In my comment in this week’s power rankings about the Orioles, I say the 2024 team has a similar type of grit as Baltimore’s last world championship team did way back in 1983.
While my comparison isn’t exactly apples to apples, there are some similarities between the role Mike Boddicker played from May 17, 1983, through the end of that championship run to the role that is there for the taking for lefty Cade Povich.
Boddicker was right-handed. Povich is left-handed. Boddicker is 5-foot-11. Povich is 6-foot-3. Boddicker was a more finished product when he came to the big leagues to stay in 1983. Povich is not nearly as finished a product, but he may be ready for a rapid growth spurt after what we saw in his start against Atlanta last week.
Both pitchers were thrown into their roles because of injuries to invaluable starters. In the case of Boddicker, he had been on the verge of a regular big league role for a while. In fact, he had cups of coffee in ’80, ’81 and ’82, totaling 38.2 innings.
But like the injuries to Tyler Wells, John Means, Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish, Boddicker’s big break would come by way of injury to a very significant starting pitcher: Mike Flanagan, who was off to an amazing 6-0 start. He had a 2.73 ERA after pitching a complete game seven-hit shutout against Seattle on May 11.
Flanagan’s next start came in the first game of a doubleheader (ironically, Boddicker was scheduled to start Game 2) against the White Sox. With one out in the first, Tony Bernazard came to the plate and he hit a three-hop nubber down the third-base line. A solid fielder, Flanagan jumped off the mound. As he fielded the ball and attempted to turn to throw to first, he fell down in a lot of pain.
Flanny had twisted his knee badly enough that he would not pitch again until Aug. 7.
The Orioles won that game, 7-2. Boddicker, who had been recalled to add some depth to the staff, then got the opportunity to start a big league game for the first time since his debut on Oct. 4, 1980. Boddicker seized this opportunity by pitching a complete game five-hit shutout, striking out eight and walking one.
The rest, as they say, is history. Boddicker pitched 179 innings that season, went 16-8 and tossed five shutouts. His ERA was 2.77 and his WHIP was a scintillating 1.07.
Boddicker pitched his sixth shutout of the year in a Game 2 ALCS win against the White Sox. He struck out 14, walked three and allowed just five hits. The effort was so dominant that Boddicker was awarded ALCS MVP.
Boddicker went the distance in Game 2 of the World Series against the Phillies as well, allowing one unearned run. All told in that championship run, Boddicker allowed just the unearned run across two complete games totaling 18 innings.
Part of the championship grit a team may have is an ability to find replacements wherever it may turn. With Bradish down, Povich will get every opportunity to meet the moment.
In the story we just told, Boddicker met the moment and the Orioles won a championship in which he played a large part. I don’t know if Povich is capable of playing the role of 2024 Boddicker, but there is a chance.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles