R.A. Dickey Wrote a Tremendous Farewell Letter to Mets Fans

Dickey had initially thought about simply taking out an ad in the paper to express his love and appreciation for Mets fans and the organization that gave him a true chance, but he just had far too much to get off his chest. Plus, something original and heartfelt seemed a lot more appropriate for Dickey rather than another cliche ad.

Below is an excerpt, but you can read the letter in its entirety here:

I never expected to be doing anything but celebrating the joy of the season with my wife and kids and looking toward the spring, and the start of my fourth season with an organization that gave me maybe the greatest gift an athlete can get:

A chance. A chance for a fresh start. A chance to prove that maybe I could be somebody on a big league mound, an authentic and trustworthy pitcher, not just a retread with a weird name and an even weirder pitch — a man who was so in need of financial stability that he had to get talked out of taking a guaranteed contract to go pitch in Korea.

[…]

There were so many special relationships I formed that made my time with the Mets so much richer. Not just in the clubhouse, either. I enjoyed talking with Bill Deacon, the head groundskeeper, about his craft, and all that went into it. The security people who helped my wife and kids get in and out of the family lounge, the policemen who helped me get out of the parking lot, the folks at the Hodges Gate — so many people went out of their way to be kind to me, and they should know how much it was, and is, appreciated.

It would be a lofty task to find a player more gracious, thoughtful and appreciative than R.A. Dickey, which is what makes his departure from Flushing so damn difficult for Met fans. Losing a great player is never easy, but losing a great player that’s so easy to root for is when it truly burns the most.

[via NY Daily News]