'Oil Can' to Talk About, Sign His Book

Store manager Jennifer Massotti provided this information.

Barrington Books will welcom Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd for a book signing and talk on his new book, "They Call Me Oil Can: Baseball, Drugs and Life on the Edge," on Saturday, June 9. Boyd will appear at 2 pm.

Speaking candidly to veteran sportswriter Mike Shalin for the first time about his often tumultuous career in Major League Baseball, Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd recounts a life that began in the Deep South of Mississippi, and the events that led him toward great heights atop the pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park.

As part of a stellar rotation alongside Bruce Hurst and a young Roger Clemens, Boyd served a dazzling array of pitches to opposing batters, most notably during the Boston Red Sox ill-fated 1986 World Series run against the New York Mets. And while he was at once brilliant and focused on the mound, off the field—as he reveals here—Boyd was unraveled by the personal battles he waged with substance abuse and destructive mood swings.

As one of the few African-American starting pitchers in the history of baseball, Boyd offers a candid, insightful, and often funny portrait of an athlete with boundless passion for the game, his teammates, and the Boston Red Sox.

The Oil Can Boyd book signing is the first in a series of events geared toward dad's this June. "The Kissing Sailor" author, Laurence Verria, and the kissing sailor himself, George Mendonsa will be on hand at a signing next Saturday. June 16, at 1 pm.

And "Drifting: Two Weeks on the Hudson" author Mike Freeman will be signing his book on Saturday, June 23, at 1 pm.