Chipola’s Boddicker hopes to follow his father’s footsteps into pro baseball

By Allen Gemaehlich
Monday, May 30, 2011

When Chipola (Fla.) College qualified for the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series, James Boddicker had one question for his dad.

Boddicker knew his dad would know the answer.

After all, Mike Boddicker pitched in the major leagues for 10 years and helped the Baltimore Orioles win the 1983 World Series.

“He asked me what it’s like being in front of 10 to 15,000 fans,” Mike Boddicker said Sunday evening as he watched his son play in his first JUCO World Series game. “I told him, honestly, when I played, I didn’t see or hear people. Once you cross the (foul) line, it’s heaven. It’s what you’re supposed to be doing. It’s fun. It’s your job.”

James plays second base for Chipola and had a rough defensive outing in his debut, but the Indians defeated Grayson County (Texas) College 19-13.

“This is a beautiful town,” the elder Boddicker said. “It’s a great atmosphere, too. You can tell the city embraces this. It’s pretty neat. It’s fun for the kids. They’ve been so excited.”

When Mike Boddicker isn’t watching James play, he’s usually spending time with his other three children and three grandchildren.

He lives in Overland Park, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, and has some hunting land.

He enjoys a much more laid-back life after a baseball career that got off to a great start. As a rookie, he pitched on an Orioles team that won the 1983 World Series.

“No one expected me to do a lot,” he said of his rookie season. “There were so many veteran pitchers on the staff, (Scott) McGregor, (Jim) Palmer, (Mike) Flanagan.

“I went and did my thing and it turned out to be a good year. I was called up because Palmer was hurt. I was sent back down, then Flanagan got hurt and I went back up. Tippy Martinez got hurt and the next thing I know I ended up getting 16 wins and they weren’t sending me anywhere.”

Boddicker had a better year statistically in 1984, winning 20 games, but the Orioles fell short of repeating as World Series champions.

“It wasn’t as fun,” he said. “It was really a depressing year. I had some great individual success, but this isn’t bowling. It’s a team sport. If the team doesn’t do well, the individual success doesn’t make a difference.”

After the Orioles started 0-21 in 1988, they traded Boddicker to the Boston Red Sox for Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson.

“That was the worst day in my professional career, even worse than the day I retired, when I got traded to Boston,” Boddicker said. “I loved Baltimore. I was there eight years. They had a managerial change and they didn’t believe I could pitch anymore.”

While he was with Boston, he won more games than Roger Clemens at the same time.

Boddicker finished his career in 1993 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He won 134 games, pitched more than 2,100 innings and struck out 1,330 hitters.

He was a master of deception, keeping hitters guessing with a steady diet of off-speed pitches.

“I located and changed speeds and read hitters,” Boddicker said. “Hitters are going to tell you what they’re looking for. You throw one pitch and you can tell what they are trying to do to you. That’s just a feel and understanding.”

Hall of Famer Rod Carew once said Boddicker threw more junk than he takes out to the trash on Mondays, then apologized to Boddicker the next day, but Boddicker wasn’t offended.

“He was right,” Boddicker said. “Rod’s a great man. He apologized the next day. I said, ‘Don’t apologize. You made me famous.’ Rod Carew talked about me, I must have been good.”

“(Former Orioles manager) Earl Weaver had 3x5 cards (on hitters’ tendencies). ‘Throw as slow as you can to Rod Carew.’ That was right up my alley. I could do that.”

Boddicker considers himself lucky to make the big leagues.

“Anybody’s who’s ever played the game understands the chances of making the big leagues are slim and none,” he said. “You’ve got to have enough God-given talent to make it. You have to have some breaks along the way. You have to be healthy. Once you have the opportunity, you have to make the most of it. I was so lucky, especially with the crap I threw up there.

“Right now, I wouldn’t get drafted. I don’t throw hard enough. All those scouts up there, all they are looking for is how hard can they throw. They ooh and ahh if someone throws 95. It doesn’t matter if it hits the backstop.”

After he retired, Boddicker returned to the Orioles and threw batting practice. He took that opportunity to bring James to the ballpark and give him a chance to be around the clubhouse like his older brother, Corey, got during his career.

“I grew up in the Orioles’ clubhouse quite a bit,” James said. “He used to throw batting practice for about 10 years (after his retirement). I didn’t get much experience in there when he played. My dad wanted to give me a chance to experience what the clubhouse is like.”

Corey played second base in college, but tore ligaments in this thumb. Now James is trying to make the most of his opportunity playing baseball and his dad has been supportive.

“I explained to them when they were little, ‘Don’t play because I played. Play because you want to play and you love the game.’ Both of them love the game. That’s all I care about.”

James, 19, went to the University of Utah this past fall, but it didn’t work out and he left at Christmas break.

The freshman would have had to sit out a year if he transferred to another NCAA Division I school. The Boddickers started looking for a junior college for James to transfer to in time to play this spring. He ended up at Chipola, in Marianna, Fla.

“He’s had a super year down there,” Mike said.

James entered the JUCO World Series leading the team with a .418 batting average and a .487 on-base average. He has 11 doubles and 25 RBI.

“There are times he gets on me, but he stays more calm now because he wants me to do it,” James said. “He knows how bad I want to play.

“I want to get drafted, but I know it takes a lot of work.”