(Reuters)
If 2012 turns out to be R.A. Dickey’s final season with the Mets, he certainly made it count.
Dickey became just the third Met — and first knuckleballer — to win the National League Cy Young Award yesterday.
“This is a victory for everyone who threw the pitch,” Dickey said on a conference call after getting 27 of 32 first-place votes to easily outpace the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and join Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden as the only Mets to capture the award.
It’s also the culmination of an incredible career rebirth for the 38-year-old who led the NL with 230 strikeouts, five complete games, three shutouts and 233 2/3 innings.
His 20 wins were one short of Washington’s Gio Gonzalez, who finished in third place, and Dickey’s 2.73 ERA was second to Kershaw’s 2.53.
The highlight of Dickey’s 2012 campaign was a 44 2/3-inning scoreless streak that spanned from May 22 through June 24. The Mets won 14 of his 17 first-half starts, earning Dickey his first All-Star Game appearance.
“This is an honor to be shared,” Dickey said on MLB Network. “There have been countless people that poured into me … and this is a victory for all of us.”
The next step in Dickey’s career with the Mets is still to be determined.
The team picked up a $5 million option for next season, but both sides remain in discussions about an extension. Despite that, both general manager Sandy Alderson and COO Jeff Wilpon have acknowledged recently that Dickey could be traded because of all the other issues the Mets face.
Dickey has repeatedly stated he would like to stay in New York, but also understands the position the Mets are in and he stuck to that last night.
“I feel good about being a Met, I do,” Dickey said. “That might be my youthful optimism because I also understand as a veteran and someone who’s played for a while, it’s part of the business of baseball. But I’m fairly confident … I can’t put a percentage on it, but I can certainly say I believe the Mets are going to be a lot better and I want to be part of the solution.”
But he was also realistic.
“Hopefully we can work something out where I can stay here and I wouldn’t mind finishing my career here,” Dickey said. “I want to be loyal to the organization that has given me a real opportunity. That being said, you never want to be taken advantage of, either. I’ve been on that side of the coin as a player, as well. Hopefully we’ll be able to reach some mutually beneficial agreement.”
The award certainly couldn’t have been expected when the Mets and former GM Omar Minaya picked up Dickey prior to the 2010 season after the former first-round pick flamed out with the Rangers and Twins.
“I don’t think anyone could have predicted what this would become,” Dickey said.
And no one is ready to predict Dickey’s future.
“This is fitting recognition for a remarkable season,” Alderson said in a statement.
“I would certainly love to stand on Opening Day, if I’m not pitching it, at the plate and lift up the Cy Young trophy and tell everyone they were a part of it,” Dickey said. “I hope that will happen. But I also understand as an older player it is a business and Sandy Alderson is paid to do his due diligence. … So we’ll see.”
➤ Tampa Bay’s David Price got one more first-place vote than Detroit’s Justin Verlander to win the AL Cy Young, preventing Verlander from winning the award for a second straight time.
➤ Dillon Gee, who was collecting items with City Harvest at a Citi Field food drive, said he’s healthy after his season was cut short by a blood clot in his right shoulder.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Gee said. “I finished the year throwing. I’ve been working out for three weeks now.”
dan.martin@nypost.com