The main reason Buck Showalter believed R.A. Dickey could transform into a knuckleballer in 2005 was his attitude. Dickey was self last. He was team first.
“Didn’t have an ego. Just wanted to be in a position where you could contribute to a team,” Showalter, the Rangers manager in 2005, said last night. “Everything about him was big league, except his stuff at that time as a conventional pitcher.”
Dickey is 100 percent big league now, and last night he absolutely flummoxed his former manager’s team. The Mets knuckleballer hurled his second straight complete-game one-hitter, continuing a run of dominance in the Mets’ 5-0 win over Showalter’s Orioles.
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Despite their history together, Showalter wasn’t exactly happy for Dickey last night. Asked how much appreciation he had for what his former pitcher did, Showalter scoffed.
“Not a whole lot,” he said. “This is a competitive situation.”
Not that competitive, really. Dickey struck out a career-high 13, allowed only three men to reach base and faced one batter above the minimum.
Dickey was a Ranger from 2001-06; Showalter managed Texas from 2003-06. Dickey credited Showalter and then-Rangers pitching coach Orel Hershiser with starting him on the knuckleball path, and Dickey raved about Showalter last night.
“He’s the one who gave me the opportunity to cultivate that pitch at the foundation levels, down in the minor leagues with the Texas Rangers,” Dickey said. “He believed I could do it. Now, it took awhile for me to get it, but he certainly gave me the canvas to be able to operate.
“He and Orel kind of pushed me in that direction and thankfully they did.”
Dickey, who pitched for Showalter for four seasons in Arlington, has stayed in touch with his former manager through texts.
“He’s always meant a lot to me,” Dickey said.
mark.hale@nypost.com
Follow @NYP_Sports
Buck Showalter, Showalter, R.A. Dickey, Dickey, Orel Hershiser, knuckleballer
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