R.A. Dickey is easily one of the quirkiest players in Major League Baseball. The 38-year-old unabashed Star Wars and Lord of the Rings nerd became the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young award in MLB history last season. Dickey received endless media attention for his impossibly consistent dominance with a pitch that is notoriously untamable, but many people forget he swung a pretty decent bat too.
Like everything else R.A. Dickey does, his approach at the plate is rather unorthodox. Dickey swings a 37-inch, 34-ounce bat which is most likely the largest in the entire league by a considerable margin.
The Blue Jays pitcher names his bats after famous swords in literature, such as Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver from The Hobbit and Hrunting from Beowulf. He also chokes up on the bat/sword almost two inches, something you'll often see at a local Little League game, but not in a MLB batters box.
In yesterday's game against the San Francisco Giants, Dickey squared to bunt against Barry Zito and at the last second pulled back his 37-inch piece of lumber and laced a double down the third base line.
When he wasn't busy hitting RBI doubles, Dickey pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings against the reigning champs to carry the Blue Jays to a 4-0 victory. The image below pretty much sums it up.
