Biography:
Dennis Boyd was born on October 6, 1959 in Meridian, Missouri to Negro League star Willie James Boyd and his wife. Dennis was one of his 14 children. Dennis went to college at Jackson State, where, I presume, he got his nickname of "Oil Can", for beer was often called oil. The Notorious OCB was drafted in the 16th round of the June draft by the Boston Red Sox, and would make his debut for the club on September 13, 1982. Oil Can would only pitch in three games that season, and only starting once. In 1983, OCB was placed in the starting rotation but was used sparingly, and only made 15 appearances on the mound. Over the next four years, Oil Can would show his prowess at controlling his pitches by striking out 2.44 batters for every walk he allowed, however he was outmatched in the wins column by then teammate Roger Clemens.
Boyd's pitching would get better and better as the mid-eighties came around. In 1985 the Sox finished at an even 81-81, and Boyd would have one of his best years pitching in all of his stats except for his record 15-13 and the whopping 273 hits off of him, the most in the majors that year. In 1986 OCB continued to get hotter, going 11-6 up to the all-star break. At his height, Oil Can Boyd had do see some time on the bench due to his quasi-psychotic actions occurring after Boyd found out he wasn't going to the all-star game. American League manager, Dick Howser, decided that he would rather have an extra bat sitting on the bench, than a pitcher in the bullpen. Boyd was enraged and made quite a scene down in the Red Sox's locker rooms. Boyd would check in to the psychiatric ward of a hospital after the incident.
From late 86 until late in his career Boyd would be bothered by blood clots in his right shoulder, which significantly hurt his playing time in the 1987 season, as well as the 89 season. Boyd was traded north of the border, to the Montreal Expos after that season. Revived by the cool Canadian air, Oil Can Boyd threw the lowest ERA of his career, 2.93, and went 10-6 in 31 starts. Boyd was traded midway through the 1991 season to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers opted not to re-sign Boyd after the half-season he played with them.
OCB would go on to pitch in Mexico and Puerto Rico. He pitched for 2 seasons with the Sioux City Explorers of the Northern League. In 1994 Boyd was pitching well with a record of 4-1 and an ERA of 1.89, but a blood clot in his right shoulder cut that season short. Also in that year, Boyd took part in a historic game by starting for the Northern League all-stars as they played against the Colorado Silver Bullets, a woman's team, in the first professional inter-gender game. The Bullets lost the game, 19-0. Ouch.
During the 1995 baseball strike, Boyd was signed by the Chicago White Sox as a replacement player. He wanted to show that at the age of 35 he could still pitch at the major league level. In doing this, Boyd lost the services of his agent, George Kalafatis, who was afraid that he might become decertified by the players union due to Boyd crossing the picket lines., "If you know Dennis, Dennis is going to make up his own mind ... He listened to me in the past, he's occasionally taken my advice, he's occasionally not taken my advice. This he's done on his own."
Boyd would go back and play for the Independent Leagues until he retired in 1998. However, Boyd would not stay retired for long. Currently, Boyd would like to be the only player-owner, playing and owning the Queen City Bombers, a hopeful expansion team that might be coming to the Texas-Louisiana Independent League. Boyd also owns the 4,000 seat stadium they would be playing in. "I'm making history," the 43-year-old Boyd said. "I'm the only owner that plays, and I'm planning to play until I'm as old as Satchel Paige."
Statistics:
Number: 23
Position: Pitcher
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 155
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Season Team G GS CG Sho IP H ER HR BB SO W L SV ERA
1982 Bos 3 1 0 0 8.1 11 5 2 2 2 0 1 0 5.40
1983 Bos 15 13 5 0 98.2 103 36 9 23 43 4 8 0 3.28
1984 Bos 29 26 10 3 197.2 207 96 18 53 134 12 12 0 4.37
1985 Bos 35 35 13 3 272.1 273 112 26 67 154 15 13 0 3.70
1986 Bos 30 30 10 0 214.1 222 90 32 45 129 16 10 0 3.78
1987 Bos 7 7 0 0 36.2 47 24 6 9 12 1 3 0 5.89
1988 Bos 23 23 1 0 129.2 147 77 25 41 71 9 7 0 5.34
1989 Bos 10 10 0 0 59.0 57 29 8 19 26 3 2 0 4.42
1990 Mon 31 31 3 3 190.2 164 62 19 52 113 10 6 0 2.93
1991 Mon 19 19 1 1 120.1 115 47 9 40 82 6 8 0 3.52
1991 Tex 12 12 0 0 62.0 81 46 12 17 33 2 7 0 6.68
Career Totals: G GS CG Sho IP H ER HR BB SO W L SV ERA
214 207 43 10 1389.2 1427 624 166 368 799 78 77 0 4.04
sources:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boydoi01.shtml
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/99/07/08/oil08.shtml
http://www.redsoxconnection.com/history.html
http://www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/B/Boyd_Oil_Can.stm
http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/old-wildcats/spring95/January/January18,1995/23_1_m.html