Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2008 R.A. Dickey

Topps SHB #9: 2008 R.A. Dickey, Seattle Mariners

Between R.A. Dickey's initial trial run as a starter with the Rangers in the mid 2000s and his breakout in 2010 as a starter with the Mets, there was a 3 year period of Topps card inactivity for the knuckleballer and Cy Young winner, mainly because there wasn't a ton to report in this period.

In 2007, Dickey spent the whole year in Milwaukee's AAA club, and had a solid year there, which makes me wonder why the Brewers never brought him up. In 2009, Dickey spent a week or so with the Twins' AAA team before the Twins called him up for a stint that was not very well photographed, and therefore I can't give you a card of.

His 2008 tenure with the Mariners I can help you with, though.

Dickey made 14 starts with the Ms in 2008, and did mediocre job, with a 3-8 record and a 6.72 ERA. He fared better in relief, with a 2 ERA in 18 appearances, and 2 wins. I don't blame his material as much as I blame the 2008 Mariners. You can see why he did better with the 2010s Mets teams is what I'm saying.

Back to my old theory that Topps needs to include a soothsayer on its staff so that they know to include cards of a player before they win a Cy Young. I'd have taken this in exchange for the 2008 Topps Richie Sexson card that wasn't accurate [we'll get to that in another post].

Still, while this card doesn't mark an especially memorable stage in R.A. Dickey's baseball career, it's still a necessary entry into this Should Have Been series.