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I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. We got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little.
NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. and BC News reporting for America. Yeah.
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Fort Worth, Texas. Major League Baseball pitcher R.A. Dickey is one of the most unlikely success stories in baseball. man who rose from years of pain and heartbreak. to win the game's highest honor.
What he found along the way was something far greater than baseball. Here's R. A. to join us. with his story.
When you're sexually abused, you feel less than human. You know, you feel like you're.
something that has been used and thrown away and You start. forming these big macro kind of things about the world from this. place of hurt and deception and secrets and dark and wickedness and If you do not deal with that, It will. hurt you to your core for a very long time. And that was the beginning of My path.
My mom got pregnant and had me when she was 17 years old. It wasn't smooth sailing from a family life standpoint. I started to figure out, you know, the tribulations and tragedies of life pretty early. My parents got divorced very early in my life. A lot of it I thought was Because of me, or you know, the burden of having children and not having enough income.
Like, I those are some of the motifs that I felt as a kid. Um, at the same time, my parents were getting divorced and moving on. the the first real trauma of my life occurred outside of just the divorce. I went through some sexual abuse by the hands of a babysitter or someone that was supposed to be in charge or in care of me. And then another Tom.
In Pulaski, Tennessee, by a stranger. And so those things happened simultaneously in the same summer. It changes you. Um when something like that happens at such an early age, and maybe at any age, but to me You know, I was you know, eight years old. It stunts your growth.
As a human being, it's almost like you stop growing emotionally, and the only real concern you have in those moments are. Self-protection, self-preservation, how you can survive, how you can hide. You learn all these toxic mechanisms for getting through life without anybody knowing who you really are because you're so ashamed. And when that happens, as you're forming at eight, nine, 10 years old, it's just. It's a very lonely place.
I became very good at stuffing and Being a chameleon, making people see what I wanted to see from a very early age, I was super manipulative. lying about where I came from, trying to cover up. pain and loneliness and No one knew. And as I grew up, the one sanctuary that I always had. was sports.
I threw myself into them. I wanted to compete all the time. I was always playing a sport. There was always a ball in my hand. I went to Wright Junior High, which was kind of an inner city school.
And my hope was that. at some point I would be able to go kind of to the other side of town. A place called Montgomery Bill Academy, where my uncle Ricky Bowers went. I'd grown up, kind of going to watch him play basketball. You know, I just always was competing, always, at something.
And so that was kind of the place where I felt the safest on a field somewhere. It gave me. a breather from the things that I battled in the darkness. And so I threw myself into sports real heavily and worked at it relentlessly.
So that got recognized to the degree where Montgomery Academy, which was an all-boys prep school in Nashville, they took notice enough and I had a little bit of pedigree there and legacy with my uncle having gone there and done well that I got an opportunity to go over there. At this time, my mom was working two or three jobs. I was a latch key kid. You know, the key was under the mat for me. I'd come home from school and be on my own until she would get home from her second job sometimes.
And so I was just running the neighborhood, playing sports with whoever I could. And then I would see her at nighttime and wake up and then go back to school. I was going from that environment over to a very affluent area where this prep school was. I did not fit in and did not feel like I measured up. You know, I didn't grow up with money, didn't didn't understand it.
You know, I felt inadequate a lot of times, and not because people would even make me feel inadequate. I came in with this. stigma attached to the things that had happened to me already. And there was a guy that uh took notice of me. We were on the middle school football team together, and he invited me to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event that we were having on campus.
That was my real first exposure to Jesus. I was captivated. I was captivated by... this person of Jesus and what I didn't yet buy into what he had done for me. Like, I didn't quite understand that part.
But the way that he lived and why he had come and what he potentially was able to Hold for me. Stuck with me. You know, I was always one. That was going to rather see a good sermon than hear one. And so I was always watching how people behave.
to see if I could trust it. And so In Beau, who confessed to have a relationship with Christ, I was watching a human being act selflessly and Still compete hard, and he would be the first guy to smash you in the mouth, but the first guy to pick you up off the ground. Like, I was getting to see that kind of behavior and. I just watched. His mother, Vicki, talked about Christ all the time.
When I would come over, and she would always be trying to convert me, and I would always pump the brakes on it, or I would slip out because I was uncomfortable still. I just was scared, man. I operated out of fear. the fear that somebody might know me really. the fear that I'd be rejected, you know, if they did know me.
And. What I was being invited into by Christ was a very intimate. relationship. And I was scared of the intimacy. Petrified of it.
But the Bartholomews represented something that I felt like was worth chasing. And you've been listening to R.A. Dickey, who happens to be the first knuckleball pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. And that's the greatest award a pitcher can win in Major League Baseball. And he was sexually abused.
When he was young, and also his parents were divorced when he was young. And of course, he blamed himself for that and the shame and the trauma from being sexually abused.
Well, he just hid it. He did what people do. There was one sanctuary, sports, and one that looked interesting. And that's Jesus Christ. When we come back, More of the story of R.
A. Dickey. On our American stories. This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we tell stories of history, faith, business, love, loss, and your stories.
Send us your stories, small or large, to our email, oas at ouramericanstories.com. That's oas at ouramericanstories.com. We'd love to hear them and put them on the air. Our audience loves them too. Shh, you won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs.
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I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. and BC News reporting for America. No, it's not too soon to start holiday shopping. Ulta Beauty's early Black Friday event is happening now through November 22nd.
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See terms at venmo.me slash stash terms. And we continue with our American stories and with the story of R. A. Dickey. When we last left off, he was sharing a story about a friend at school who noticed he was struggling and invited him over to his home.
A simple invitation It would change everything. Here's R.A. And so one afternoon. I went home with him and his mom, just like she always had done, said, hey, I'd really like for you to know Christ. And of course, many, many times I'd say, you know, Miss B, I'm just not ready.
Or like I said, I'd go outside and disappear. And this particular time, I said, I want to know the peace that comes with that. and the relief I feel like I can get if I were able to share my most wicked self and the things that were most evil in my life that I felt like were overwhelming. With. I wasn't willing to share that with other human beings, but in Christ, I found someone that I could do that in my bedroom.
And That's what I did. I got down on my knees when I was 13 years old and invited Christ into my life. And that was the beginning of a journey for me. That faith wasn't necessarily cultivated, but the foundations had been laid that I was never going to be able to reject. It was still always playing in the background, but sports was where I found my worth, purpose.
That's where I felt most at home. But as I moved on into high school, between my 10th and 11th grade year, it moved from I'm just having fun to, I may have an opportunity here to get my school paid for. Like that, that's, and that was the only way I was going to go to college. I started getting letters from Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and all these schools would come before there were cell phones or you know people would call your home. You would get letters that would show up at the school mailbox and you would go every day and you would check your mailbox at school.
It was really cool. And every day I'd go, there'd be a different letter. And then as I started to go from my junior to my senior year, I started to get letters from major league baseball clubs like trials and invitations and tests that they wanted me to take and questionnaires they wanted me to answer. And so I went all in. As I started to get into my senior year in high school, there was a chance I was going to be drafted by a Major League Ball Club out of high school.
And I had already at this time accepted a scholarship to go play at the University of Tennessee, to play baseball at the University of Tennessee. and I was drafted the day of my graduation by the Detroit Tigers. They sent me a telegram. A telegram came and it said, you've been drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 10th round. And so from there, I had to make a decision on whether to accept $175,000 and start my major league career.
Or go to college and try to cultivate my craft so that I could become a better pitcher. With a lot of deliberation and trying to seek as much wise counsel as I could, I decided that I was going to go to college. You know, I had a lot to learn and a big runway to grow from a pitching standpoint.
So I decided to go to the University of Tennessee and turn down the 175. out of high school. I didn't really know what to expect. I went in as a college freshman, and at that time, You know, they were only carrying 13 and 14 man pitching staff.
So if you were on the staff, you were going to pitch at some point. And my very first collegiate start Was really interesting. I started against the University of Miami, Miami Hurricanes where A-Rod went. And I had not known any baseball outside of Nashville, Tennessee, or going to play summer ball somewhere.
So it was packed. I pitched against Miami and lost 3-1. And then from then on, I won 15 straight games. and then lost my last one.
So I was 15 and 2 my freshman year and A lot of good things were happening. I was a freshman, All-American. I got invited to be on the Olympic team, the Olympic trial team. After my freshman year, came back from my sophomore year, had another very good year, played with the Olympic team again. My sophomore year, we went to college World Series and we finished third and then went to play against the world on the Olympic tour.
And then my junior year, which was my draft year, so I was drafted as a senior out of high school. And the next time I could be drafted was after my junior year in college. Here we were, my junior year in college, and we had a pretty good year. We made it to regional, we didn't make it to the college World Series, but then I got to play in the Olympic Games in 1996. Had a really fun time and learned a lot and got better and improved my draft status from 10th rounder to first rounder.
I was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the June amateur draft.
So I had agreed in principle to a contract that was for about $875,000.
Now, that was more money than I had ever heard of, much less seen, you know, from where I came from.
So I was super excited about that, of course, and very hopeful. And, you know, getting to live out a dream and the culmination of so many hopes.
So there was a mandatory physical that every first rounder had to take to make sure that the team was getting a healthy prospect. I had nothing to hide. I never had anything to hide. I hadn't been hurt a day in my life. Like I said, I was a quarterback and never missed a bullpen or a practice, really, literally.
in three years at UT. never miss a start on the Olympic team. But when I went down for my physical after the Olympics were over, and I had agreed to my contract, and I had flown down to meet Nolan Ryan, throw out the first pitch, you know, do the whole thing. I took my physical before I went to the field, and one of the doctors that was there had noticed a picture on the cover of a Baseball America that I was on where my arm was bent. And the picture kind of funny.
You can look the picture up online, it's still there, but it's just that my arm was bent in a way that was concerning to the doctor.
So we decided to do a protocol of tests to see that. If there was something going on in there, he thought there might be something wrong. And so, by the time I had left the doctor's office to the time I had arrived at Arlington to throw out the first pitch, they had talked, the doctor and the general manager. And the general manager proceeded to call me in the office and tell me that they were rescinding the contract and they weren't sure that I was healthy and they needed me to go down and get a second opinion and they were going to put everything on hold. And so I was devastated.
I'd already, you know, internally Been dealing my whole life with feeling broken and inadequate and, you know, ugly and all those things. And now, The one thing that had brought me so much value and identity Was being threatened by it being broken and it being undervalued and worthless, and all the things that I had felt. internally. I will not forget the emotion internalizing all that and not feeling like I had anywhere to go with it. And so I flew back, went down to Dr.
James Andrews, a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama. And he had me take an MRI, and they expedited it up to his offices from the bottom floor where I was in the MRI tube. And I'll never forget walking upstairs.
so we could read it right there and call the Rangers and tell them everything was okay. It was bad news for me. It was bad news for the Rangers. And The potential relationship between the Rangers and I took a hit. What the discovery was was that I did not have a UCL in my right elbow at all.
So the Ligament that is supposed to stabilize that elbow joint. It had disintegrated, it was not there. They had never seen anything like it. Dr. Andrews even said, I don't believe that this is true.
I want you to go down and take another MRI.
So I took two MRIs. And sure enough, The discovery was made that I didn't have the existence of a ulnar collateral ligament.
Now, in baseball, That is the ligament of all ligaments, right? Like that's the Tommy John ligament. That's the ligament that everybody has replaced or tears when they're pitching and throwing these high velocities. I did not have that. Obviously, Dr.
Andrews had to call Doug Melvin, who was the general manager of the Rangers, and say, hey, we discovered that this kid. doesn't even have a UCL, so not only is it not ripped, he just doesn't have one. But what was crazy was I was asymptomatic. Like I could still throw, still throw hard, spawned, never been hurt. And I tried to argue that I should get more money because you were never going to have to replace it.
But they didn't go for that. Yeah. They thought they were getting damaged goods. And so not only did they rescind the offer, they actually said that we're not sure we even want to sign you to any amount of money. We just want you to go back to college.
And my thought was going back to college with this condition already over me meant I just lost my chance to play professional baseball. I'd gone through all this, had all this success. And yet here I am being told I wasn't going to be able to ever do it again. And you're listening to R. A.
Dickey tell one heck of a story. Baseball is his refuge. He knows the Lord. He knows Jesus Christ. But not like he would as he became an adult.
Well, he'd always said he'd felt broken and inadequate in the one place. that didn't happen was on the ball field and in came that diagnosis. He did not have a UCL. and the deal from the Texas Rangers. was rescinded.
And he was back to college. Who knew what next? When we come back, more of our A. Dickie story here. on our American stories.
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Whether you need a single chair, love seat, or a luxuriously large sectional, Anibay has you covered. Visit washable sofas.com to upgrade your home.
Sofas started just $699 and right now, get early access to Black Friday savings up to 60% off store-wide with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Shop now at washable sofas.com. Add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. I turned off news altogether.
I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News. reporting for America. No, it's not too soon to start holiday shopping.
Ulta Beauty's Early Black Friday event is happening now through November 22nd. Shop $10 beauty minis from brands like Mac and Too Faced. Take 30% off Lancome and Touchland fragrances and body mists. With new offers dropping every week, our associates can help you find the perfect gifts. Head into Ulta Beauty today to shop our early Black Friday event.
Ulta Beauty, gifting happens here. Oh. With Venmo stash, a taco in one hand. and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking cash back. Nice.
Get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash on your favorite brands when you pay with your Venmo debit card. From takeout to ride shares, entertainment, and more. Pick a bundle with your go-to's and start earning cash back at those brands. Earn more cash when you do more with Stash. Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply.
Max $100 cash back per month. See terms at venmo.me slash stash terms. And we're back with our American stories and with R. A. Dickey's story.
When we left off last, he'd just learned that his pitching arm was missing its UCL. news that threatened to end his dream. one that he thought was just beginning. Here again. is R.
A. Dickey. I went back home and was thinking, I'll just go back for my senior year and do the best I can as a UT Vol and see what happens, but there's no guarantee I'd even be drafted again. And then the night before, I had to go back to class. And once you step foot in the classroom for your senior year, you become ineligible to sign with the Major League Club until the following draft.
So if something was going to happen, it had to happen before my first class. My first 8 a.m. I was enrolled in an English class 8 a.m. the next day, and it was about 9:30 at night, and I still hadn't left Nashville. And the phone rang, and it was the general manager of the Texas Rangers, and he basically said, Hey, We have $75,000 for you.
Take it or leave it. and you can start your professional career with us. and we'll give you a chance. And I was crushed, you know. But at least it was an opportunity, and I was willing to bet on myself in that moment.
And I called him back and said, okay, I'm happy to be a ranger. And so I accepted the offer, even though it was even less than what I had agreed to as a tenth rounder out of high school. And so. That's how I started my professional career. My first year down there, it was a tough year.
I didn't do well. I ended up having a bone chip that I had to have taken out.
So it was also confirmation that, again, like they were right, I was broken and this and that. It was unrelated to the absence of the UCL, but nonetheless, it was an injury that I sustained and had to have fixed. And so. I felt like I had a scab that was just being ripped off over and over and over again, so many different times in my life, because that had become my identity. My identity had become.
the victim of being sexually abused. I didn't perform very well my first year. I went back to ABOL for my second year. At this point, I was married. And we were making $650 a month.
with a roommate and a roommate his roommate had a wife.
So the the four of us lived together as as newlyweds. That's not always great, you know. But my wife was such a trooper, you know, like she she supported me, encouraged me.
So that second year in Pro Bowl, I did a little bit better. I actually was a closer instead of a starter for the first time in my career. And I had the Florida State record for most saves in a year with 38. And like my stuff was better. And so I would go from AA to AAA all the while, you know, I was married and we had our first child while I was in AAA.
And I was drafted in 1996 and got my first cup of coffee in the major leagues in 2001. And that was like a 30-day stint. with the Texas Rangers as a conventional pitcher. And from then on, From basically 2001 till 2005, I just was this journeyman that would bounce up and down. You know, you're good enough today, you're not good enough for this day, we're going to send you back down.
And my wife was with me up and down the whole time, and we were spending time apart. And, you know, it's hard, it's very, very difficult. I mean, the divorce rate. and professional baseball is like 59%, which is horrible. It's just really, really hard on a marriage.
But still, I was living a lot of my life in the dark and in secret. Embarrassed. Every time that I would perform poorly, I would feel that wound open up. Every time I would get sent down, I would feel that wound open up. And it was like I was being abused all over again.
because I'd never grown up. I was working second jobs trying to earn enough money to make a house payment, and I had two kids. And so there was another dynamic that was part of the thing. Like, you know, what kind of, I was, I was. sad about You know, my ability to be a father and be present for my children and carrying all this baggage around from a past that.
Had been so ugly that I didn't feel worthy of having these beautiful children. And like it just would compound and compound. And I just was at the end. I was at the end of myself, man. I just was, I was ready to have relief.
And I felt like if I took myself out of the world, That felt like the best scenario of a bunch of different scenarios for me. I had decided that that was it. I had Um Driven my car underneath my carport. I had duct taped a rubber hose to the muffler. Of my car and run the hose into the driver's side window and stuff towels around the crease of the window.
I remember weeping and being sorry and filled with Shame, man. It was just pure and utter shame. And as I was turning the key, all I heard was this loud voice in my spirit, and so loudly that you cannot deny that that's what it was, saying, Don't do it. I have something else for you. I felt like God saw me, like He saw me.
I didn't turn the key. I hid all the paraphernalia that I'd used on the car for my wife, and the next morning. The pastor of my church happened to drop by. Unannounced. And we started having a conversation and I started to let him in on.
Kind of what was going on internally, and I didn't share with them about the abuse, but I did say I was in a bad way and. That's kinda how I eventually got to Stephen James. a well-known counselor here in Nashville, Tennessee, and we met one time and He had a gift of being able to see through all my sports center answers to his questions, right? Like he could see through it all. And, The one thing that really changed me was when he looked at me and he said, Hey, Ray, listen.
He said, no matter what you tell me, no matter what you've done, Like, I'm not going anywhere. Like I'm here. I'm not leaving you. And that melted me. On the spot.
I've never had another human being say those kinds of words to me. But I felt in that moment like If I were to tell him this, he's going to get up and walk out or kick me out of the office. Or, like, that's what the enemy does, so that you won't bring the truth to light. And God wants the truth to be brought to light. And so, when I did that, It was like a burden had been lifted.
in a way that I can't even describe to you. It was just... overwhelming and I just sat there in it for I felt like an eternity. We didn't even talk, man. I told him what had happened and started.
cron and he started cron and He hugged me. He's probably the first man that I'd hugged. You know, because like my abuser was a man. It's just, it was, I can't describe it, man. I had a chance after being in that car and almost committing suicide to that couch where I felt so much redemption in a moment.
Just was. It was overwhelming. I could care less about baseball at that point. It was the first time in my whole life, the thing that had brought me so much validity and value and worth, and my identity was tied up in so deeply. I could have cared less.
About being a major league baseball player for a minute. All I cared about was: now that I'm free of this, how can I be the best husband, the best? Father, the best friend, the best, like, how can I gain back all this time that I lost from? You know, not letting people in on who I was. And Stephen was the first person I ever told about my abuse.
before my life. And we got to this place in therapy. I had to be okay with her looking at me and say, Hey, R.A., I didn't sign up for this. You lied to me. You didn't tell me the truth about who you were.
You know, I'm sorry, but this is not the life for me. Like, I had to be, I had to come to the place where I was okay with that, even though it would have been devastating for me. And so when I got to the place through therapy, That I could accept that if that were the answer, I brought her in to tell her the truth about everything. And And she Said, hey man, I can't. I can't love you in pieces.
I love you. Fully and I'm sorry you didn't tell me or trust me enough to do that, but I'm not going anywhere. And again, like, it's just... It moved me so much. that it just kept motivating me to want to get deeper and deeper and That's all I cared about.
And you've been listening to R. A. Dickey's story, and what a story. You're listening to. And my goodness, to hit that low of lows.
to be in his car. Duct taping rubber. to his muffler. Then hearing that voice, don't do it. I have something for you.
Then to have his wife. Say, No matter what you tell me, no matter what you've done. I'm here. Life-changing. For R.
A. Dickey. When we come back, the rest of R. A. Dickey's story here.
on our American stories. Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Where did that story come from? Book? Dream?
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The former Major League Baseball pitcher, Who's here sharing his story of brokenness and redemption? By the way, pick up his book. Wherever I wind up on Amazon, Or wherever you get your books. Let's return. to R.
A. Dickey for the rest of this story. One of the things that helped shape the best parts of my baseball career was when I had a real. change in perspective from Who I was as a human being, like Ari Dickey, the baseball player, the athlete, or the guy that had played on the Olympics, went to college World Series, like all those accolades that somehow get messed into who you feel like you are as a human being that you cling to so dearly because it gives you value. When I change from that perspective to the understanding That baseball was just what I was able to do.
It's not who I was. For so long, it had been who I was. I was a victim of sexual abuse, and I was an athlete. the less I really worried about the baseball part, the more success I actually started to have. I'd gotten called in the office in 2005.
And Oral Hirscher, who was our pitching coach, Buck Schoolter was our manager. They pulled me aside in the office after an outing I had in the big leagues where I got beat up and said, Hey, man, you just don't have it anymore as a conventional pitcher. And then they said, but We do think you have a good enough knuckleball to be a full-time knuckleballer. They had seen me play catch on the side with my knuckleball and beat up my catch partner with it, and he couldn't catch it. And Oral would walk by and say, Hey man, what's that?
I'd say, It's just a knuckleball. I'm just messing around. And I started to throw it in the games a little bit. But They wanted me to throw it 90% of the time. And so they said, We don't have room for you anymore in this organization as a conventional pitcher.
There are guys that are so much better than you now, but we do think that you have. possibly a future smoker baller so we want you to go down and learn that pitch. Basically, a good knuckleball. Only rotates about half of a revolution from the time it leaves your hand until the time it gets to the plate. And that's a really hard thing to do when you think about how many balls are spinning that come out of a pitcher's hand for their career.
You know, there's not a lot of people that can keep the knuckleball right. It's a real rare thing. In fact, Tim Wakefield was the only knuckleballer for quite a while in the major leagues. And as I was learning to pitch and trying it, you know, my pitching coach with the Rangers couldn't tell me much. He couldn't teach me much.
So I reached out to Charlie Huff, who was a longtime knuckleball guy and an icon in the Ranger community. And he helped me a lot. He changed my grip. He gave me a different kind of way to look at my mechanic. And that was real important.
And in my first Major League start in 2006 as a full-time knuckleballer, I gave up six home runs in three and a third innings and tied a modern day Major League record for the most home runs given up in a game. And then 07 came. And I was able to sign a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. and the Milwaukee Brewers AAA affiliate is the Nashville Sound. God said, look, man, I'm going to allow you to stay home.
Play baseball and work on your marriage. I was going to counseling in the weeks as much as I could. I would go play at night, go in the afternoons to counseling or in the mornings. And the more release I gave over to the things that should have the priority. The more success I had on the baseball field, I ended up in 07 with the Nashville Sounds as an alcoholer being the PCL pitcher of the year.
You know, I cared. Like I'd been given a gift to be able to throw a nocoball well.
So I wanted to cultivate that and I loved getting to the field and working on that. But man, when I left, I left. Like it was all left behind. And I just wanted to get home to my wife. And I would go back to the Nashville Sounds, have a start and throw a shutout.
I think there's only Dan. 30, maybe in the history of Major League Baseball, to throw a knuckleball with any amount of success. And so it's hard to do. And so, because of that, the fraternity is very tight, and we pull for one another real hard. And so much so that I made the club with the Seattle Mariners.
In 2008, after the Nashville Sounds, I was back up in the big leagues and we were playing the Boston Red Sox and Tim Wakefield was throwing a bullpen. And he, not me, he invited me to come watch his bullpen.
So imagine an opponent inviting me to come watch a way where I might could beat his team. Like it was just unheard of, right? And so, of course, I went over there and he was sharing with me all his secrets. And then, and then from there, I went to Phil Necro the next year. And so, I had I had Charlie Hoff and Tim Wakefield and Phil Necro like on my Rolodex.
It's like the Jedi Council of Knuckleballers, man. I mean, it was unbelievable. They were so willing and so generous to share it. And they pulled for me. They called me.
Those men were instrumental in my journey. Leading up to 2012, when I won the National League Cy Young, I said at the acceptance speech, I said, This isn't a win for me. This is a win for every knuckleballer that's ever lived, that's had success that people kind of put to the margins because they did something differently. You know, like, think about Phil Necro won 300 games in the major leagues, never won a Cy Young. And a lot of it was because of the bias that sports writers had at the time about a knuckleball pitcher.
You know, like it was this kind of side freak show thing that. Might not should even be in baseball, but yet here it is and it's having success. But anyway, when I won that, it was really a a celebration of all those guys, man. I mean, they all poured into me. and they all gave me a piece of themselves.
That's what I was able to run with through all the success that I had from basically 2010 until 2017 when I got to finish my career with the team. that I grew up watching that had Phil Necro on it, which was the Atlanta Breaks. All the mistakes that I had made for so long in my life I was able to Bring to bear in interviews and in conversations in a way that was really freeing. I didn't have to pretend anymore. I didn't have to pretend to be somebody I wasn't.
I was okay being a broken guy that had gone through some really hard things, but yet. still had the capacity. to do some really remarkable things. And so, when I started to understand that baseball was just something that I did, like being an electrician or being a, no, it was fine. I enjoyed it.
I had a passion for it. I felt like an opportunity and a gift God had given me. But that wasn't the thing that defined me. You know, I wanted to be seen as as someone who God had redeemed. And God is, for me, God is not the God of second chances.
He's the God of infinite chances, man. He is. Shown up for me so many dadgum times. It's just. remarkable.
An Israelite that got rescued out of Egypt, seeing all these incredible things, yet still rebelling, and yet there he is, yet again. yet again. And I wanted to be a disciple. Right, man, I wanted to live out my faith in a way that was life-changing. How could I do that?
Well, I got to show up as a husband. Right, I gotta care about getting in the word. Right. Like, I got to care about living out scripture to my kids. I got to include them in my story.
I've got to tell the truth. I've got to talk about the redemption that I've experienced. Like, all those things became the things that I wanted to do more than baseball.
So, The baseball part allowed me to have a platform to be able to do that to a wide audience. But it's not the thing that drove me to be who I was. I mean, like being a baseball player, that was no longer. the motivating factor for me. When I retired, I felt like God was calling me into.
an amazing organization called the Nashville Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition. It not only rescues and restores victims of human trafficking, but it also we educate people in our community around, you know, our most vulnerable demographic is middle and high school students. And so we get to go in and talk about. What to look for on your phones and how to educate people about the grooming process and how prevalent it is in our community and how it wants to hide on the sidelines in so many different ways. And we get to bring to light a lot of, you know, what I talk about, just bringing the truth to light for a lot of people.
And then we also have a social enterprise that these ladies that we rescue, they go through a Christ-centered curriculum. And when they get to check a bunch of boxes, they get to move to our social enterprise, which is a bakery that we have. And they all have had some addiction.
So they go immediately. We have partnerships where they go immediately into treatment and then they get out and we get to love on them in a way that they are not used to. That's transforming. And the only way we can do that is. We get to love broken people because we're broken.
God has given me a gift and getting to serve in that capacity because. I I feel the pain of a lot of the wounds that those that those girls have gone through. You know, there is brokenness, but there's also joy and you can walk forward with both. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Madison Derricott. And a special thanks to R.A.
Dickey for sharing his story. And my goodness, the turning point comes when he realizes that his identity is not in baseball. It's in Jesus. This changes his whole life. It changes paradigm.
Baseball he discovered was something he just did. like an electrician or any craftsman. But I was someone God redeemed, he said. He's not a god of second chances. He's a god.
of infinite chances. And by the way, as that walk got better, his success well, that grew in baseball. And led right to him winning in 2012 the National League Cy Young Award. But you could tell just listening to him where he takes his pleasure, where he takes his sustenance, and where he gets meaning in his life. And that comes from serving his God and serving other broken people.
The story of R. A. Dickey here. on our American stories. Uh Shh, you won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs.
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