Old Time Family Baseball

Spotlighting another attempt to raise money for the Bombay Teen Challenge, “an organization that rescues and cares for women and girls in Mumbai who are at risk of being abused and exploited,” RA Dickey, Kevin Slowey and Mets bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello have reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. It wasn’t an easy hike as Dickey’s latest blog post has made abundantly clear. While struggling to get to the top and with the altitude, cold, and harsh slope making it difficult, Dickey tried to clear his mind:

“I thought of my family back home playing games, and what the kids were doing in school. I began to think of the money we were raising to help the Bombay Teen Challenge. I visualized pitching to the all the teams in the N.L. East, batter by batter. I thought of anything I could to distract me from the misery I was in. Finally, about seven hours into the climb at around 18,500 feet, I had to ask our guide to stop. I sat on a rock to the side of the trail feeling nauseated and lightheaded.

Joshua, our guide, rushed over to me and filled a small cup with hot tea from a thermos he pulled out of his pack and placed in front of my face. The lightheadedness graduated to dizziness as I reached for the cup, missing it by six inches. Again I reached for it, only to miss it again. I felt my innards convulse. Joshua took my hand and placed it on the cup.
I told him to get me a Diamox that I had in the top pocket of my pack. He gave it to me and I immediately chewed it, hoping the medicine would enter my bloodstream more rapidly. I took a sip of the tea and sat there in silence, praying that my symptoms would abate.”

Fortunately, the group is now at the top and can begin to wind their way back down, something I’m sure the Mets brass is excited to hear. Since I know nothing about mountain climbing, I can only assume it’s not as easy as taking the escalator down from the food court, so things like frost bite and altitude poisoning are still possible.

This is also just another step towards cementing Dickey’s legacy. A former first rounder turned knuckleballer turned mountain climber is a pretty rare and exceptional thing to be.

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While we’re on the subject of charity, please help us on our fundraising drive for Doctors Without Borders. We have just passed $1,000 and are halfway to our goal of $2,000.

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