14
2012
Dickey’s Performance Was The Best By A Met All Year
An article by 
It may not have been the best performance of the evening, –that accolade belongs to Matt Cain and his perfect game and 14 punchouts– but it was the most dominant performance by a Mets pitcher all season long. R.A. Dickey completed a masterful one-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays taking 106 pitches to do so while also going 32 2/3 straight shutout frames, trumping Jerry Koosman’s franchise record of 31 2/3 set back in 1973.
In case you’re wondering, yes, I am saying R.A. Dickey had a better outing last night than that of Johan Santana two weeks ago on the night of his no-hitter. Not to take anything away from Santana’s masterpiece, but I found Dickey’s one-hitter even MORE impressive. He is a knuckleballer who didn’t walk a single batter over nine frames and threw 79 of his 106 pitches for strikes. Compare that to Santana’s five walks and 77 strikes out of 134 pitches, and I give Dickey the upper hand.
The only two baserunners last night were the result of two botched balls by David Wright, one unjustly given the esteem of a base hit off the bat of BJ Upton with two outs in the first. If not for those two errors, Dickey would have had himself a perfect game. A knuckleballer throwing a perfect game? That sounds like some kind of far-fetched fantasy tale, yet if not for the poor defense behind him, R.A. Dickey would have made that fantasy a reality.
Dickey surrendered an unearned run, but only because of two passed balls by Mike Nickeas to move Wright’s error over to third and eventually score on a groundout in the ninth. As I mentioned before, that ended the longest scoreless stretch in franchise history.
No disrespect to Santana and his unimaginable no-hitter, but he struggled in the first few innings and had several hard hit balls on him throughout the evening and had his defense behind him. R.A. Dickey had a pretty sad defensive backing and it cost him perfection.
Again, both two of the best outings in Mets history, but I give R.A. Dickey last night a slight edge over the efforts of Johan Santana two weeks ago and any other Met this season or in recent memory. Its incredible to be able to pitch a no-hitter despite not having your best stuff, but another thing entirely for Dickey to be able to pitch a perfect game –on his end at least– using a knuckleball for 100 of those 106 pitches in order to do it.
He now sits at 10-1 on the year with a 2.20 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 90 punchouts. He is on a level of his own this season as he continues to become one of the best pitchers in the game. There is the feeling that he has the stuff to throw a no-hitter every time he takes the mound, and there was no better of an example of that than last night in St. Petersburg.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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Well… okay. Last year there were stats that told us Capuano had a better start than other guys who tossed no hitters.
I don’t really care to be honest because there is something a tad more special when its a no hitter or a perfect game.
Upton’s “hit” happened in the first right? I actually didn’t see it live but I think it was the 1st. That changes everything.
Johan had a different type of pressure on him in front of a home crowd, with history on the line for 27 outs.
Dickey, as great as he was last night. Didn’t have any of the intangibles that Johan did.
A pitcher likely presses as a no hitter goes later in the game. Its a different feel of the game… its 1 mistake and you lose it. Nobody talks to you during the game etc.
The pressure was off Dickey after 2 outs.
They are just such different situations that I think its not fair to take anything away from Johan here. Santana had 51 seasons of pressure on him in front of home town fans.
It’s just different.
i very rarely agree with the guy above but it’s true, the conditions that Santana had to pitch under were completely different than Dickey. Yes Dickey was dominant but Santana not only had to pitch under increasing pressure as the game went on but he had to fight through a lot and add to that he comes off shoulder surgery Santana’s job was a lot harder and took everything that he had to offer as a professional athlete.
Santana’s was the better performance as it should be and it will be remember forever in Mets history.
Maybe the Mayans are right. The world is gonna end soon! We agree! haha
To put it 1 step further on the intangibles we speak of.
Dickey wasn’t coming off major surgery, didn’t have to continuously convince his manager he was fine, didn’t have to BAT.
Those 3 things, plus 51 seasons of history, plus home town crowd, plus the littlest mistake costing you the entire historic moment… all are not measured by stats and all make Johan’s outing more impressive than Dickey’s.
Wrong clayton…
agreed with both these guys.
the other thing about most no hitters is that there is “luck” (good fortune?) involved too. Anything hit hard right at someone, no bloops/bleeders/dying Qualls (pun intended). Of course the pitcher has to be dealing, and handle the pressure, but there have been plenty of incredible performances that included 1 hit!
I have to go with those above here. Johan’s was the more difficult game to pitch (for the reasons stated), was an official no-hitter (umps be damned), the drama building and was the first – and only right now.
Not to take anything away from our own RA Dickey and that knuckle ball but I’ve gotta go with Johan is the Man on this one.
I agree with you Clayton and said as much last night. That was the most dominant start I had seen all season. That takes nothing away from Santana who will be forever part of Mets history with his great start as well pitching the Mets 1st no-hitter. 10 years from now many will not remember last nights performance by Dickey but Santana’s no-hitter will be remembered forever and deservedly so but speaking for myself having seen both games what Dickey did last night was the most dominating performance a Mets starter has had vs an opponent all season.
That it can be even debated as to which only makes it even greater when looking back on this season.
LGM.
[...] today, my MMO colleague, Clayton Collier wrote a piece on last night’s start by R.A. Dickey being the best by a Met this year. (I agree with his [...]
[...] today, my MMO colleague, Clayton Collier wrote a piece on last night’s start by R.A. Dickey being the best by a Met this year. (I agree with his [...]
[...] today, my MMO colleague, Clayton Collier wrote a piece on last night’s start by R.A. Dickey being the best by a Met this year. (I agree with his [...]