Throwing Strikes

My Quest for Truth and the Perfect Knuckleball

The inspiring story of the 2012 National League Cy Young Award Winner



Adapted for young readers from his New York Times bestselling memoir Wherever I Wind Up, this is the inspiring story of how knuckleballer R. A. Dickey became one of the game’s best pitchers. He had humble beginnings, and as a child kept a terrible secret. But at a local prep school, coaches saw talent in him and fostered his skills as a player. Dickey went on to pitch in the Olympics while at the University of Tennessee, but his Major League hopes took a downturn when an X-ray revealed a major problem with his throwing arm. It would seem his future in baseball was over before it even began.

But R.A. knew better. Through faith, hope, and determination, he achieved his dreams and made it into the major leagues. Now, he’s one of the most respected pitchers in the game, a Cy Young Award winner, and he's changed the way people view the knuckleball – and himself. An inspiring true story about beating the odds, R.A. is proof that with hard work and devotion, anyone can overcome whatever life throws at them.

Praise for Wherever I Wind Up:
“R.A. Dickey is one of the coolest athletes I’ve ever met.”
—George Vecsey, The New York Times
“Dickey has set a new standard for athlete autobiographies.”
Publishers Weekly, Starred review
“It's a gripping memoir, a brutally honest account...It might be the finest piece of nonfiction baseball writing since Ball Four.”
—Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated
"Wherever I Wind Up is an astounding memoir–haunting and touching, courageous and wise."
—Jeremy Schaap, bestselling author, Emmy award-winning journalist, ESPN 
"Nobody in baseball has overcome more obstacles than R.A. Dickey, and nobody writes about them with more honesty and insight...This is an awesome book by an awesome man."
—Orel Hershiser, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball analyst, former MLB All-Star
"A wonderful and powerful new memoir."
—Jim Caple, ESPN
"I can't recommend Wherever I Wind Up enough."
—Gary Cohen, SportsNet NY (SNY)
"R.A. Dickey's book is unlike any other professional athlete's autobiography you have ever read. And that is a very good thing."
—Mike Bauman, MLB.com
R.A. Dickey is a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2012, while playing for the New York Mets, he became the first knuckleball pitcher to with the Cy Young Award. When not on the road with the team, he lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children. R.A. is also the author of the bestselling memoir Wherever I Wind Up and its adaptation for young readers, Throwing Strikes. View titles by R.A. Dickey
Sue Corbett is the daughter of Irish immigrants and grew up in a Long Island neighborhood very similar to the one depicted in 12 Again. Ms. Corbett has worked as a journalist for fifteen years in Missouri, South Carolina, Florida and, now, Virginia, where she lives with her husband and their three young children. As anyone who knows her will tell you, she really is half-Looney. However, she has only been twelve once. (So far.) View titles by Sue Corbett
© Julia Xanthos/ NY Daily News
WAYNE COFFEY is one of the country's most acclaimed sports journalists. A former writer for the New York Daily News, he cowrote R. A. Dickey's bestselling Wherever I Wind Up and Carli Lloyd's bestselling When Nobody Was Watching, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Boys of Winter. View titles by Wayne Coffey

About

The inspiring story of the 2012 National League Cy Young Award Winner



Adapted for young readers from his New York Times bestselling memoir Wherever I Wind Up, this is the inspiring story of how knuckleballer R. A. Dickey became one of the game’s best pitchers. He had humble beginnings, and as a child kept a terrible secret. But at a local prep school, coaches saw talent in him and fostered his skills as a player. Dickey went on to pitch in the Olympics while at the University of Tennessee, but his Major League hopes took a downturn when an X-ray revealed a major problem with his throwing arm. It would seem his future in baseball was over before it even began.

But R.A. knew better. Through faith, hope, and determination, he achieved his dreams and made it into the major leagues. Now, he’s one of the most respected pitchers in the game, a Cy Young Award winner, and he's changed the way people view the knuckleball – and himself. An inspiring true story about beating the odds, R.A. is proof that with hard work and devotion, anyone can overcome whatever life throws at them.

Reviews

Praise for Wherever I Wind Up:
“R.A. Dickey is one of the coolest athletes I’ve ever met.”
—George Vecsey, The New York Times
“Dickey has set a new standard for athlete autobiographies.”
Publishers Weekly, Starred review
“It's a gripping memoir, a brutally honest account...It might be the finest piece of nonfiction baseball writing since Ball Four.”
—Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated
"Wherever I Wind Up is an astounding memoir–haunting and touching, courageous and wise."
—Jeremy Schaap, bestselling author, Emmy award-winning journalist, ESPN 
"Nobody in baseball has overcome more obstacles than R.A. Dickey, and nobody writes about them with more honesty and insight...This is an awesome book by an awesome man."
—Orel Hershiser, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball analyst, former MLB All-Star
"A wonderful and powerful new memoir."
—Jim Caple, ESPN
"I can't recommend Wherever I Wind Up enough."
—Gary Cohen, SportsNet NY (SNY)
"R.A. Dickey's book is unlike any other professional athlete's autobiography you have ever read. And that is a very good thing."
—Mike Bauman, MLB.com

Author

R.A. Dickey is a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2012, while playing for the New York Mets, he became the first knuckleball pitcher to with the Cy Young Award. When not on the road with the team, he lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children. R.A. is also the author of the bestselling memoir Wherever I Wind Up and its adaptation for young readers, Throwing Strikes. View titles by R.A. Dickey
Sue Corbett is the daughter of Irish immigrants and grew up in a Long Island neighborhood very similar to the one depicted in 12 Again. Ms. Corbett has worked as a journalist for fifteen years in Missouri, South Carolina, Florida and, now, Virginia, where she lives with her husband and their three young children. As anyone who knows her will tell you, she really is half-Looney. However, she has only been twelve once. (So far.) View titles by Sue Corbett
© Julia Xanthos/ NY Daily News
WAYNE COFFEY is one of the country's most acclaimed sports journalists. A former writer for the New York Daily News, he cowrote R. A. Dickey's bestselling Wherever I Wind Up and Carli Lloyd's bestselling When Nobody Was Watching, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Boys of Winter. View titles by Wayne Coffey