Oil Can Boyd

Oddball Boston starting pitcher and close Clemens pal.
Career Stats: click here

Breakdown: One of the stranger ballplayers of the 1980s, Boyd was a loopy, weird, erratic righty who admired Clemens and often sought out his advice and viewpoint.

From The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Boyd, an eccentric 24­ year­ old right­ hander with a funky delivery and funkier mannerisms, learned to love Clemens during a road trip to Baltimore. On the night of June 25, 1984, shortly after he helped pitch the Sox to a 7­4 victory over the Orioles, Boyd visited a nightclub in one of Baltimore’s rougher sections. While trying to hail a taxi, he was robbed at gunpoint and stripped of his wallet, watch and much of his clothing. “Hell, I returned to the hotel damn near naked,” he says with a laugh. “Well, the next day a guy from a pawnshop calls and says he has my watch, which had my name engraved on the back.”

Clemens, whose road locker was three down from Boyd’s, overheard the conversation.
“Can, you got mugged?” he asked.
“Yup,” said Boyd. “I sure did.”
“Where the hell was it?” Clemens asked.
Boyd named the street where the incident occurred.
Clemens stood up. “We’re going there tonight!” he screamed. “I wanna get names, I wanna get numbers! You don’t do that to Oil Can Boyd!”

Boyd initially thought his teammate was joking. He wasn’t. “He wanted to head down there after the game and beat some guys up,” Boyd says. “I might be crazy, but I’m not that crazy. I told Roger to forget it. But I’ve always remembered that loyalty.”