"I really don't know what to think. I don't know if I'm going to make the team or not," Dodson told The Sun-Sentinel. "I've had a great spring. I've hit well and I've shown (manager John McNamara) that I can play the position."
Dodson showed he could play and he played the first month of the season with the Red Sox. but he could stick with the club into May. He played in a total of 26 major league games on the year. He ended up playing a total of 56 major league games in his career.
Dodson's career began in 1980, taken by the Red Sox in the sixth round of the draft out of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dodson started at single-A Winter Haven. He hit .274 in 61 games. He then returned to Winter Haven in his next two seasons. In a July 1982 game, Dodson hit a three-run home run.
"I didn't hit it real good," Dodson told The Lakeland Ledger after that 1982 game, "but the wind took it."
Dodson made AA New Britain in 1983, then AAA Pawtucket in 1984. He stayed at Pawtucket for three seasons, hitting .269 in 1986.
It was in September 1986 that Dodson made his major league debut. He got into nine games that September, 12 at bats. He picked up five hits.
For 1987, Dodson got into those 26 games, 13 in April and the other 13 in September. Over the two stints, he hit just .167.
That June, Dodson played with Pawtucket and hit two home runs in one game. He admitted to The Syracuse Post-Standard that he originally had a bad attitude after being sent down from his April stint in the majors. "I've been slowly coming out," Dodson told The Post-Standard.
Dodson got into another 17 games for Boston in 1988. He picked up eight hits in 45 at bats, ending his major league career.
He went to Japan in 1989, playing six games for Kintetsu. He then returned stateside and played 23 games at AAA Oklahoma City, ending his career.
Dodson has since settled in Oklahoma and become a middle school principal.
- Lakeland Ledger, July 2, 1982: WH-Red Sox nip St. Petersburg
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 3, 1987: Dodson's Future May Rest On Buckner's Gimpy Ankle
- Syracuse Post-Standard, June 12, 1987: PawSox Hit 3 Home Runs, Ault Waits for Chiefs' Turn
Players/Coaches Featured:1,773
Made the Majors: 834 - 47.0%-X
Never Made Majors: 939-53.0%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 360
10+ Seasons in the Minors:212
Wow shoot man, I was just talking with a friend the other day about how good he was and I have some of his home runs baseballs from Pawtucket games when i was 15. I mean he use to launch, I mean launch baseballs over the fence. I was just googling and found this article. This guy was incredible, we thought he was going to be a staple in the majors for Boston. Was he worse than Bill Buckner? What was Pats reaction when Bill lost the ball eventually throwing the World Series. Pat was solid, Boston did him no justice, and he disappeared. I remember the Pawtucket season he wasn't there, and I heard he went to Japan. I faded from Pawtucket baseball after that, eventually joining the Navy and didin't follow baseball like that again.
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