R.A. Dickey: Mariners savior, crab boat captain

R.A. Dickey is the only reason to watch the 2008 Seattle Mariners. Since the team has refused to don the powder blue road uniforms, Dickey's dancing 75-mile per hour knuckleball might be the next best reason to tune in.

Watching the M’s boot ground balls and hit into rally-killing double plays is fun and all, but the 33-year old knuckleballer has been dazzling.

Dickey came on in relief of starter Erik Bedard last night and posted 5-2/3 shutout innings. In his past three appearances he has pitched 13-1/3 scoreless innings.

"I've never seen it like this before," catcher Jaime Burke told MLB.com. "It was pretty amazing. Obviously, you can see they weren't squaring it up. They were missing them, and it's nice to see that."

You wouldn't quite call Dickey’s look "throwback" with the full beard and knee-high stirrups, but he does look like he could leave the clubhouse and join the crew of the Northwestern on the "Deadliest Catch."

There is no reason he shouldn't be in the starting rotation, but for selfish reasons I’d like to see him continue to come out of the pen. More appearances mean more opportunities to see M’s catchers whiff and fumble on nearly every pitch. The Tony Romo factor alone is worth it.

How can you not root for this guy? He was acquired from the Twins this past off season for essentially a bucket of balls and a bag of grass seed. A dozen years ago he was told to give up the game because he doesn't have an ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Now, I don’t know what that means, but when a pitcher doesn't have a ligament in his pitching elbow, I think that’s a bad thing. Here’s what he told the New York Times in February:

“Doctors look at me and say I shouldn't be able to turn a doorknob without feeling pain, and I shouldn't be able to turn the key and start my car without feeling pain. But I’m still here. I feel I have a whole career ahead of me.”

In spite of not possessing certain important body parts, he’s built a solid career with brief stints in the major leagues. After recently reinventing himself as a crafty knuckleballer, Dickey may the best thing going for M’s.

Now, if we could only see him bring it in the road powder blues.