Wherever I Wind Up

Starred review from March 12, 2012
Most professional baseball players pen a memoir after they retire. But pitcher R.A. Dickeyâwho spent four seasons with four different Major League Baseball teams and is MLB's only active knuckleballerâboasts a story compelling enough to be told forthwith. A heralded 1996 first-round draft choice, Dickey's $810,000 signing bonus with the Texas Rangers was yanked after doctors discovered the right-handed pitcher was missing an ligament in his right elbow. Thus began a dramatic up-and-down journey through the professional ranks, sustained by Dickey's determination, as evidenced by the book's proverbial Latin epigraph, "Dum spiro, spero"â"While I breath, I hope." He and co-author Coffey (The Boys of Winter) write with startling candor not only about the gameâDickey's fellow players, steroids in baseball, his disdain for rookie hazingâ, but also about his tumultuous upbringingâbeing a victim of sexual abuse as an 8-year-old at the hands of his babysitter, growing up in Nashville with an alcoholic mother, sleeping in vacant houses as a teenager, and becoming a Christian. Dickey credits his faith with overcoming myriad trials both personal and professional, but it never feels as if he's preaching. Once an English-lit major and now a starting pitcher for the New York Mets, the author emerges as one of baseball's good guys, and someone who can write as well as he pitches. Dickey has set a new standard for athlete autobiographies. Color photos.

September 15, 2012
New York Mets pitcher Dickey delivers a winsome, well-scripted autobiography. From humble beginnings in Nashville to a current multimillion-dollar salary with the Mets, the author writes enthusiastically about a life full of twists and turns. Ably assisted by New York Daily News reporter Coffey (The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, 2005, etc.), Dickey colorfully describes being raised in the 1980s with little money by two distant parents--though his father instilled in him a love of baseball. Buoyed by baseball, Star Wars and Bible study in his teens, Dickey overcame traumatic childhood sexual abuse by a babysitter and his middle school's corporal punishment for back talk. A sports obsession soon took priority over everything, including concerns about his mother's alcoholism. After a stellar career at the University of Tennessee, he began an ascent up the sporting ranks as a high draft pick for the Texas Rangers in 1996, even though his $810,000 signing bonus was drastically reduced once a team-ordered physician discovered his elbow was missing a ligament. His conversation with famed knuckle-ball master Tim Wakefield and the evolution of his trademarked game-changing knuckle ball are just a few of the book's many highlights. Through the various life and career uncertainties, he and longtime wife Anne leaned on their Christian faith for support, something that Dickey references often without becoming preachy or heavy-handed. An unassuming yet refreshingly commanding memoir.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 26, 2012
Major League All-Star and New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey has led a remarkable life—and he’s only 38. While that’s considered elderly for a professional athlete, Dickey remains one of the top pitchers in baseball and indeed the only active pitcher capable of throwing the perfect knuckleball. Narrator Ben Hunter delivers a subdued but pitch-perfect (excuse the pun) performance in the audio edition of this memoir in which Dickey charts the course of his life, covering everything from the ups and downs of his career to the importance of his faith. Throughout, Hunter’s tone is sincere and engaging, his delivery exquisitely paced, and his timing spot-on. Listeners will be transfixed by this compelling and earnest audiobook. A Penguin/Blue Rider hardcover.