NY Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey Memoir Reveals Childhood Abuse

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey is an anomaly in the baseball world these days as the only active major leaguer who is primarily a knuckleball pitcher.   The 37-year-old also is a bit of an adventurer; in this past off season, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa to the chagrin of the Mets’ management.  Dickey has just released a memoir, and though this type of stuff would make an entertaining book, there is much more to this memoir. 

In his memoir, co-written with the NY Daily News’ Wayne Coffey, Dickey reveals that when he was growing up in Tennessee, he was sexually abused repeatedly by a 13-year-old female babysitter when he was eight years old.  He writes that he did not tell anyone until he is 31 years old:

 I just keep my terrible secret, keep it all inside, the details of what went on, and the hurt of a little boy who is scared and ashamed and believes he has done something terribly wrong, but doesn’t know what that is.

He also writes about an incident when he had an affair, something he deeply regrets, and how that incident coupled with the pain of the childhood abuse nearly drove him to suicide.  He credits his wife’s love and forgiveness, as well as his strong Christian faith, for pulling through his difficult times.

There is more to the book than that; he details his 14 years in the minor leagues and how he finally achieved success after the Texas Rangers convinced him to become a full-time knuckleball pitcher.  You can’t help but root for a guy who’s been through all this.