Sabo/News
New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis hits a three-run homer in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals.
During last Sunday's game in Los Angeles, minutes after R.A. Dickey howled at Jerry Manuel about the decision to remove him because of an upper leg injury, the pitcher and manager happened to see one another in the men's room of the visitors' clubhouse at Dodger Stadium.
Dickey asked again why Manuel had not trusted him that his leg was fine; Manuel said that he simply wanted to protect the pitcher from his own competitive nature. The two men will never agree on the core issue of whether Dickey should have remained in the game, but they emerged from that conversation with enhanced trust and mutual respect.
Evidence of a developing relationship was immediately apparent in Thursday's 4-0 win over St. Louis, in which Dickey pitched 8-1/3 innings of four-hit ball, benefitted from Ike Davis' three-run home run, and provided a smooth pitching performance on a day when it became still clearer that outside help was not likely en route. After the rival Phillies consummated a trade for Houston ace Roy Oswalt, a source said that the Mets remained unlikely to acquire a starting pitcher before Saturday's 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline.
With Oswalt a Phillie, and Cliff Lee and Dan Haren already traded, the Mets are left to consider Chicago's Ted Lilly. The Cubs have long since told the Mets that Lilly would require strong prospects and salary relief, and that is unlikely to change with the lefthander being the best remaining starter on the market. A source told the Daily News last week that Houston informed the Mets that Brett Myers was unavailable.
So the Mets and their fans are left this summer to enjoy pleasures far subtler than an All-Star rotation. Wherever the team lands in the final standings, Dickey will have lifted them higher than they would have otherwise been.
On Sunday, the 35-year-old knuckleballer had not allowed a run through five innings when he tripped throwing a pitch in the sixth. He then fielded two grounders gingerly, causing Manuel to remove him. Dickey insisted that he had moved slowly only because the opposing pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, was running.
After the game, a calmer Dickey said, "Jerry and I, we are just now learning how to communicate with one another. He needs to know what he can trust."
During their brief conversation in the bathroom, Dickey appreciated Manuel's directness. "He was honest about it," the pitcher said. "He didn't hide behind anything, and that's how you build a relationship. And so today, I think you saw some of the fruits of a better relationship."
Thursday, Manuel was effusive not only in discussing Dickey's pitching, but also his character, which he did not recognize until recently. "I didn't know the man," he said. "But the more you get around him, the great fight and competitor you see that's within him - I think, for me, that has been the most impressive thing."
So in the ninth inning Thursday, after Dickey allowed a single, got a groundout, and walked a batter, Manuel sprung from the dugout to call for closer Francisco Rodriguez to face Albert Pujols. Although many at Citi Field booed, Dickey recalled his Sunday conversation with his skipper.
"That's why I didn't question him when he came out to take me out of the game," he said. "I wanted to finish the game, sure, but I knew that it was the right time to do that."
Walking off the mound, Dickey smiled and said, "Thanks for the chance."
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