Dickey to receive Mets’ Ya Gotta Believe award

METS TO HOLD ANNUAL WELCOME HOME DINNER
SUNDAY, APRIL 10 AT NEW YORK HILTON

Tickets are Available at Mets.com and by Phone at (718) 803-4074

FLUSHING, N.Y., April 4, 2011 – The New York Mets today announced they will hold their annual Welcome Home Dinner to benefit the Mets Foundation this Sunday, April 10 at 6:00 p.m. at the New York Hilton Hotel, located at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue.

Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson, Manager Terry Collins, coaches, and all 25 Mets players will be in attendance.

Pitcher R.A. Dickey will receive the Ya Gotta Believe award, named for former Mets pitcher Tug McGraw. The lefty reliever famously coined the phrase in 1973 as the Mets rallied to capture the National League pennant despite being in last place in August. After being the first player cut during spring training in 2010, Dickey finished the season with an 11-9 record and a 2.84 ERA, seventh-best in the National League. Dickey, who reinvented his career in 2005 with Texas by becoming a knuckleball pitcher, signed the first guaranteed contract of his career last winter, a two-year deal with a club option for 2013.

“It’s been a long journey for me,” said Dickey, Sunday’s winning pitcher who is scheduled to start the Mets’ 4:10 p.m. home opener against the Washington Nationals this Friday, April 8. “My wife Anne always wanted me to continue to play. She didn’t want me to have any regrets.”

The Ya Gotta Believe award is given annually to an individual within or associated with the Mets family who has shown an exceptional commitment to the community, fortitude in overcoming adversity, and the spirit to believe that anything is possible.

For more information visit mets.com or by phone at (718) 803-4074.