Dickey Needs Good Shoes

R.A. Dickey may upset John Kruk by proving baseball players are athletes after all.

In a hilarious comment, the former Phillies All-Star once told a woman that he was no athlete, he was a baseball player. Kruk’s belly seemed to be proof positive of that, though certainly other ballplayers who embark on year-round workout programs would disagree with his premise anyway.

Dickey is taking things a step beyond. During this off-season the New York Mets knuckleballer has committed to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa at 19,340 feet. In degree of difficulty it does not compare to Mount Everest and success in reaching the summit will not rival the late Sir Edmund Hillary for mountaineering achievement.

One only need to be quite fit (fitter than Kruk on his best day) to climb Kilimanjaro. I can testify to this from first-hand exerience because if I can climb Kilimanjaro then any professional athlete should be able to make the trek. That’s because more than a climb it is a trek. Getting up Kilimanjaro involves no technical climbing. None of that ropes and crampons stuff. Just a lot of deep breaths and leg muscles that won’t give out on an incline.

My climb of Kilimanjaro took place in 1989, before my knees deteriorated in dog years, seven at a time. While not a climb that true mountaineers are wary of making, the comparative novice (like me) found it to be a demanding few days. That was at least partially because the local guides rushed us up the hill on their schedule. We stopped periodically for nights of sleep in permanent huts, but one more day at medium altitude and one more night of sleep on the mountain before going for the summit would have made the trip more pleasurable.

The journey itself to an exotic country, along with adjacent Kenya, overflowing with big game animals to see like elephants, lions, Cape buffalo, giraffes and wildebeast (I witnessed the migration of the wildebeest, several thousand animals crossing the savannah in a parade), made for a spectacular, memorable, once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Dickey, 37, must have decided he was getting old too fast to put off climbing the peak until past Major League baseball retirement. I do not expect him to incur arm injuries from any experiences on the mountain. I just hope he doesn’t get bitten by a poisonous snake, which was my biggest fear in the wild, greater than being eaten by a lion. I never saw one of the fearsome snakes that inhabit Africa, but I came within about 30 yards of a pride of lions. Luckily, they had just chowed down and were settling into post-lunch naps and didn’t seem to care about me. Tell you what, if you hear a lion roar in the night the echo of the sound sticks with you forever.

Dickey says he has long been inspired to climb Kilimanjaro because of Ernest Hemingway’s famous novel “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (the snow is only at the very top) and he is trying to draw attention to a charitable cause. His goal is to raise awareness of human trafficking in India and is making the climb with the blessing of an organization called Bombay Teen Challenge.

One of the few knuckleball pitchers in the majors, Dickey was 8-13 in 2011 and is 41-50 lifetime. He said he read Hemingway’s book when he was in the 8th grade and always thought he would like to see the mountain. It’s his game plan, but Dickey is bringing along Kevin Slowey, the Minnesota Twins pitcher, and Mets bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello for company. And you wondered what players talk about in the bullpen.

My advice to Dickey is this: Take it about as slow as your knuckler, wear very sturdy, broken-in hiking boots, bring your own snacks for the trail, drink a lot of water, and hope for the kind of night I experienced as we trekked upward from 1 a.m. on trying to time it to the summit for sunrise. There were a million stars so bright we didn’t need headlamps. And if the sun treats you right on summit day you will be reminded why they call the top of Kilimanjaro the roof of Africa. Miles of beautiful land will stretch out before you.