees, but I trusted that if I worked hard and put in the time, it would eventually reap a fruit. I just didn't know what that fruit was going to be or how big it was going to be.

R.A. Dickey

fruit guarantees might

I've worked for everything I've ever got and it's worked out. Even if I was the Cy Young Award winner I still would not want to feel that sense of entitlement. I would still treat every game like it's my very first game and my very last game.

R.A. Dickey

awards games want

I had a wife that did not want me to have a singular regret about chasing my dream, which helped me tremendously. I did not want to have a singular regret. I always held out hope that it was going to turn for the better. That's always what motivated me was hope.

R.A. Dickey

regret wife dream

In an unhealthy way, I found a lot of validity in having always been a very good athlete, a very good baseball player, and I've since grown out of that place into a different perspective and learned how to live differently, thankfully, where baseball is certainly something that's very important to me. It's not who I am, though. It's just what I do.

R.A. Dickey

athlete player baseball

I could never get a real good clear picture of what I could become.

R.A. Dickey

clear real

I think what motivated me was just hope. Something inside of me, deep down in my guts, always felt like there was something in there.

R.A. Dickey

guts motivated thinking

I don't really feel much more confident than I did the last couple years. I've always felt like I have a pretty good knuckleball. I worked hard to do that.?

R.A. Dickey

knuckleballs couple years

I had a lot of fear that would motivate me to try to work hard, because I didn't know what I would do if I wasn't a baseball player.

R.A. Dickey

hard-work player baseball

I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of an organization that's committed to winning.

R.A. Dickey

excited organization winning

Realistically, I shouldn't be able to turn a doorknob without having some discomfort.

R.A. Dickey

discomfort turns able

There's been this steady metamorphosis from just surviving to being a craftsman and, ultimately, the hope is to be an artist in what you do.?

R.A. Dickey

metamorphosis craftsman artist

You never go into a season thinking you're going to strike out 200 guys or that you would have the most double-digit strikeout games in the big leagues, or anything like that. You just try to win, and the outing becomes what the outing becomes.

R.A. Dickey

games winning thinking

When you start a game, you don't think to yourself, "well, OK, I'm going throw a one-hitter today." It just becomes an organism, your outing becomes an organism and it grows.

R.A. Dickey

games today thinking

Who doesn’t want a Cy Young Award? What kid didn’t grow up wanting to be the best? I’m no different. I want to be the best. I’ve always wanted to be the best.

R.A. Dickey

growing-up awards kids

The #‎ knuckleball can be a metaphor of what it's like to let go.

R.A. Dickey

knuckleballs metaphor letting-go

A lot of people don't trust the pitch. There's this kind of reputation it has for being untrustworthy and fickle and capricious and everything else, and those are words that big league managers and general managers and organizations aren't too fond of.