Boyd Gives Boston an Energetic Kick in the Can

Ever since Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd was named the “Unsung Hero” of the Boston Red Sox by Boston sportswriters following the 1984 season, he has been poised for greatness.

Boyd, the losing pitcher in Boston’s 5-4 loss to the Angels Thursday at Anaheim Stadium, is finding the road to such fame is hardly a song and dance.

Boyd pitched what he described as his best game of the season, yet once more came up on the wrong end of a one-run score.

Though his record dropped to a respectable 9-7, the mercurial 25-year old pitcher still takes such losses personally.

Thursday, Boyd spent a good 10 minutes unwinding in his locker cubicle in the Boston clubhouse following the game before he would talk to the media.

“When you win, you love it hard,” Boyd said, “and when you lose, you take it hard. It’s something to think about. I haven’t been as alive around the clubhouse lately--I’ve got to get that old fire back.”

First called up from Boston’s farm club at Bristol in late 1982, Boyd has earned a reputation as both a fierce and occasionally flamboyant competitor, strutting on the mound after a strikeout or a good fielding play.

Wrote Boston Globe columnist Michael Madden, “Oil Can Boyd is the most interesting blend of top talent and unique personality to come to Boston since Larry Bird.”

That’s high praise considering that until the most recent National Basketball Assn. championship series against the Lakers, Bird could do no wrong in Boston.

Like Bird, Boyd is an accessible, wise-beyond-his-years character and may readily become the Next Great Red Sox Player, unless Boston keeps high-priced and hot-hitting third baseman Wade Boggs, who is often mentioned as trade bait by the budget-conscious Red Sox.

And like so many other greats, Boyd’s nickname, Oil Can--a reference to beer cans from where he grew up in rural Mississippi--precedes him. The American League Red Book even lists him on the Boston roster as “Boyd, Oil Can,” so it must be official.

Against the Angels, Boyd showed flashes of both the greatness that awaits him as well as the flamboyance that has long been his.

Down 2-0 in the sixth inning, Boyd was buoyed by a Red Sox four-run inning, including a three-run homer by designated hitter Mike Easler, to give the visitors their only lead of the day.

“I wanted it bad,” Boyd said. “Tears came to my eyes when Easler hit that home run.”

And, we might presume, did they also come to the eyes of Angel starter Urbano Lugo, who, like Boyd, had been pitching good but not great up to that point.

Lugo left the game two batters later, and Boyd went into the bottom of the sixth visibly keyed up. He got the first two hitters before walking Juan Beniquez, bringing Reggie Jackson to the plate.

Boyd got Jackson to slice a ball to third base, and only an excellent backhand stop and throw by Boggs got him out of the inning. The play had Boyd exulting on the mound.

“Boggs made a great play, and it’s nothing new for them (his teammates) to know that I’m going to come over and give them five for it.”

Boyd’s joy lasted only until the next inning, however.

“We needed to win, and I wanted to win, and this is the best I’ve thrown the ball in a long time,” Boyd said. “I thought I had some pretty good stuff, but I made a mistake with men in scoring position.”

The mistake in question came in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Bobby Grich and Doug DeCinces on base courtesy of a pair of solid base hits.

Angel catcher Jerry Narron then jumped on the first pitch, which sailed over the fence in the right-field corner and the game was all but the Angels.

“DeCinces and Grich are going to get their hits, but I can’t let the guys behind them beat me like that. I feel like I kind of let the team down. They went out and got me those runs, and I let it get away from me.”

If Boyd pitches as well as he did against the Angels for the rest of the season, he will likely be forgiven such transgressions. His record has improved from 4-8 in 1983 to 12-12 last season, and now he is on the verge of his first winning season.