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A photo of Mike Boddicker.
Michael James "Mike" Boddicker (born August 23, 1957, Cedar Rapids, Iowa [1]) was a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles (1980–1988), Boston Red Sox (1988–1990), Kansas City Royals (1991–1992), and Milwaukee Brewers (1993). He was the ALCS MVP in 1983 and was an American League All-Star in 1984.
Early years[]
Boddicker was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on August 23, 1957.[2] His ancestors emigrated in 1861 from the Province of Westphalia, which was situated in current-day Germany, and were among the original settlers of Norway, Iowa, where he was raised. He was the youngest of five children to Harold and Dolly. His father, who was commonly known as Bus, operated a travelling hammermill for grain milling before becoming a custodian at the local elementary school.[3]
Baseball career[]
Boddicker's pitching repertoire, once called "Little League slop" by Rod Carew, featured off-speed pitches and deception to compensate for a lack of power.[4] He was able to throw from three different arm angles. He had a fastball that never came close to reaching 90 miles per hour. The one pitch that made him famous was the fosh, which he called "a glorified changeup." Another one he used with success was the slurve. Tony Phillips once commented, "What I noticed about him is that he lets you get yourself out. I find myself sometimes actually jumping at his pitches, being overanxious because he doesn't throw very fast, and I wind up popping the ball up."[5]
Boddicker had a W-L record of 134-116 with a 3.80 ERA during his career. His best season was 1984 when he went 20-11 with a 2.79 ERA (leading the American League in both wins and ERA). He also won the Gold Glove Award in 1990.
In the 1983 postseason with the Baltimore Orioles, Boddicker pitched brilliantly. With his team down 1-0 in both the ALCS and World Series, Boddicker pitched his team out of the hole by winning Game 2 of the ALCS 4-0 vs the Chicago White Sox (complete game shutout) and Game 2 of the World Series 4-1 vs the Philadelphia Phillies en route to a world championship.
On July 29, 1988, Boddicker was traded from the Orioles to the Boston Red Sox for OF Brady Anderson and pitcher Curt Schilling. Boddicker went 7-3 down the stretch for the Sox, helping them win the AL East crown that year. He went 15-11 in 1989 and had a stellar season in 1990, going 17-8 with a 3.36 ERA while helping the Red Sox win another division title.
Later years[]
Family[]
Mike has a wife, Lisa and four children: daughters, Stephanie and Brittany, and sons, Cory and James. He has a grandson.
See also[]
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
References[]
- ↑ Des Moines Register article
- ↑ Mike Boddicker (statistics & history) – Baseball-Reference.com.
- ↑ Wulf, Steve. "He Has Returned To His Roots," Sports Illustrated, December 19, 1983.
- ↑ Klingaman, Mike. "Catching Up With...former Oriole Mike Boddicker," The Toy Department (The Baltimore Sun sports blog), Thursday, April 8, 2010.
- ↑ Berkow, Ira. "Sports of The Times; Mike Boddicker And His Fosh Ball," The New York Times, Sunday, October 9, 1988.
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Fred Lynn |
American League Championship Series MVP 1983 |
Succeeded by: Kirk Gibson |
| Preceded by: Rick Honeycutt |
American League ERA Champion 1984 |
Succeeded by: Dave Stieb |
| Preceded by: LaMarr Hoyt |
American League Wins Champion 1984 |
Succeeded by: Ron Guidry |
| Preceded by: Bret Saberhagen |
American League Gold Glove Award (P) 1990 |
Succeeded by: Mark Langston |