New York Mets' pitcher R.A. Dickey is a pretty nondescript professional athlete.  His stuff was average at best, and he was on his way out of the game until he developed a solid knuckle ball in 2005.  With Tim Wakefield retired, Dickey became the only true knuckler in Major League Baseball.

Dickey is now making headlines for reasons that have nothing to do with his unique pitch.  For the first time in his 37 year life he is publicly discussing the sexual abuse he endured as a child.  In his book, 'Wherever I Wind Up" Dickey chronicles the abuse in detail.

Dickey says he was abused by two different perpetrators during the summer he was eight years old.  One of the perpetrators was a 17 year old male, the other a 13 year old female.  Dickey had concealed the abuse for 23 years, and before today only 10 or 12 people in his inner circle were aware.

Dickey discusses about telling his wife of the abuse:

"That was really, really difficult. Part of being sexually abused is you feel like you're damaged, you feel like if people knew the truth you would be looked at in a certain light, or you would be broken and fractured. So you don't risk it. That's one of the things I wish I would have done better. I just didn't possess the equipment or the vocabulary to do that well with her, and it cost me. It was tough on our marriage for a long, long time. When I told her, she loved me despite the ugliest parts of my life. It really did a lot for our relationship."

Dickey also told ESPN New York that he hopes his book and recent events like the Penn State sexual abuse case allows victims to feel more comfortable to speak up about their abuse.

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