Mike Boddicker
Baseball (1976-78)

Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024

Mike Boddicker‘s career in Major League Baseball was defined by his pitching. When he was at Iowa, however, he did just about everything for the Hawkeyes.

Boddicker was a first-team All-Big Ten pitcher in 1978 after being a third-team all-conference infielder two years earlier. He set a school record with an 0.79 earned run average in 1976 and led the Hawkeyes in innings pitched and strikeouts in 1978 and 1979, but he also led them in batting average in 1978 and doubles in 1976 and 1978.

“It was kind of funny, because I was a position player too,” says Boddicker, who grew up in Norway, Iowa, a town with a deep tradition in baseball. “I remember as a freshman I played third base, as a sophomore I was at second base, and then Coach (Duane) Banks said, ‘You know what? I’m not getting you torn up at second base.’ So I was a designated hitter.”

Boddicker’s path to professional baseball, though, was going to be on the mound. “That was the hardest thing, saying I’ve got to give up the bat and glove,” he says.

Boddicker remembered what it was like when he arrived on campus to play for the Hawkeyes.

“I really wasn’t away from home, because I lived in Norway, which was about a half-hour away,” Boddicker says. “I lost my dad when I was 10, and my mom had arthritis, so I wanted to stay close to home. The things I remember are the people—my teammates, football players that we used to hang out with, basketball players I used to hang out with. That was the fun part.”

Boddicker was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the 1978 MLB Draft, and he made his major league debut on Oct. 4, 1980.

Three years later, Boddicker helped the Orioles to a World Series championship. He was 16-8 that season with a career-high five shutouts. He was the most valuable player of the American League Championship Series after his 14-strikeout complete-game shutout in Game 2, and he threw another complete game in Game 2 of the World Series.

“The stress, the nervousness, (it) was so hyped up,” Boddicker says of playing in the postseason. “Doing the interviews with (ABC’s) Howard Cosell and all the other stuff that goes with it, the reporters and everything. And once I crossed the white lines, it was just a game. I was basically trying to do the same thing everyone else was doing—keep the game close and give our team a chance to win. That’s all you can do as a starting pitcher.”

Boddicker played 11 seasons in the major leagues with four different teams. That journey started at Iowa, and now he’s a member of the UI Athletics Hall of Fame.

“It’s a great honor,” Boddicker said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s a great honor.”

By John Bohnenkamp