There always seemed to be something just a little bit off center with Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1982 to 1989 (before ending his career with the Expos and Rangers). As a fan growing up in the 1980s, the right hander’s nickname was especially appealing, particularly when the New York tabloids blared “Yanks Kick the Can” after a tough outing against the Bronx Bombers. To most of the baseball world, Boyd was defined more by his eccentricity and the simmering anger he possessed. As it turns out, cocaine also had a significant influence on his behavior off the field as well as his performance on it.
People try to make me out to be a bleep, but they don’t understand my sensitivity. I’m gone. You can write it any way you want, but I’m gone.” – Oil Can Boyd, quoted by the Boston Globe after being suspended by the Red Sox, July 12, 1986
In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Boyd, who is promoting a new book due out in June, claimed he was high for almost two-thirds of his career, which, for many, would help explain his odd behavior. Even more damning, Boyd claimed that many within the Red Sox organization knew about his abuse. However, instead of getting him help and giving him another chance, the right hander felt as if he was used by the game and then shunned when his skills diminished. Whether or not that’s true is hard to say, but Boyd’s revelation does shed light on an era in baseball when the use of narcotics was rampant, perhaps even more so than we have been led to believe (something to keep in mind when judging the taint of the steroid era against the relative “purity” of years past).
Boyd’s revelation was a little eerie for me because I had just come across a relevant news clip while watching a treasure trove of old recordings from the 1986 baseball season (some of which I will be sharing here in the coming weeks). Just before the All Star break, Boyd had reacted angrily to not being selected to the team and went AWOL from the Red Sox. His behavior prompted a suspension, but Boyd’s tribulations were far from over. The following week, the right hander was pulled over in his car by narcotics police officers with whom he eventually had a physical confrontation. Although no narcotics were found in the car, Boyd was arrested and charged with assault. Considering his recent revelation, it stands to reason the lanky pitcher narrowly escaped a more damning consequence.
Should baseball fans and the media have known Boyd was a cocaine addict? Based on the video above, it’s hard to imagine how they wouldn’t. Of course, there is always danger in making assumptions based on hindsight, something we’ve seen vividly during the steroid era. It’s only natural to want to look away. As fans, and even media, we want to enjoy our national pastime, so acknowledging that it contains the same frailties that inflict society as a whole can be a little unsettling. More recently, the baseball community turned a blind eye to steroids, but not to long ago, narcotics were the “out of sight” drug of the day (not to mention amphetamines). Does that lessen baseball’s legend? I don’t think so. In fact, it probably makes baseball even more apart of the nation’s fabric, and, regardless of whether he was blackballed later in his career, Oil Can Boyd has a rightful place in both.
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