R.A. Dickey: Mets SP's Mount Kilimanjaro Quest Worth the Risk

New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey isn't exactly taking it easy this offseason. He has a certain goal in mind, and it's a high one.

Like, literally high. Dickey is going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, a 19,000-plus-foot mountain that looms large in the heart of Tanzania.

The Mets would rather see Dickey stay home and watch TV or do other such normal offseason activities. Per a report from the Wall Street Journal, the Mets sent Dickey's agent a letter a few months ago that clarified the team will have the right to void Dickey's contract if something bad happens on his mountain trek.

"If we thought it was a good idea, we wouldn't have sent the letter," said Mets GM Sandy Alderson. "Beyond that, have we tried to dissuade him from going? It seems to me that the letter is enough of an effort to dissuade him, and he intends to go on nonetheless."

And indeed, sources confirmed to the New York Daily News on Tuesday that Dickey is not about to back down from his quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, which will officially begin when he departs from his Nashville home next week. He is apparently perfectly willing to put more than $4.5 million guaranteed at risk.

Dickey has supposedly always wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but his quest isn't just for him. He'll be climbing to raise money and awareness for Bombay Teen Challenge, a charity that helps victims of sex trafficking in India.

A noble cause, to be sure. In fact, it's impossible to take the cause into consideration and not root for Dickey to reach the top.

The good news is that climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is not exactly climbing Mount Everest. Altitude sickness is a risk, and it can lead to more serious problems, but there's no extreme climbing involved. In the words of Colorado Rockies pitcher Kevin Slowey, who will be accompanying Dickey, climbing Kilimanjaro is "basically a 12-day hike with stops at different altitudes."

Dickey and Slowey will be led by the African Walking Company, and Dickey told the WSJ that he is counting on the company to lead the way and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

So despite the fact Dickey will be putting his contract with the Mets at risk, he will be doing so to accomplish a lifelong and charitable goal, and he will be attempting to do it all in the safest way possible. He's doing it right, and the trip is most definitely worth the trouble.

Dickey won't be the first person to reach the summit, mind you. Roughly 25,000 people attempt the climb per year, and the African Walking Company estimates that two-thirds of them make it to the top.

However, Dickey could very well be the first person to ever throw a knuckleball from the summit. That would be icing on the cake.