Rick O'Dette

Richard John O'Dette

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 178 lb.
• School Saint Joseph's College

• Born February 11, 1976 in Blue Island, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Rick O'Dette played two seasons in pro ball then became a college coach.

O'Dette was 15-3 in college. He pitched in the 1996 Division II World Series, the first time Saint Joseph's had made it to the Series; they finished second in the country. He was All-Great Lakes Valley Conference in 1997. The Boston Red Sox chose him in the 15th round of the 1997 amateur draft.

O'Dette split the summer of 1997 between the GCL Red Sox (0-1, 2.25) and Lowell Spinners (5-3, 3.47, 61 K in 59 2/3 IP). He pitched in 1998 for Lowell (0-2, 11.34, 32 BB in 16 2/3 IP) and the Michigan Battle Cats (2 R in 2 IP, 6 BB) to end his playing career. In 1999-2000, he was pitching coach of Andrean High School.

In 2001, O'Dette became head coach of his alma mater. He had records of 31-26-2 in 2002, 42-19 in 2005, 33-23 in 2006 and 32-21 in 2007. In 2008, the school was 46-18, the second-best season in school history, following the 1996 Division II World Series runner-up club which O'Dette played for. St. Joseph's fell back to 32-20 in 2009 then went 32-22 in 2010. Through 2010, O'Dette had a career record of 321-232-2, putting him 34 wins away from the school's all-time lead. He finished with 494 wins, 407 losses and 4 ties when St. Joseph's closed following the 2017 season. He then became head coach of St. Leo University, going 183-118 in seven seasons.

For 2025, he moved on to Florida Southern College.

Related Sites

• Saint Joseph's College bio
• St. Leo's bio