R.A. Dickey Says -- 2011

[G-Fafif]

R.A. Dickey Postgame Interview Phraseology Countdown: April 3, 2011

5. "collectively"
4. "professional environment"
3. "problem set"
2. "eclipsed"
1. "microcosms"

[G-Fafif]

R.A. Dickey AM Drivetime* Interview Phraseology Countdown: April 7, 2011

3. Arrest -- As in arrest a losing streak. Other would stop at stop, maybe go as far as halt.
2. Chaotic -- That's what the knuckleball is: a "chaotic" pitch.
1. Traverse -- From a story about being stuck in Triple-A and deciding to attempt to swim...no, "traverse" the Missouri River. He didn't so much make it across as survive the adventure, he said.

*On WFAN, with Boomer and Carton, to whom I don't normally listen, but I heard "R.A. Dickey coming up" and I stayed tuned. I'd stay tuned through three hours of Adam the Insipid Bull for 15 minutes of R.A. Dickey.

[Frayed Knot]

I assume the hosts needed several of those terms explained to them.

[G-Fafif]

R.A. Dickey postgame after losing Home Opener, April 8, 2011

�The hope is to give the fans and everyone that�s come to the game the gift of a good game. And of course it�s frustrating and it�s hard and it�s sad, but I did the best with what I had."

[Ceetar]

Mets new motto? "It's sad, but we did the best with what we had."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Roughly 237% more honest than "The Magic Is Back."

[Edgy MD]

I would follow her up with, "Terry, Ceetar here from the Anglo-Canadian Times. Big chance for Nickeas in the ninth, and you pinch-hit Thole. What was that about?"

[G-Fafif]

Thread creep!

[Edgy MD]

Oh, that's where that comment went.

[Theoldmole]

In a way, it's kinda sad Jerry is gone. He could have held his own in a conversation with R. A.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

In terms of volubility, yes.

In terms of information conveyance? Oh, hells no.

[G-Fafif]

Forget about Lenny Dykstra. R.A. Dickey is the new Nails, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"My feel was definitely tainted. [...] But it's very rudimentary. There's nothing incredibly technical about it. It's just a file, you know?"

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Good stuff. Between Costa and Cacciola, the WSJ beat guys-- along with Waldstein-- kick the living cuticle out of the other print dudes' fingerbeds.

[G-Fafif]

R.A. Dickey on tough loss for the team, April 14, 2011

"We've gotta trust the process."

Wright's final fly ball didn't contain what looked like "one of his more significant charges".

"It can be good, instead of bad." (Which sounded deeper than it reads.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Hey Dickey, how about you STFU and get your WhiP back in the single digits.

[Guest themetfairy]

No. Listening to Dickey speak is one of the few remaining joys we have left....

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Hey Dickey, how about you STFU and get your WhiP back in the single digits.

R.A. Dickey to reporters

"No comment, fellas. I think I'll just STFU and get my WHiP back in the single digits. JCL was pretty adamant about that."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Whoa.

"We have to stop telling ourselves we are a better team than this � we might not be."

[Vic Sage]

"We have to stop telling ourselves we are a better team than this � we might not be."

I hope Ceetar didn't hear that. It'll drain the rose from his glasses.

[Ceetar]

Vic Sage wrote: "We have to stop telling ourselves we are a better team than this � we might not be." I hope Ceetar didn't hear that. It'll drain the rose from his glasses.

what rose?

edit: i read the entire quote. It looks very out of context when you only look at this part of it. He's just saying they sucked because they played badly, not because of the bad breaks or bad calls. He's saying they have to go out there and figure out what they're doing wrong, and fix it, not that they'll continue to play this bad all year.

[TransMonk]

�It starts with me. We have to find a way to be honest with ourselves about what kind of team we are. We can�t just keep telling ourselves, �Oh, we�re a better team than this.� We may not be. And we�ve got to be honest about that, and identify what we�re doing wrong, and do it better. That�s the only way you have any real growth�If we keep waltzing through the season and saying, �Oh, we�re better than this,� or �We�ve had some bad breaks,� or �The umpires are bad,� we�re going to look back and kick ourselves in the butt because we�ve done nothing about it. We�re walking too many guys, we�re not hitting with runners in scoring position. If you can identify the problem, it doesn�t have to be psychologically so overbearing.�

[Ceetar]

TransMonk wrote: �It starts with me. We have to find a way to be honest with ourselves about what kind of team we are. We can�t just keep telling ourselves, �Oh, we�re a better team than this.� We may not be. And we�ve got to be honest about that, and identify what we�re doing wrong, and do it better. That�s the only way you have any real growth�If we keep waltzing through the season and saying, �Oh, we�re better than this,� or �We�ve had some bad breaks,� or �The umpires are bad,� we�re going to look back and kick ourselves in the butt because we�ve done nothing about it. We�re walking too many guys, we�re not hitting with runners in scoring position. If you can identify the problem, it doesn�t have to be psychologically so overbearing.�

Of course, it sounds like he has identified the problem, and it IS still psychologically overbearing. Unless he means _why_ they're walking too many guys and finding obsurd ways to 'ground' into double plays?

[Edgy MD]

TransMonk wrote: �... We�re walking too many guys, we�re not hitting with runners in scoring position. If you can identify the problem, it doesn�t have to be psychologically so overbearing.�

Well, let's identify it. The team was a perfectly cromulent four-for-ten with runners in scoring position. The probolem on offense was giving away outs, at-bats, baserunners, blood, and treasure.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

"It's just so hilarious to hear [him] say something like, 'I would like a turkey sandwich,'" said Dickey, a friendly overlord.

"When you got one of your starters before a game, bringing the Dark Side into your locker room, that's just plain inexcusable," Bob Ojeda snarled in response, before returning to a nasty letter he was writing to the local paper about jet noise and skateboarding teens.

[G-Fafif]

Bob Raissman asked Ojeda about his Kilimanjaro eruption:

When the media looks for a go-to guy in the Mets clubhouse R.A. Dickey is front and center. The boss scribes, for good reason, are enamored with him. That didn't stop Bob Ojeda, SportsNet New York's Mets studio analyst, from advising the knuckleballing philosopher to watch what exits his mouth. Ojeda arrived at this conclusion - very loud and in no uncertain terms - after the Mets dropped the first game of a Saturday (April 16) doubleheader to the Braves, 4-2. The game aired nationally on Fox. During the tilt, with the Mets trailing by two runs, Dickey did a live interview from the dugout with Tim McCarver and Matt Vasgersian. Their questions were not about baseball. Instead, they asked Dickey about his plans to hike up Mount Kilimanjaro in January with two pals. Dickey will be doing this for charity. Dickey, as usual, came off genuine and likeable. On SNY's postgame show, after the Mets loss, Ojeda said Dickey's interview "drove me up a wall." "When you got one of your pitchers talking during the game about what he's going to do next winter, that's inexcusable," Ojeda ranted. "That's a mental error as far as I'm concerned. We're in April and you're worried about next January?" More than insinuating Dickey was showing a lack of focus, Ojeda said he couldn't remember a player talking about his "upcoming" offseason so early in the regular season. "I honest to God don't think I've ever heard that in my 50 years in baseball," Ojeda said. Okay, but there's a good chance Dickey had no advance notice about what the Fox voices would ask him. A few days after his postgame commentary, someone brought that to Ojeda's attention. "If R.A. didn't know what they were going to ask him that's fine. You answer the question. It's a great cause, it's a great thing he's going to do, but then you got to spin it back to baseball," Ojeda said. "He's not schooled enough in media. It's all new to him. He came out of nowhere. He had a fantastic year, now people are interested in what he's doing. "But I believe there's a time and a place for those conversations," Ojeda said. "And I didn't think in the dugout, down two (runs), (in a) five-game losing streak in April, is the time to be talking about hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro in January. By the way, I don't expect the player to agree with me on that." Ojeda said as he was listening to Dickey's interview "the coach in me came out." He said he thought about Terry Collins "struggling" to get his team's attention. "You have to be savvy enough to understand the fans are watching. Fans want to hear: 'We're struggling right now, but my main focus is on this ballclub. I want to turn this thing around.' It can't be fake. You've go to feel it." Ojeda understands his analysis of this Dickey thing might be considered too rigid. He doesn't really care. "If that's old school, fine. I'm fine with being old school," Ojeda said. "But there are constants about this game. Some things I believe in over the years never really change."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Fans want to hear: 'We're struggling right now, but my main focus is on this ballclub. I want to turn this thing around.'

Ah, I see. Ojeda's an old-school telepath. (He's good-- hell, I didn't even know I was thinking that!)

[G-Fafif]

It may not be exactly analogous (as Ojeda is no longer playing), but a News commenter makes an interesting point (which itself is a rarity):

And there was Ojeda a few days later, on-air, during game one of the Houston series, having no problem whatsoever, chit-chatting with Gary, Keith and Ron about 1986, when the game being played was in April 2011, the 4 of them chatting as if the game on the field wasn't happening.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well, the fans want to hear about which '86er's locker smelled the worst, and what the drink specials were that night at Cooter's.

Sorry. Stuff like that just brings out the guy-who-has-increasingly-fond-memories-of-Lee-Mazzili in me.

[G-Fafif]

Oh, I got no problem with three innings of every desultory loss spent ruminating on past Met triumphs. But Ojeda, who experienced mixed results pitching at the Astrodome, can certainly fling it in a glass house.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

(Trying so very hard not to bring up yardwork-related in-season distractions)