Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd (born October 6, 1959) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Boyd played for the Boston Red Sox (1982–1989), Montreal Expos (1990–1991), and Texas Rangers (1991). In a 10-season career, Boyd collected a 78–77 record with 799 strikeouts and a 4.04 ERA in 1,389.2 innings. His unique and memorable nickname has been reported as coming from his beer-drinking days in his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, where beer was referred to as "oil". Early life Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd was born October 6, 1959 to Willie "Skeeter" Boyd (father) and Girtharae "Sweetie" (mother) in Meridan, Mississippi. Major league career 1982–1989: Boston Red Sox Boyd attended Meridian High School (Mississippi) then Jackson State University. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 16th round of the 1980 amateur draft, and made his debut in the 1982 season. A lanky frame at 6-foot-2, and weighing only 150 pounds, Boyd pitched 10 years in the majors before blood clots in his right arm ended his career. From 1983 to 1985 Boyd won 31 games for Boston, with 15 victories in . By the All-Star break in 1985, Boyd's record was 10–5 with a 3.19 ERA. By the end of that season, he posted career-highs in games started (35), complete games (13), strikeouts (154) and innings pitched (272.1). Boyd was the recipient of the 1985 Boston Red Sox Pitcher of the Year Award as selected by the Boston Baseball Writers Association. In 1986, he won a career-high 16 games for the Sox. Boyd's record at the All-Star break was 11–6 with a 3.71 ERA. During the 1986 American League Championship Series, Boyd started two games against the California Angels, winning Game Six. Boyd started Game Three of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets. In that game, Boyd gave up four runs in the first inning and six overall despite pitching into the seventh, getting only one run of support in taking the loss. He was scheduled to start the deciding seventh game of the series, but a rainout allowed Red Sox manager John McNamara to reconsider his pitching matchup for the game, and gave the nod to Bruce Hurst, who had gotten a third day of rest with the rainout. After Boyd received word he was not starting the final game of the series, he went down into the visitors' clubhouse and