Report: Ex-Boston pitcher Boyd says he used crack cocaine every day in 1986
Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd says he used crack cocaine every day of the 1986 season while pitching for the Boston Red Sox, according to ESPN report.
In his interview with ESPN's Buster Olney in an episode of "E:60," Boyd also said he smoked in the clubhouse before one of his starts in Oakland that year and had the crack in his cap while on the mound.
He said his teammates were aware of his drug use that season and that he would talk about it with team doctor and minority owner Arthur Pappas.
Boyd also said he was never tested for drug use.
"I would come into the ballpark, (Pappas) would call me in the back and he ask me, 'How you feel? Did you do some last night?' And I was honest with him, 'Yes I did,'" Boyd said. "OK. So that was my drug test, you got me? Ain't nobody made me pee in no cup."
Boyd said he wasn't tested because he was honest with the team and told team members he would be all right.
"I'm killing myself but they loved my ability and my talent ... so they condoned it," he said.
The game of particular note was on May 11, 1986, when he smoked crack before starting a game in Oakland.
"I get to the ballpark, all the ballplayers are on the field, you know, taking batting practice and everythin'. And I walk in the clubhouse and I -- I got my pipe with me. I can remember going and locking myself up in the bathroom and smoking some dope right there at the ballpark. I was afraid that they knew and that the clubhouse manager had smelled it, he was gonna tell on me. So I gotta get rid of it.
"I had it under the bib of my cap, inside the crease inside of the cap. And when I was warming up in the ballgame -- third, fourth inning - (my hat) fell off my head. Every other pitch I pick it up, put it on. So it's one time, you know, I'm so into what I'm doing, I forgot that the dope is under my hat. So I look on the ground and I'm like, 'Damn, there's little rocks everywhere, man.' So I play it off as I'm walking back, I pick it up like -- dirt -- picking up (expletive), mashing it into the ground."
Boyd went 16-10 with a 3.78 ERA in 1986, when the Red Sox won the American League pennant.
Boyd also told ESPN he was high on marijuana in every game he played from "Little League all the way through college."
Boyd's autobiography "They Call Me Oil Can: Baseball, Drugs, and Life on the Edge" is due out in June.
