R.A. Dickey writes emotional farewell to Mets fans

R.A. Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young winner, has openly expressed his "numbess" being traded by the Mets to the Blue Jays, but over the weekend took it to a different level.

The 38-year-old wrote a long letter to the Flushing faithful, which appeared in the New York Daily News on Sunday.

Dickey spent spent three seasons in New York, posting a 39-28 record with a 2.95 ERA. In 2012, he became the first Met to win 20 games since Frank Viola in 1990 and the first to win the Cy Young since Dwight Gooden in 1985.

Mets fans fell in love with Dickey and his dancing knuckleball, so it was fitting that one of most un-cliché athletes on the planet didn't do the cliché thing and take out an advertisement.

Some highlights from Dickey's note:

This is where my heart was, where I wanted to be, where I lived out a story of redemption and felt that every one of you shared it with me in some form or fashion. I loved pitching for you. I loved your passion, the way you embraced me from the start, and the way you seemed to appreciate the effort I was putting forth. Every time I'd walk off the mound after an outing, I'd look in your faces, the people behind the dugout, and felt as if all your energy and support was pouring right into me — even when I was lousy. It gives me chill bumps thinking about it even now.

From the beginning of last season to the end — when you cheered with all you had that Thursday afternoon when I won my 20th game — I felt that this was a shared journey, that we were all in it together. What a great way for an athlete to feel.

There were so many special relationships I formed that made my time with the Mets so much richer. Not just in the clubhouse, either. I enjoyed talking with Bill Deacon, the head groundskeeper, about his craft, and all that went into it. The security people who helped my wife and kids get in and out of the family lounge, the policemen who helped me get out of the parking lot, the folks at the Hodges Gate — so many people went out of their way to be kind to me, and they should know how much it was, and is, appreciated.

I was going to take out an advertisement to express these thank yous, but decided in the end that there was too much I wanted to say. So I am writing this instead.

Can anybody make an argument that he's not the most likable guy in baseball?