Oil Can Boyd said during an interview with ESPN's Buster Olney that he used crack cocaine every day of the 1986 season with the Red Sox, and that the team was aware of his problem.
"I would come into the ballpark, [team doctor Arthur 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 in the interview, which aired on ESPN's "E:60" program Tuesday.
The mercurial Boyd, who won 16 games for the American League champions that season, said that he was never tested for drugs, because there was no need for it.
"Because I was honest about what I was doing and told 'em to leave me alone and I'll be all right," Boyd said, adding: "I'm killing myself but they loved my ability and my talent … so they condoned it."
Boyd said he smoked crack in the clubhouse before pitching against the A's in Oakland in a May game and hid the drugs inside his hat while in the game. He also said that he went right to a crack house after manager John McNamara informed him he would not be starting Game 7 of the World Series against the Mets.
Boyd, who is releasing an autobiography next month, added that he is not thankful for Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier because it led to the demise of Negro League baseball, which Boyd said he preferred.
Read more about that story and others, plus check out videos, trivia and more, at Wednesday's Morning Mashup [1].
Links:
[1] http://leeinks.weei.com/sports/2012/05/02/wednesdays-morning-mashup-oil-can-boyd-claims-daily-drug-use-in-1986-with-red-sox
[2] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/general