Two years after R.A. Dickey was the first player cut by the New York Mets in spring training, he now has a Cy Young Award on his résumé.

Dickey won the National League Cy Young on Wednesday, becoming the first knuckleballer to receive the honor.

Dickey, who went 20-6, received 27-of-32 first-place votes and 209 overall points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw finished second with two first-place votes and 96 points, followed by Washington Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who received one first-place vote and 93 points.

"Clayton and Gio were both just supernatural in the way that they perform," Dickey told MLB Network. "I've had to hit against them both, and it is ridiculous trying to pick up the ball on those guys. They gave everybody fits. Just being mentioned in the same breath as those guys is an honor.

"But for me, this is an honor to be shared. It's a great honor, and I am not a self-made man by any stretch of the imagination. There have been countless people who have poured into me in a way that has changed my life -- not only on the field, but off."

Dickey congratulated AL Cy Young winner David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays on Twitter: "What a great night. Congrats to David price. A good friend and fantastic competitor."

The 38-year-old Dickey became the third Met to win the award. Tom Seaver received the honor three times (1969, '73, '75), and Dwight Gooden won in 1985.

The award caps an eventful year for Dickey, who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January, published a memoir during spring training that included details of sexual abuse he allegedly suffered as a child, tossed a franchise-record 32 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings during the first half and made his first All-Star team.

"We live in a culture now that's got a very progressive mentality, which is fantastic as far as the association of the knuckleball goes," Dickey said. "And that's a compliment to the vision and the imagination of the writers who voted. They didn't see the knuckleball as a trick pitch. They didn't see it as some kind of illegitimate weapon that you can use that isn't worthy. They saw it as a legitimate weapon. It has one purpose, and that's to get big-league hitters out consistently.