One of the most popular pitchers to ever wear a Boston Red Sox uniform is coming to The Villages.
Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd will pay a visit to the upcoming Red Sox Nation meeting, which will be held Thursday, Feb. 20 at SeaBreeze Recreation Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting starts 30 minutes later.
The 60-year-old Boyd pitched for the Red Sox for eight seasons – 1982-89. He won 60 games for the team, with 31 of those victories coming from 1983-85.
Boyd started 15 games in 1985 and completed 15 of those. He pitched a total of 272.1 innings and tallied a whopping 154 strikeouts. The following year he added 16 more victories and started Game 3 of the World Series.
Boyd attended Jackson State University and was selected by the Red Sox in the 16th round of the 1980 draft. He made his debut in 1982 and pitched 10 seasons in the Major Leagues before issues with blood clots in his right arm forced him to retire. He also pitched for the Montreal Expos (1990-91) and the Texas Rangers (1991), with his final start coming on Oct. 1, 1991. His overall record was 78-77 and he tallied 799 strikeouts and an earned run average of 4.04.
