The tale of R.A. Dickey is beginning a new chapter and the knuckleballer wanted his fans to hear it from him.
The 38-year-old is taking his knuckleball to Toronto after the New York Mets shipped him out in an seven-player trade. On his way out of Flushing, Dickey tweeted his thanks to those who have supported him during his unlikely rise to stardom. Dickey's farewell tweets came approximately 30 minutes before @MLB confirmed the trade and capped several days of speculation over the deal that notably sent prized catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud back to New York.
An English major during his days on campus at Tennessee, Dickey has a strong sense of narrative (perhaps to the chagrin of the Mets' front office). After he published a revealing, heartrending memoir before the 2012 campaign, the right-handed pitcher authored one of the most impressive pitching seasons in Mets' history en route to winning the Cy Young Award.
Although Dickey previously maintained he wanted to sign a new contract with the Mets, he made it clear that he would make a decision in his best interests.
"I feel a very deep sense of loyalty to this team, which gave me an opportunity when other teams didn't. If I finished my career as a Met, I would be glad," Dickey told The Huffngton Post in November. "At the same time, you don't want to be taken advantage of, and you want to be treated fairly. We're trying to work it out, and we'll see where we end up."
Dickey is the latest acquisition by the Blue Jays, who have made perhaps the boldest moves of the "Hot Stove" season. The Blue Jays previously orchestrated an 12-player trade with the Marlins that landed them All-Stars Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle.
Not surprisingly, Dickey was not the only one tweeting about this deal.