Amid the trade rumors swirling around Metsville, Ken Davidoff of the NY Post had a scathing column today which took shots at reigning NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey’s personality and presence in the clubhouse.
This past week at Citi Field, R.A. Dickey broke character — as one of Santa’s elves, at a Mets holiday party centered around young victims of Hurricane Sandy — to show his true character. All about himself once again, Dickey issued the laughable threat that, if the Mets didn’t extend his contract, he’d bolt the organization after 2013.
Davidoff goes on to say:
And, in an underappreciated part of this saga that soared into visibility this week, Dickey can be a handful. He clearly has enjoyed his rise from the ashes into a Flushing folk hero, and while he deserves praise and riches, there’s also the matter of him having to coexist peacefully in a workplace. His gift for self-promotion and his love of attention don’t endear himself to most teammates. Instead, his durability and outstanding results led him to be appreciated but far from beloved.
If Dickey can’t control his verbiage at a holiday party — “Folks, not today, not with the kids here” was all he had to say to reporters — then how would a full season of uncertainty feel? How many times would Dickey spout off publicly? Or work behind the scenes to make the Mets look bad and boost his own brand?
That’s why Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has been saying all along that he wasn’t enthralled by the notion of keeping Dickey for the one year. And it’s why there’s something to be said for selling high on Dickey.
Personally when I have gone to Citi Field and when I have interviewed R.A. Dickey, he has always been more than a pleasure to speak with. That said, I have only spoken with, seen Dickey on only a few occasions. Davidoff has seen much more of Dickey than I have, so for me to discredit him from my three or so interactions with the knuckleballer would not be fair.
Furthermore, the column grew more life on Twitter, when SNY’s own Kevin Burkhardt came out on the social network commending Davidoff for an excellent column.
I spoke with Davidoff on Twitter about this column, and he believes that Dickey isn’t the “gentleman of the game” that everyone makes him out to be.
So what does everyone say? Is Davidoff’s untimely criticism of Dickey justified? Or perhaps a bit out of line and strategically published right on cue just as Dickey is packing his bags for North of the border?
Sound off!
