Boston GlobeDennis "Oil Can" Boyd has long felt the game of baseball was taken away from him far too soon. He was 31 years old when he threw his last pitch for the Texas Rangers in 1991. But now, at age 49, Boyd believes his shoulder is stronger than ever. He says his velocity is up in the low 90s and the 12-6 curveball and changeup have returned. He wants a chance to show a major league team he can still pitch. "I have nothing to lose, and all a major league team has to lose is 15 minutes," said Boyd. "Give me 15 minutes and I'll show I can still pitch. That's all I want."
Salty's Thoughts: I hope he comes back and wins the Cy Young. It'll increase the value of the autographed ball I have of his. Yes, I'm serious.
2 comments:
This is hilarious. You know, though, Satchel Paige made his pro debut with the Indians when he was 42 and threw his last pitch as a major leaguer when he was 59.
The old men have grit. Check out this brief story:
Pitching for the semi-pro team named the Down the Bay Boys, Paige got into a jam in the ninth inning of a 1–0 ballgame.
Angry at himself, he stomped around the mound, kicking up dirt.
The fans started booing him, so he decided that “somebody was going to have to pay for that.”
He called in his outfielders and had them squat in the infield. With the fans and his own teammates howling, Paige worked his way out of the jam and made a name for himself.
Amazing. I hope Oil Can can at least get a shot. Maybe some team will work with him during spring training and see if he has anything left in the old bag of tricks. It'd be great for baseball.
That's a sweet Paige story.
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