Actually, the 6-0 Dickey doesn’t seem to mind who is out there. He says he “throws to a point and not a catcher” when on the mound, but is grateful for Barajas and his backup Henry Blanco.

“From time to time [what happened in Baltimore] will happen,” Dickey said. “It’s nothing we can work through. On this team, we have two catchers with very good hands. There are some guys who don’t like to catch the knuckleball, but on this team it’s not a problem.”

Nothing seems to be a problem for the 35 year-old Dickey this season. A conventional pitcher until 2005, the Texan seems to be finally comfortable mastering the knuckleball, a pitch very few can throw and control.

“I think I had moments I felt it throughout ’07 and moments I felt it throughout ’08 and ’09,” said Dickey who holds a career mark of 27-28 pitching for Texas, Seattle, Minnesota and now the Mets. “But that perpetual feeling of what I know what to do and make adjustments, that didn’t happen this year. It started in spring training and I got sent down to the minor leagues.

“I was throwing it real slowly. I was trying to get used to my surroundings and built up my arm strength. It wasn’t until I got to Buffalo that I was throwing it hard. I need the repetitions to prepare and I needed the repetitions in camp for it to work.”

Five years throwing the knuckler exclusively seems right for Dickey and he says he’s like “27 in knuckleball years.” This season has been a breakthrough for the pitcher. From his one-hitter back April 29th when he allowed a leadoff single to Durham’s Fernando Perez and then mowing down the next 27 batters, to his mastery of the National League with the knuckler.

And he can actually thank a former Met for his success. Back in 2005, Dickey was encouraged by Texas pitching coach Orel Hershiser to move to the knuckleball exclusively. His conventional pitching wasn’t going anywhere and the right hander was losing velocity on his fastball.

“I’ve always thrown a knuckleball, even when I was a conventional pitcher,” he said. “It was part of my selection of pitches, but I only threw it two or three times a game.  Hershiser knew I had a good knuckleball and he thought I could go to that knuckleball fulltime. He felt it could be like Tim Wakefield’s or Charlie Hough’s.”

“Ironically, halfway through the 2005 season I injured a muscle in my back. When I came back from that injury, I didn’t have the velocity, although I did feel good, so it was time to do something different to keep chasing a dream.”

Now though, Dickey has the strength in his arm. He throws a hard knuckleball between 77 mph to 81 mph with an 86 mph fastball to compliment his pitches.

If you had to make a comparison, Dickey is much like Joe Niekro since he doesn’t throw 100 percent knucklers. And he’s been a godsend for the Mets, who needed a starter after the injuries to John Maine and Oliver Perez.

In a stellar start versus the Detroit Tigers, Dickey took command throwing eight scoreless innings allowing only 4 hits and retiring the last 13 batters who faced him.

“Over the first four innings it [the knuckleball] wasn’t really working the way I wanted it,” said the pitcher.” He added, “The last four innings it was working well and I was more comfortable throwing it.”

Right now, Dickey has become a fixture in the rotation complimenting Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey and he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.