Keith Bodie
Keith Bodie
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb
- High School South Shore High School (Brooklyn)
- Born February 13, 1956 in Brooklyn, NY USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Keith Bodie was selected by the New York Mets in the third round of the 1974 amateur draft. He never made the majors as a player.
He began his professional career in 1974 with the rookie-league Marion Mets, hitting .157 in 30 games.
In 1975, Bodie played for Marion again, upping his batting average to .313 and hitting seven home runs. He played for the Single-A Wausau Mets in 1976, hitting .259 with eight home runs in 115 games. He moved up to Double-A in 1977, playing for the Jackson Mets. In 120 games, he hit .266 with 10 home runs. He played with Jackson again in 1978, hitting .260 in 122 games. Once again, in 1979, he played for Jackson, hitting .260 in 130 games.
On February 20, 1980, Bodie was traded to the Houston Astros for Reggie Baldwin. He played for their Double-A team, the Columbus Astros, that season, hitting .248 in 131 games. He hit only .221 in 77 games for the Triple-A Tucson Toros in 1981. In 1982, he split the season between the Daytona Beach Astros and Columbus Astros, hitting a combined .264 in 96 games. That was the end of his career, save for two games with Columbus in 1985.
Overall, Bodie hit .256 in 868 minor league games, spanning ten minor league seasons
Once his playing career ended, he went on to coach and manage in the minor leagues for over 30 years with six different organizations.
Bodie began his coaching career with the Auburn Astros in 1983. Sources are split on his whereabouts in 1984 - some have him coaching again at Auburn, others place him with the Columbus Astros where he was the hitting coach in 1985. After several years of managing, he was the San Francisco Giants' Coordinator of Minor League Instruction for most of the time from 1994 to 1999. Bodie started 1995 as the manager for the Phoenix Firebirds, but was reassigned on July 21st and replaced by Jim Davenport. Bodie returned to his coordinator role though he did take over as manager of the Bakersfield Blaze on June 25, 1997 after Blaze manager Glenn Tufts needed to take a leave of absence.
In 2001, Bodie was promoted to coach the Kansas City Royals after the minor league season ended - the first time in his 28 years of pro ball to be in the majors. That same year, his cousin Nicholas Chiofalo, a New York firefighter, was among the missing after responding to the World Trade Center attack. The Royals players collected $20,000 for Chiofalo's family and presented the check to Bodie. The Glass family matched the gift.
Bodie was the Royals' roving minor league outfield instructor in 2004. He was out of baseball in 2006-2007 and came back as a hitting coach for the Salem Avalanche in 2008, Corpus Christi Hooks in 2009, Round Rock Express in 2010, and Oklahoma City RedHawks in 2011. Bodie returned to the manager's role in 2012 with Corpus Christi.
Bodie moved to the Baltimore Orioles' organization as hitting coach of the Bowie Baysox in 2015. He was also hitting coach of Bowie in 2018-2019.
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