It was June 9, 2007, and R.A. Dickey had hit rock bottom in every way—spiritually, relationally and vocationally. His marriage and professional baseball career were both on life support, and the emotional baggage of a traumatic childhood felt like a millstone around his neck, dragging him into a spiritual abyss. Dickey, a 32-year-old career minor leaguer at the time, had jumped into the Missouri River in a moment of impulsive, ill-fated hubris to prove a silly point to himself and some teammates, believing he could cross the great divide. But the river’s strong currents shows no respect for persons or situations, and soon Dickey was sinking. Then his feet hit bottom.
Watch the R.A. Dickey story
Impossible to sink any lower. Nowhere to go but up. Something to push off from. So he pushed. Dickey didn’t die that day. As he re-emerged from the darkness, a saving hand extended toward him. One of his teammates, Grant Balfour, had tracked him for hundreds of yards along the riverbank. The two hands interlocked. New life. God mercifully saved Dickey from himself—and not for the first time, either. The Almighty’s plan for Dickey did not involve a drowned corpse washing ashore in Council Bluffs, Iowa. No, it involved an incredible rebirth in all respects—personally and professionally. It involved a vibrant faith, a wonderful family, a best-selling memoir, a Cy Young Award, and much more. “Only God’s imagination,” Dickey says now, “can script a story like mine.”
The full story appears in FCA Magazine’s July/August 2015 issue.
R. A. Dickey is a MLB pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. He previously played for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins and New York Mets. After limited success in the majors as a conventional starting pitcher, Dickey learned to throw a knuckleball. As of the 2015 season, he is one of two active players in the majors who use the knuckleball as a primary pitch. In 2012, Dickey was selected to his first All-Star Game, won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award, and became the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. He is a born-again Christian, he helps operate the Ocala, Florida-based Honoring the Father Ministries which provides medical supplies, powdered milk and baseball equipment to the impoverished in Latin America.
Christian Speakers 360 is a booking agent for Christian athletes and celebrities. If you would like to book R. A. Dickey for an appearance, contact R. A. Dickey’s booking agent for speaker fees at 1.800.966.1380.
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