R.A. Dickey, 20-game winner

Yesterday afternoon, R.A. Dickey (20-6) became the first 20-game winner on a sub-.500 team since Roger Clemens did it with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997. Topping the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dickey became the first 20-game winning knuckleballer since Houston’s Joe Niekro in 1980.

Dickey is different from any other knuckle ball pitcher because he throws his at a very fast 78 mph, and yesterday he tied his career high with 13 strikeouts. The 37-year-old never had won more than 11 games in any previous season.

Dickey has thrown 3265 pitches with the fastest reaching 86.1 mph and the slowest, 43.6 mphDickey joined a small group of Mets to reach the 20-win milestone.

NY Mets 20-game winners

Rk	Player	W	Year	L	W-L%
1	Tom Seaver	25	1969	7	.781
2	Dwight Gooden	24	1985	4	.857
3	Tom Seaver	22	1975	9	.710
4	Jerry Koosman	21	1976	10	.677
5	Tom Seaver	21	1972	12	.636
6	R.A. Dickey	20	2012	6	.769
7	Frank Viola	20	1990	12	.625
8	David Cone	20	1988	3	.870
9	Tom Seaver	20	1971	10	.667

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 9/28/2012.

Here are some stats to see how Dickey fits in the NL Cy Young race.

NL Wins

Rk	Player	W
1	Gio Gonzalez	21
2	R.A. Dickey	20
3	Johnny Cueto	19
4	Lance Lynn	17
5	Yovani Gallardo	16
6	Tim Hudson	16
7	Cole Hamels	16
8	Kyle Lohse	16
9	Madison Bumgarner	16
10	Wade Miley	16
11	Matt Cain	16
12	A.J. Burnett	16

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/28/2012.

W-L pct.

Rk	Player	W-L%	W	L
1	Kyle Lohse	.842	16	3
2	R.A. Dickey	.769	20	6
3	Mat Latos	.765	13	4
4	Matt Cain	.762	16	5
5	Tim Hudson	.727	16	6
6	Cole Hamels	.727	16	6
7	Gio Gonzalez	.724	21	8
8	Stephen Strasburg	.714	15	6
9	Lance Lynn	.708	17	7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/28/2012.

Strikeouts

Rk	Player	SO
1	R.A. Dickey	222
2	Clayton Kershaw	211
3	Cole Hamels	208
4	Gio Gonzalez	207

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/28/2012.

ERA

Rk	Player	ERA
1	Clayton Kershaw	2.68
2	R.A. Dickey	2.69
3	Matt Cain	2.77
4	Kyle Lohse	2.77
5	Johnny Cueto	2.83
6	Gio Gonzalez	2.89
7	Jordan Zimmermann	2.90

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/28/2012.

WAR

Rk	Player	WAR
1	Johnny Cueto	5.7
2	Clayton Kershaw	5.4
3	R.A. Dickey	5.3
4	Gio Gonzalez	4.6
5	Jordan Zimmermann	4.4
6	Cole Hamels	4.1
7	Cliff Lee	4.0
8	Kyle Lohse	4.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/28/2012.

WHIP

Rk	Player	WHIP
1	Clayton Kershaw	1.039
2	Matt Cain	1.040
3	R.A. Dickey	1.050
4	Kyle Lohse	1.078
5	Madison Bumgarner	1.106
6	Gio Gonzalez	1.129
7	Cliff Lee	1.131
8	Cole Hamels	1.133

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/28/2012.

Comments

Brad Radke also won 20 games in 1997, with the 68-94 Minnesota Twins.