49 year old, Oil Can Boyd: "I can still pitch!"

Is pitching in demand right now in baseball? Of course, the Mets just gave Livan Hernandez a minor league contract as proof for the need of pitching. Is there a market for a 10 year veteran with 78-77 record with a 4.04 ERA in 1389.2 innings pitched? You’d think so. But what if he’s a 49 year old veteran, who hasn’t pitched in the big leagues in 18 years. It's true, ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher, Dennis ‘Oil Can’ Boyd is throwing his arm into the free agent pool.

Children who were born the year Boyd retired, 1991, are driving now. The country has seen 3 new Presidents enter the oval office since Boyd last threw a pitch. Why does he want to come back now? Aside from saying his shoulder has never felt better and he’s still throwing in the 90s, his main reason is his idol, one of baseball’s all-time greats Satchel Paige. He says he’d like to emulate his idol who didn’t break into the game until his 40s and pitched well into his 50s. Boyd has stayed active in recent years playing for the Brockton Rox of the independent Canadian-American League in 2005 and playing with an All-Star Traveling team in 2007 consisting of former big leaguers Bill ‘The Spaceman’ Lee, Marquis Grissom, and Delino Deshields. All Boyd is asking for is 15 minutes of time from a team. He says “Give me 15 minutes and I’ll show you I can still pitch”.

Of course, the likelyhood that Boyd can still pitch effectively in the majors is very slim but not impossible. In 1999, 35 year old Jim Morris made his MLB debut pitching for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. Like the Morris story, Oil Can Boyd would be a tremendous feel good story and there’s nothing the game could use more right now. I’m rooting for Boyd and I hope some team at least gives him a shot. Baseball desperately needs some positive press right now, let’s hope Oil Can Boyd can provide it.

-Robb Lennahan