The Final Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Steadfast

All good things must come to an end.  And with this week's news that R.A. Dickey was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, that means the non-weekly Dickeypedia Word of the Week has reached its final installment as well.

Before he left the bright lights of New York for the poutine of Toronto, Dickey left us with three heartfelt tweets:

Now that its official, I want to say that I don't have the words to express how grateful I am to you for the steadfast support and...
— R.A. Dickey (@RADickey43) December 17, 2012

Encouragement I received from all of you.Ive always felt that there was a connection beyond the uniform.Thank you for making me feel wanted
— R.A. Dickey (@RADickey43) December 17, 2012

Looking forward to a new chapter with the Jays.
— R.A. Dickey (@RADickey43) December 17, 2012

It was a wonderful gesture by a classy pitcher like R.A. Dickey to thank his fans in New York.  It was also wonderful to see him use the word "steadfast" in one of his tweets.  As most casual baseball fans know, that word is not one that's dropped very often in cliché-filled post-game interviews.  In fact, according to our soon-to-be-put-away-for-good volume of Dickeypedia, here is the definition of the word:


steadfast:

• fixed in direction; steadily directed.
• firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person.
• unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.
• firmly established, as an institution or a state of affairs.
• firmly fixed in place or position.

All I got from those definitions is that firmness has something to do with being steadfast.  Perhaps if we used the word in a sentence, it might clear things up a bit.

To do that, we did what we always do in these situations - we contacted a member of the Mets organization.  We've never showed much concern for whether or not we enlisted the services of a current Met or a former Met.  We just needed someone who was breathing and could give us a sentence or two.  That's not much to ask for, right?

So for this final Dickeypedia segment, we went to the Grand Poobah himself.  The chief cook and bottle washer.  The Big Kahuna.  That's right, loyal readers.  We went to Fred Wilpon, affectionately known around these parts as Papa Smirk.

Papa Smirk was more than happy to enlighten his paying customers with a sentence or seven using Dickey's firm word so that no one would be confused by its meaning.  He used it in his reflection of former players that have called Citi Field home:

"I did everything I could to keep players around as they were approaching free agency.  But we had to trade Carlos Beltran after some schmuck overpaid him to come to New York based on one playoff series.  We finished in fourth place with R.A. Dickey winning the Sandy Koufax Award; we can finish there without him.  And Jose Reyes thought he would get Carl Crawford money, but he's had everything go wrong with him.  Perhaps had he steadfast and healthy, we would have signed him.  I'd rather use that money to buy more Sandy Koufax autographed game-used Dodger boxers instead.  Mmmm, I love the smell of Koufax in the morning."


Uh, on that note, perhaps it's a good thing we'll never be doing another Dickeypedia Word of the Week piece.  Some of those sentences have gotten a little too personal for our tastes.

As we wrap up this final Dickeypedia segement, we'd like to thank all the former Mets who contributed with their vocabulary skills.  Players such as Gregg Jefferies, Bobby Bonilla and Victor Zambrano, to name a few, all taught us how NOT to use certain words in Dickey's lexicon, even if they thought they were showing off their linguistic skills.

Good luck to R.A. Dickey in Toronto.  And thank you for being so steadfast and loyal to your fans!


Even though he is no longer toiling for the Mets, you can still follow R.A. Dickey on Twitter by clicking here.  For more vocabulary assistance, please read the following Dickeypedia entries:

Feb. 22, 2011: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Narrative (featuring Gregg Jefferies)
Feb. 25, 2011: A Double Dose of Dickeypedia (Rudiments, Vernacular) (featuring Armando Benitez)
Mar. 10, 2011: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Syntax (featuring Bobby Bonilla)
Apr. 2, 2011: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Asphyxiation (featuring Oliver Perez)
May 15, 2011: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Fortitude (featuring Victor Zambrano)
Aug. 14, 2011: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Fodder (featuring Jeff Kent)
Sept. 3, 2011: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Hyperbole (featuring Lenny Dykstra)
Jan. 8, 2012: Dickeypedia Word of the Week: Acclimatize (featuring Mike Scott)