R.A. Dickey is a former professional pitcher. Dickey attended the University of Tennessee, where he played college baseball and received honors in all-academic SEC with a 3.5 GPA.
Dickey was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round (18th overall) of the 1996 MLB draft. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves. After limited success in the MLB as a conventional starting pitcher, Dickey learned to throw a knuckleball. 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 after posting a 20–6 record with a league-leading 230 strikeouts. From 2013 to 2017, Dickey and Boston Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright were the only two active knuckleballers in the Majors.
His 2011 season was followed in the documentary film Knuckleball. In 2013, Dickey appeared in a video for I Am Second describing his suicide attempt, history of abuse, and becoming a born-again Christian.