Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd (born October 6, 1959) is a former
starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. Boyd played for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
(1982–1989),
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
(1990–1991), and
Texas Rangers (1991). In a 10-season career, Boyd collected a 78–77 record with 799
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...
s and a 4.04
ERA
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Compa ...
in 1,389.2
innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...
.
His unique and memorable
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
has been reported as coming from his
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
-drinking days in his hometown of
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
, where beer was referred to as "oil".
Early life
Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd was born October 6, 1959 to Willie "Skeeter" Boyd (father) and Girtharae "Sweetie" (mother) in Meridan, Mississippi.
Major league career
1982–1989: Boston Red Sox
Boyd attended
Meridian High School (Mississippi)
Meridian High School is a public high school in Meridian, Mississippi. It is within the Meridian Public School District.
its enrollment is about 1,700.
History
It was established in 1886.
It was named a 1984-1985 National Blue Ribbon School.
...
then
Jackson State University. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 16th round of the
1980 amateur draft, and made his debut in the 1982 season. A lanky frame at 6-foot-2, and weighing only 150 pounds, Boyd pitched 10 years in the majors before blood clots in his right arm ended his career.
[.]
From 1983 to 1985 Boyd won 31 games for Boston, with 15 victories in . By the All-Star break in 1985, Boyd's record was 10–5 with a 3.19 ERA. By the end of that season, he posted career-highs in
games started
In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is lis ...
(35),
complete game
In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...
s (13), strikeouts (154) and innings pitched (272.1). Boyd was the recipient of the 1985 Boston Red Sox Pitcher of the Year Award as selected by the
Boston Baseball Writers Association.
In 1986, he won a career-high 16 games for the Sox. Boyd's record at the All-Star break was 11–6 with a 3.71 ERA. During the
1986 American League Championship Series
The 1986 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven Major League Baseball postseason series between the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels for the right to advance to the 1986 World Series to face the winner of the 1986 Na ...
, Boyd started two games against the
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
, winning Game Six. Boyd started Game Three of the
1986 World Series
The 1986 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1986 Major League Baseball season, 1986 season. The 83rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National Lea ...
against the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
. In that game, Boyd gave up four runs in the first inning and six overall despite pitching into the seventh, getting only one run of support in taking the loss. He was scheduled to start the deciding seventh game of the series, but a rainout allowed Red Sox manager
John McNamara to reconsider his pitching matchup for the game, and gave the nod to
Bruce Hurst, who had gotten a third day of rest with the rainout. After Boyd received word he was not starting the final game of the series, he went down into the visitors' clubhouse and remained in there alone for some time. McNamara dispatched pitching coach
Bill Fischer to find Boyd, and Fischer discovered that Boyd had consumed a great deal of alcohol and was in no condition to function, much less play. Fischer moved Boyd into the manager's office, locked the door, and left Boyd there for the duration of the game.
In 1987, Boyd would allege that an encounter with police caused a hairline fracture to his pitching arm that required surgery in August of that year.
This limited him to seven games and a win–loss record of 1–3 during his shortened season.
Boyd's injuries contributed to a decline in games started and his win–loss records over his final two seasons with the Red Sox, 1988 and 1989, were 9–7 and 3–2 respectively.
1990–1991: Montreal Expos
Boyd signed with the Expos as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
after the season and in he won 10 games for the Expos and compiled a 2.93 ERA.
When the Rangers acquired him from Montreal during the 1991 season, it looked like a deal that might lead to a division title, and though Boyd's work with the Expos before coming to Texas was not great (6–8, 3.52), it was good enough for the pitching-poor Rangers; however, in 12 starts he posted a 2–7 record with a 6.68 ERA (the highest of his career) and allowed 81
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
in only 62 innings. Boyd was a free agent when the season ended, and after turning down some offers for
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
duties, he retired.
1992–2007: Later career
After MLB, Boyd played in Mexico for the Industriales of Monterrey and the
Yucatan Leones in 1993 and 1994 respectively.
In 2005, Boyd came out of retirement at 45 years old to pitch for the
Brockton Rox of the
Can-Am League
The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...
. He pitched in 17 games going 4 wins and 5 losses and a 3.83 ERA over 110 innings for the season. Boyd followed this with a 2007
barnstorming tour in the spirit of the
Negro leagues
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
under the team name of "Oil Can Boyd's Traveling All-Stars".
Legacy
Boyd's issues, temperamental personality, and admitted drug use during his career have been well-documented.
Boyd was introduced to
crack cocaine
Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...
during
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
in 1986. He latter admitted that, on May 11, 1986, prior to a game in Oakland, he smoked crack before taking the mound. In 2012, Boyd told
Buster Olney of
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
"I get to the ballpark, all the ballplayers are on the field, you know, taking batting practice and everything. And I walk in the clubhouse and I—I got my pipe with me ... I can remember going and locking myself up in the bathroom and smoking some dope right there at the ballpark."
Boyd was the cover story of the August 4, 1986 issue of ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
''. The article was titled "Banned
ut neededin Boston." Boyd's troubles in 1986 would climax during the seventh and deciding game of the 1986 World Series when he was unable to appear. Red Sox manager
John McNamara and Red Sox pitching coach
Bill Fischer later alleged that Boyd had been drinking and was too drunk to pitch during the game.
During 1987 spring training in
Winter Haven, Florida
Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making i ...
, Boyd would be detained by police due to an issue concerning overdue video cassettes. When the list of titles made public turned out to contain pornographic titles, a Boston area newspaper printed the names and sarcastically dubbed the incident "The Can's Film Festival".
Boyd was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2010.
In 2012, Boyd's autobiography, co-written by Boyd and
Mike Shalin, ''They Call Me Oil Can: Baseball, Drugs, and Life on the Edge'' was published by
Triumph Books
Triumph Books is a Chicago-based sports book publisher. The company is well known for its "instant books", such as its illustrated tribute to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, which was released 10 days after his death in a crash in the 2001 Daytona ...
.
In the book, Boyd admitted that he used crack every day of the 1986 season and that he was high on
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
in every baseball game he played from "
Little League all the way through college."
Boyd's intense charisma during Red Sox games specifically was evidenced by fist pumps, shouting from the dugout, and high-fives for teammates. He was also a go-to player for quotes in the Boston press. Among his most well-known quotes is one made in reference to a game postponed at Cleveland’s
Municipal Stadium due to fog from Lake Erie. When asked about the situation, Boyd responded, "That's what you get for building a ballpark on the ocean."
Personal life
Boyd has numerous relatives who played professional baseball. These include two of Boyd's uncles:
K. T. Boyd played for
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...
, and Robert Boyd played for the
Kansas City Athletics and the
Memphis Red Sox
The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...
of the
Negro leagues
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
. Boyd's great-great-uncle Benjamin Boyd played for Memphis Red Sox and the
Homestead Grays. Boyd is also related to baseball player
Barry Larkin, who is Boyd's father's first cousin (Boyd's first cousin once removed).
In November 2005, Boyd surrendered to
F.B.I.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
agents in
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North M ...
for alleged threats made against a former girlfriend and business associate and her son.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Oil Can
1959 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Bangor Blue Ox players
Baseball players from Mississippi
Boston Red Sox players
Bristol Red Sox players
Brockton Rox players
Elmira Pioneers players
Greenville Bluesmen players
Industriales de Monterrey players
Jackson State Tigers baseball players
Leones de Yucatán players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Massachusetts Mad Dogs players
Mexican League baseball pitchers
Montreal Expos players
New Britain Red Sox players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
Sioux City Explorers players
Sportspeople from Meridian, Mississippi
Texas Rangers players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople