# Mike Boddicker
**Mike Boddicker** (Michael James Boddicker, born 1957 in [Cedar Rapids, Iowa](https://www.edgepedia.org/cedar-rapids-iowa)) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who won a [World Series](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-series) with the [Baltimore Orioles](https://www.edgepedia.org/baltimore-orioles) as a rookie in 1983, led the American League in ERA and wins in separate seasons, and pitched in the majors from 1980 to 1993.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) He compiled a career record of 134 wins and 116 losses with a 3.80 earned run average, pitching for the Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Milwaukee Brewers.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1957, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; raised in Norway, Iowa[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) |
| Draft | Montreal Expos, 8th round, 1975 (from Norway HS); Baltimore Orioles, 6th round, 1978 (from University of Iowa)[2](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boddimi01.shtml) |
| MLB debut | October 4, 1980, for Baltimore[3](https://www.mlb.com/player/mike-boddicker-111139) |
| 1983 season | 16-8, 2.77 ERA (second in the AL), league-leading five shutouts; The Sporting News Rookie of the Year[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) |
| 1983 postseason | ALCS MVP after a record-tying 14-strikeout shutout; won World Series Game 2 with a three-hitter[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [4](https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/birdland-insider-celebrating-the-1983-world-champion-orioles) |
| 1984 season | 20-11, AL-leading 2.79 ERA, the league's only 20-game winner; fourth in Cy Young voting[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) |
| Signature trade | July 29, 1988, to Boston for Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) |
| Career totals | 134-116, 3.80 ERA, seven consecutive seasons of at least 200 innings pitched[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) |
## Norway, Iowa, and amateur career
Boddicker grew up in Norway, Iowa, a town of about 600 people whose high school baseball team won 20 state titles before the school closed in 1991.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) His four-year high school pitching record was 76-13 with a 0.64 earned run average, and his 1,122 strikeouts were a national scholastic record; he also hit .397 with 221 runs batted in and 72 stolen bases.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) He made three American Legion World Series appearances and won two state titles.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/)
The [Montreal Expos](https://www.edgepedia.org/montreal-expos) drafted him out of high school in the eighth round of the 1975 amateur draft, but he declined and entered the [University of Iowa](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-iowa) instead.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [2](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boddimi01.shtml) At Iowa he set school records that included six career shutouts and a freshman-season ERA of 0.79.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) While in college he developed the pitch that became his trademark: unable to master the forkball grip, he built a compromise pitch that broke like a screwball, later named the "foshball."
## Orioles career
The Orioles drafted Boddicker in the sixth round of the 1978 draft and moved him quickly through Bluefield, Double-A Charlotte, and Triple-A Rochester.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) He spent most of 1980 through 1982 at Rochester, making spot appearances for Baltimore, including his major-league debut on October 4, 1980.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [3](https://www.mlb.com/player/mike-boddicker-111139) The Orioles' rotation of [Jim Palmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-palmer), Scott McGregor, Dennis Martinez, and Mike Flanagan left no opening for a young right-hander.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/)
**The 1983 breakthrough.** The opening came on May 17, 1983, when Flanagan injured his knee in the first inning of a doubleheader against the [Chicago White Sox](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-white-sox). Starting the second game, Boddicker struck out eight without allowing a run and took Flanagan's rotation spot.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) He finished 16-8 with a 2.77 ERA, second best in the [American League](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-league), and five shutouts, the most in the league.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [5](https://www.camdenchat.com/2006/3/10/17537/9888)
His postseason was better still. After Baltimore lost the ALCS opener to Chicago, Boddicker threw a five-hit, 14-strikeout shutout, the first playoff shutout by an American League rookie, and was named ALCS Most Valuable Player.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [4](https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/birdland-insider-celebrating-the-1983-world-champion-orioles) In Game 2 of the World Series against Philadelphia, again after an Orioles loss, he won 4-1 on a three-hitter in which the Phillies' run was unearned, the first time since 1919 a rookie starter had held a World Series opponent to three or fewer hits. He ended the game by retiring [Joe Morgan](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-morgan), Pete Rose, and [Mike Schmidt](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-schmidt), all future Hall of Famers, and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, the only RBI of his major-league career.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker) The Orioles won the Series in five games.[7](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/1983_Baltimore_Orioles)
**The 1984 peak.** Boddicker went 20-11 with a league-leading 2.79 ERA in 1984, the only American League pitcher to reach 20 wins that season, and finished fourth in the [Cy Young Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/cy-young-award) voting behind relievers Willie Hernandez and Dan Quisenberry and starter [Bert Blyleven](https://www.edgepedia.org/bert-blyleven).[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [8](https://baseballhall.org/discover/cardcorner-1984-donruss-mike-boddicker) He was an All-Star and pitched 261.1 innings.[2](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boddimi01.shtml) He led the league in both ERA and victories.[6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker) • [11](https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/orioles-best-seasons-by-a-pitcher)
**Decline.** In 1985 he went 12-17 with a 4.07 ERA, allowing sharply more hits and walks, and tendinitis in his right knee ended his season on September 19.[6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker) In April 1986 a torn ligament in the middle finger of his right hand landed him on the disabled list, an injury said to have weakened his breaking pitches; nevertheless he won 14 games as the ace of a struggling club, then added 12 wins in 1987.[6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker) • [1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) The 1988 Orioles lost their first 21 games, and Boddicker lost 13 consecutive decisions between September 1987 and May 1988.[6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker)
## Boston, Kansas City, and retirement
On July 29, 1988, with his record at 6-12, the Orioles traded Boddicker to the [Boston Red Sox](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-red-sox) for pitcher [Curt Schilling](https://www.edgepedia.org/curt-schilling) and outfielder Brady Anderson.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) He went 7-3 for Boston over the final two months and returned to the AL Championship Series, where he lost a 5-0 Game 3 lead to Oakland.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) He won 15 games in 1989 and 17-8 with a 3.36 ERA and a Gold Glove in 1990, pitching a complete-game loss in that year's playoffs as Oakland swept the Red Sox.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/)
After the 1990 season he signed with the [Kansas City Royals](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-royals), winning 12 games in 1991 and one in 1992 while occasionally fighting a dead arm.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) Sold to the Milwaukee Brewers on April 26, 1993, he made ten starts, his last on June 13, and retired after the season at age 36.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/)
## Pitching style
Boddicker succeeded without a dominant fastball, which topped out in the high-80s and rarely exceeded the mid-80s in game conditions.[6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker) • [9](https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/9805/prospectus-qa-mike-boddicker/) His arsenal rested on a variety of curveballs at different speeds, which Bill James named the best curve of the 1980s in his *New Historical Baseball Abstract*, and the foshball, a hybrid forkball and change-up that broke down and in on right-handed hitters and was effective against lefties as well.[6](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker) • [8](https://baseballhall.org/discover/cardcorner-1984-donruss-mike-boddicker) Rod Carew once described the repertoire as "worse garbage than the stuff I take out at night."
His durability was a defining trait: he pitched at least 200 innings in seven consecutive seasons, and in 1984 alone he threw 261.1 innings.[1](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/) • [2](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boddimi01.shtml) In a 1987 comparison, he trailed only Fernando Valenzuela and Jack Morris in major-league victories since coming to the majors to stay in early 1983.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-22-sp-14949-story.html)
## References
1. [Mike Boddicker, SABR BioProject (Bill Johnson, 2012)](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-boddicker/)
2. [Mike Boddicker Stats, Baseball-Reference](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boddimi01.shtml)
3. [Mike Boddicker, MLB.com player page](https://www.mlb.com/player/mike-boddicker-111139)
4. [Birdland Insider: Celebrating the 1983 World Champion Orioles, MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/birdland-insider-celebrating-the-1983-world-champion-orioles)
5. [The 40 Greatest Orioles of All-Time: No. 35 Mike Boddicker, Camden Chat](https://www.camdenchat.com/2006/3/10/17537/9888)
6. [Mike Boddicker, BR Bullpen](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Boddicker)
7. [1983 Baltimore Orioles, BR Bullpen](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/1983_Baltimore_Orioles)
8. [#CardCorner: 1984 Donruss Mike Boddicker, Baseball Hall of Fame](https://baseballhall.org/discover/cardcorner-1984-donruss-mike-boddicker)
9. [Prospectus Q&A: Mike Boddicker, Baseball Prospectus](https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/9805/prospectus-qa-mike-boddicker/)
10. [Orioles Are Looking for Great Things From Mike Boddicker in '87, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-22-sp-14949-story.html)
11. [5 best seasons by an Orioles pitcher](https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/orioles-best-seasons-by-a-pitcher)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Baseball and related bat sports › Professional baseball in the Americas › MLB players and personnel biographies › Starting pitchers › Starters debuting 1980–1999*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license