The view from Baltimore: Despite dual allegiances, Mike Boddicker pulling for Royals over Orioles

Mike Boddicker has a World Series ring from the Orioles, whom the right-hander helped win it all in 1983. On Friday, however, he'll wear a Kansas City Royals T-shirt to watch the start of the American League Championship Series.

"I bleed Royals blue," Boddicker said by phone from his home in Overland Park, Kan., 20 minutes from Kauffman Stadium. "This city has gone nuts. We've waited 29 years for a playoff team. These people have been so loyal for so long; I'll root for the city because it deserves this."

Heresy, cry Orioles fans who remember Boddicker as the team's onetime ace and its last 20-game winner. He played nine years here, made the All-Star team, won the 1983 ALCS Most Valuable Player Award and pitched a three-hitter to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, in the World Series. And now he'll back the enemy in the playoffs?

"I'm getting text messages from everyone asking, 'Who are you going to root for?'" Boddicker said. "I tell them, 'I'm rooting for good baseball.' That's got it covered."

In truth, the Iowa native said, he's pulling for Kansas City, a team he played for toward the end of his 14-year career and a town he has called home since 1991. For years, he threw batting practice for the Royals, and he currently hosts a weekly sports radio talk show.

Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun website.

This story was originally published October 9, 2014 at 8:47 PM with the headline "The view from Baltimore: Despite dual allegiances, Mike Boddicker pulling for Royals over Orioles."