Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd wants to pitch in the big leagues again -- at age 49 and 18 years after his last major league appearance.
Boyd sees himself as a modern-day Satchel Paige, who pitched professionally into his 50s.
"Satchel being my idol and knowing he didn't come into the (majors) until he was in his early 40s, that's always been in the back of my mind," Boyd told The Boston Globe. "Now, I've been given back the fastball I once had. I want to play."
Boyd told the Globe his fastball is in the low 90s and his breaking pitches are sharp. Former Sox catcher Mike Stanley seemed to concur when the newspaper interviewed him about Boyd. Stanley caught The Can during a recent Boston Red Sox fantasy camp.
"He looks no different to me now than when I caught him in Texas (with the Rangers). He still has the same passion. I don't know if he was getting to 90 because we didn't have a (radar) gun, but he still had the same stuff. The same tight slider, curve, fastball," the Globe quoted Stanley as saying.
This would be the latest in a series of comeback attempts by Boyd. His most recent one was in 2005 with the Brockton Rox of the independent Can-Am League. Boyd last pitched in the majors in 1991 for the Rangers; he left the game with a 78-77 record over 10 seasons with the Red Sox, Rangers and Montreal Expos.
"I have nothing to lose, and all a major league team has to lose is 15 minutes," the Globe quoted Boyd as saying. "Give me 15 minutes and I'll show I can still pitch. That's all I want."
Originally Posted by gedred69
