Mike Boddicker, 1988 Topps #725

When I was younger, I don't know if I failed to notice that the player photos were layered on top of the team name in the 1988 Topps design, or if I just failed to appreciate it. Either way, it's one of the best little touches that the company has ever added to its cards. It creates a 3-D effect and draws the attention to the photo, where it should be. I was flipping through my 1988 Topps binder tonight, and each and every base card features a cap or a bat or an arm popping up in front of those bold, team-colored letters. It was such a clever concept that Upper Deck borrowed it five years later.

Mike Boddicker, 1984 Topps #191

Blink and you'll miss me today. I'm dashing this blog post off in a hurry so that I can head downtown with my lovely and patient and open-minded wife to attend a live taping of WWE RAW at the Baltimore Arena. I'd be excited about witnessing my first live WWE event in two years anyhow, but add in the fact that it's Janet's first live wrestling show of any kind and it gets a little more juice. Last week brought the cherry on top, as it was announced that this would be an "Old School" themed show. Yes, WWE is dipping into the nostalgia pool, harkening back to previous decades when it was known as the WWF. There will be retro-themed multimedia displays and set pieces (including those grand old red, white, and blue ring ropes), and some of the legends of the squared circle will make appearances. Ric Flair has already been confirmed, but the commercials also made reference to other names of my childhood. Rowdy Roddy Piper and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase will surely ring a bell with many of you.

If anybody can understand nostalgia, it's baseball card collectors. I'm sure Topps wouldn't have spent the past 15 years cramming reprints of - and tributes to - yesteryear's cards down our throats if folks weren't buying the cards. For this Orioles fan, even the often-goofy 1980s rekindles a warm glow and thoughts of a time when the O's were World Champions and Mike Boddicker was just the latest 20-game winner instead of the last one in franchise history.

Mike Boddicker, 1984 7-11 Coins East #9

Sorry for the cruddy scan, but that's what you get with a lenticular card that's the size of a half-dollar. The primary image that you see is Mike Boddicker in mid-windup, with a ghost of the portrait image that would appear with the flick of a wrist. These odd little discs were given away with Slurpee cups at 7-11, and my crack research shows that there were three different 24-coin sets released regionally: East, Central, and West. The East set includes four Orioles: Boddicker, Rick Dempsey, Eddie Murray, and Cal Ripken. The Central and West sets feature only Eddie. The nifty thing about the Boddicker coin is that it includes mention of his 1983 ALCS MVP honors on the back. Mike got the nod thanks to his five-hit, 14-strikeout shutout of the White Sox in Game Two. That performance is all the more remarkable when you consider that he never struck out more than a dozen batters in any regular season game in his career, and had only five double-digit strikeout games total. He picked a good time to throw the game of his life.

Mike Boddicker, 1986 Fleer #269

Some bizarre yet encouraging news came out today about former Orioles pitcher and broadcaster Mike Boddicker. The native Kansan was diagnosed with cancer recently, but it was confined to his tonsils. I've never heard of something like that, but a little Internet research tells me that tonsillar cancer affects more than 8,000 Americans per year. It seems that Mike was fortunate to receive his diagnosis early. Three weeks ago, the tonsils were removed. A follow-up biopsy of the lymph nodes came back negative, but he will still undergo localized radiation treatments as a precaution. Roch Kubatko reports that Boddicker is feeling fine and looks forward to a hunting trip this week. I wouldn't be game for that kind of activity even in perfect health, so I hope and think that Mike will be alright.

Mike Boddicker, 1985 Leaf #109

For the past two nights, I had the pleasure of listening to Mike Boddicker add his insights and humor to the Orioles' broadcasts. Tuesday night he was the third man in WBAL's radio booth, and last night (and tonight) he had the same role on MASN's TV coverage. I hadn't watched/listened to any other games that he'd covered this season, but now that I have I think he's the best of the guest analysts in 2010. He sounds comfortable and articulate, as if he'd been at it for years. He's knowledgeable about the O's and their opponents, and he might just be clairvoyant. At the start of the fourth inning on Tuesday, the Birds were trailing 1-0 and Cleveland starter Justin Masterson had set down nine batters in a row. Boddicker noted that Masterson had the talent to get batters out, but that he has a tendency to come unraveled quickly. As if on cue, the Orioles touched him up for four runs on their way to a 14-8 laugher.

In last night's game, Boddicker was reunited with former teammate Mike Flanagan. The pair were mainstays in the Baltimore rotation from 1983-1987, and they had an easy and collegial chemistry in the booth. They swapped anecdotes, jokes, and good-natured insults as Brad Bergesen breezed through a complete-game victory. Late in the game, as Bergy was polishing off another quick inning, Boddicker observed that the game was much less tense than you would expect, given a two-run margin between the teams. Flanagan astutely added that it was as though Bergesen had put the Indians in a sleeper hold.

So if you're in the MASN viewing area tonight and you're not sufficiently football-mad to watch an exhibition game, check out Mike Boddicker's work. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Mike Boddicker, 1986 Donruss #8

The Orioles sure waited until the last possible moment, but word has finally leaked out that they've secured a TV announcer lineup for the 2010 season. There are plenty of familiar names to O's fans, including a couple of surprises.

It was presumed that the only change would be a replacement for Buck Martinez, who handled the analyst job when Jim Palmer was elsewhere. Indeed, Mike Flanagan is returning to the broadcast booth to replace Buck, which I'd easily consider an upgrade. But Palmer's going to have a little extra company. Joining Jim and play-by-play man Gary Thorne on MASN telecasts will be a rotating third man from a four-man roster.

The third bananas will include Brady Anderson, Mike Boddicker, and Eddie Murray, all of whom are intriguing choices for various reasons. Brady certainly seems to enjoy talking, but lives in California. I wonder how many trips he'll be taking cross-country. Boddicker seems to have lived a fairly quiet life since retiring in 1993 and going home to rural Kansas. Eddie, of course, was never noted for being outgoing with reporters during his career, but I can't say that I blame him. He definitely had more personality when interacting with teammates, and I'm in favor of having more of #33 in my day-to-day life. The rumored fourth guy is none other than Billy Ripken, who actually seems like the most natural choice. He's local, he's outspoken, and he more or less knows his stuff.

If nothing else, the Orioles and MASN have gotten my attention. I'll be tuning in early and often anyhow, and I'm optimistic that they're on to something. Maybe they're working on making the current O's team more competitive by osmosis.

Mike Boddicker, 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best #317

When I posted Jose Bautista's 1988 Donruss Rookies card last weekend, reader Jeffrey observed that the dark, murky blue-bordered base set would have looked better in green. It made me think of this card and several others like it that I recceived in two separate trades last month. I don't know much about Baseball's Best, except that it's a 336-card set, so it's barely more than half the size of the regular Donruss issue. All of the cards in the set feature this bright orange border, which of course is an awesome fit for the Orioles. The cards are glossy, much like the Rookies set but unlike the drab regular set. The card backs are a golden yellow and vertically oriented with full career major and minor league stats, unlike the blue, horizontally oriented, last-few-years statline card backs in 1988 Donruss. Even the photography seems clearer, more dynamic, less shadowy than usual. It's amazing to me that Donruss could put out a set that was, with a few tweaks, leaps and bounds beyond its now-universally-panned 1988 release. They put out similar, but less-impressive (in my opinion) sets in 1989 and 1990, as well.

Why am I just discovering this set now? Why is there so little information about it online? Was it meant to be a hobby-exclusive or Tiffany-type set, for the distinguished collector? If so, they must have still fallen victim to disinterest and/or overproduction. I found one site selling sealed factory sets for $12. Well, I for one am going to spread the word about Baseball's Best, though your mileage may vary.

Mike Boddicker, Mark Corey, and Floyd Rayford, 1981 Topps #399

9/23/08: Somehow I had a brain cramp and didn't hit the "Publish Post" button last night. Forgive me.

Topps' Future Stars/Top Prospects/Rookies/etc. cards have always been a delicious exercise in guesswork. In 1982, the Reds' Future Stars were Scott Brown, Geoff Combe, and Paul Householder. Strike three, you're out. The 1980 Mets card featured Dan Norman, Jesse Orosco, and Mike Scott. Two outta three ain't bad. In this instance, they hit on one of the three up and coming Orioles youngsters. Mike Boddicker anchored the team's staff as they won their third World Series in 1983, and was an effective pitcher for a decade. But what of the others?

Floyd Rayford hung around into the late 1980s, and peaked with a .306 average and 18 home runs in 1985, so he at least had something of a career. Plus, as I've pointed out, he was an endless source of entertainment for my uncle. So even though "Honey Bear" is something less than a household name today, he was a better choice for Future Stardom than, say, 1987 selection Tim Pyznarski.

Mark Corey? Well, somebody at Topps just refused to give up on him. 1981 marked the third consecutive year that they had earmarked him as a Future Star. In 1979, he appeared in an Orioles Prospects triptych with John Flinn and Sammy Stewart. The following year, he joined Dave Ford and Wayne Krenchicki as the would-be O's greats. As you may have guessed, Mark never quite made it to the dizzying heights that Topps forecast for him. An 0-for-8 in 1981 slammed the lid shut on his career, leaving him with a career batting average of .211.

But he still had more of a career than 1995's Coming Attraction, Brian Sackinsky.

Mike Boddicker, 1985 Topps #225

Thursday evening, I came home weary from an extra-long commute in miserable, rainy weather and found a self-addressed envelope waiting for me. The return address had a familiar name: Mike Boddicker. The card above was included in the envelope; it was my first foray into the world of TTM (Through the Mail) autographs. It had been about four weeks since I'd sent a brief letter, the card, and the SASE to Mike, not a bad turnaround. I'm thrilled to have an autograph of the last 20-game winner for the O's, a man who was instrumental in the World Series win twenty-five years ago.

I have a pretty good assortment of Mike Boddicker cards now, but I chose this one for a specific reason. It was the first card of his that I ever owned, a childhood relic that stood out even before I knew the first thing about baseball. You get used to seeing the same kinds of faces on baseball cards: awkward action shots with the faces contorted with exertion, blank confused stares, or pleasant bland smiles. But there was something mischievous playing across Mike's face in this shot. He was in mid-windup, but he knew something that the imaginary batter didn't. He was on top of his game, toying with the opposition. I'd like to think that Boddicker had to chuckle a bit when he opened his mail and saw the young, playful righthander smirking back at him.

No matter what he thought of it, the fact that he took the time to sign it and slip it back in the mail made my day.

Mike Boddicker, 1984 Fleer #645

Mike Boddicker made his major league debut on October 4, 1980. It was very forgettable, as he blew a 3-0 lead in the second game of a doubleheader against the Indians. He walked five batters and gave up six runs (five earned) in seven and one-third innings. He allowed a double and a home run to Ron Hassey, for goodness' sake. At the time, it may have been hard to imagine that he would throw twenty-three innings in October without allowing an earned run in three years' time.

While 1983 was the fourth year that Mike spent time in the major leagues, he did indeed still qualify as a rookie: he had pitched that single game in 1980, followed by two more at the end of 1981 and a seven-game trial late in 1982. Having finally had some sustained exposure to the top hitters in the game, Boddicker announced his intentions to stay in '83, shutting out the White Sox in his first start of the season and ultimately winning 16 games even though he started only 26. He led the league in shutouts (5) and fewest hits per nine innings (7.09) and was runner-up in ERA (2.77). Despite this impressive showing, Mike finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Chicago's Ron Kittle (who hit 35 home runs but managed a paltry on-base percentage of .314) and Cleveland's Julio Franco (whose .306 OBP was even worse; voters must have been misled by his 80 RBI and 32 steals).

In the American League Championship Series, Boddicker got the last laugh on Kittle and the ChiSox, striking out 14 batters and allowing just five hits in a 4-0 whitewash in Game Two. The Orioles won the next two games to advance to the World Series, and Mike was named the ALCS MVP. In the Series it was more of the same, as he helped the O's rebound from a Game One loss by going the distance to top the Phillies 4-1. Eddie Murray failed to come up with a clean catch of a Cal Ripken relay throw; his error led to an unearned run that proved to be the only blemish on Boddicker's postseason record that year. Again, the Orioles swept the rest of the Series and became World Champions.

I began with an anecdote about Mike Boddicker's rocky first game as an Oriole. It bears mentioning because the current team has several green young pitchers who will be counted on to contribute this year. Some, like Jeremy Guthrie and Adam Loewen, have had some measure of success in their brief time in the major leagues. Others, like Garrett Olson and Radhames Liz, have had a rougher go of it. But even if they continue to take their lumps on the mound in 2008, there's no telling where they could be in a few years' time.

I'll try to remind myself of this entry in August, when it's entirely likely that the Birds will be lagging behind even Tampa Bay.