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R.A. Dickey fights human trafficking in India

Big League Stew

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander R.A. Dickey continues to set an admirable example for us normal folks. Admirable and unattainable! After accepting the Cy Young Award at the BWAAA dinner in New York on Saturday night, Dickey announced via Twitter that he is off to India with his family for the Bombay Teen Challenge. That might sound like a kids game show, but its mission could not be more serious:

And what do you do with your time off from work? Someday, when Dickey has to return to his home planet, we of Earth are going to miss him. Back when Dickey introduced himself to Toronto after being traded from the Mets (via John Lott in The National Post) this is how he did it:

A year ago, R.A. Dickey was gearing up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. This month, in a related adventure, he is preparing to go to India with his two daughters to work with a mission that rescues women and girls forced into the sex trade.

His climb raised money and awareness for that cause. His trip to Mumbai aims to advance that effort and enlighten his daughters.

“They’re opening up a clinic up that was once a brothel, so it’s incredibly poetic,” Dickey said. “I’m going to get to go down there and kind of serve with the Bombay Teen Challenge, and get to expose my girls to something that I hope gives them a real heart for humanity.”

That sure beats an analysis of Toronto's infield defense (er, defence). For the record, some people out there think Dickey is too good to be true, that his activities are more for self-promotion than anything else. But hey, if it helps transforms brothels into clinics, maybe we should all just play along.

While he's over in India, don't be surprised if Dickey tries rescuing other species, too, and comes home with some endangered tigers and elephants. Oh, my!

(*Mumbai and Bombay are the same place, by the way. There's just a ... disagreement as to what to call it.)

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