![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/oilkan.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dennis "Oilcan" Boyd with young fans in Cambridge last
\n night photo by Dowbrigade<\/p>\n
A
\n couple of old Red Sox pitchers were in the news in the past 24 hours.
\n First, baseball eccentric and 1986 world-series pitch Dennis "Oilcan" Boyd appeared
\n last night in North Cambridge with former New York Giant and Superbowl
\n winner Steve DeOssie at a charity "Old Time Baseball Game".<\/p>\n
It was with mixed memories that the Dowbrigade approached
\n St. Peter’s Field on Sherman St. in North Cambridge last night, attracted
\n by the news of the Old Time fundraiser, and especially by the news that
\n The Can would be taking the mound for the home side. After all, the field
\n had been the scene of the Cambridge Little League All-Star game during
\n the famous "no win" season of our younger son’s team, the Cardinals,
\n who managed to not only stay in last place the entire season but NEVER
\n WON A GAME. Since league rules mandated that each team send at least
\n two players to the All-Star game, our son was chosen. Of course, both
\n Cardinals struck out when they were inserted in the late innings.<\/p>\n
Last night, however, St. Pete’s field was hopping. It
\n had the air of a neighborhood sporting event and block party, with plenty
\n of families camped out on the grass in foul territory, some with picnic
\n baskets and blankets, others gathered around a box of take-out pizza.<\/p>\n
In keeping with the "old-time" theme, the players, largely
\n college and minor league recruits, were wearing uniforms from the 1920’s
\n and 30’s, and the loudspeakers were pumping out Roaring 20’s jazz tunes.<\/p>\n
Behind the screen, where the good views and the serious
\n fans sat, the crowd was more male, although still typically Cambridge.
\n Old time Cambridge "good guys", bald and bowling ball shaped, upscale
\n young fathers with and without kids, and the occasional goofy geek who
\n stops while pedaling by and stares as if he had never seen a baseball
\n game before.<\/p>\n
There was food and soda, and on a warm summer night kids
\n who couldn’t care less about baseball ran lose in adjacent areas and
\n darted under the stands. Near the exit we spotted a trio of young boys
\n jumping around like they had St. Vitas Dance. Whether they were over-sucrosed
\n or in need of the facilities we were unable to ascertain.<\/p>\n
The game was scoreless until the 4th inning when local
\n hero SS Zack Farkas hit a home run, making the score 3-0. But the
\n scoreboard was not the focus of attention in a laid-back local event
\n which raised a bunch of money for a worthy cause.<\/p>\n
Then this morning we discovered that today’s Boston Globe He now apparently lives in a house he built with his Lee appears happy lost in the North Country, and is still Baseball and summer go together like lemon, sugar, water read the Lee Dennis "Oilcan" Boyd with young fans in Cambridge last night photo by Dowbrigade A couple of old Red Sox pitchers were in the news in the past 24 hours. First, baseball eccentric and 1986 world-series pitch Dennis "Oilcan" Boyd appeared last … Continue reading
\n featured an extensive
\n article o<\/a>n another all-time favorite Red Sox eccentric,
\n 1975 World Series pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee. Lee was known for his
\n unique perspective on the game, epitomized in quotes like: "I think about
\n the
\n cosmic snowball theory. A few million years from now the sun will burn
\n out and lose its gravitational pull.
\n The earth
\n will
\n turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens
\n it won’t matter if I get this guy out."<\/p>\n
\n own hands after retiring from baseball. His spread is located in the
\n mountains
\n of Vermont, near the Canadian border, in a wild area called the Northeast
\n Kingdom. The natives, notoriously reluctant to accept any outsiders,
\n have taken a shine to Bill, recounting anecdotes like: "Did you
\n know Bill got a new haybaler?" says Otten, leading into a favorite
\n Bill Lee joke, one Lee tells on himself. "We had to explain to him
\n you don’t bale hay to smoke it."<\/p>\n
\n a source of quotable quips, like:
\n "One thing I love about Vermont is you can take all back roads so
\n you can drink." Lee stays in shape and can still bring the heat,
\n throwing in the low 80’s in Senior League games, which is coincidentally
\n about
\n what we figure the Can was throwing last night in Cambridge. Of course,
\n we are no expert, despite the time we spent as a South American scout
\n for a major league team which must go unnamed as a result of a nasty
\n contract dispute. <\/p>\n
\n and ice.<\/p>\n
\n article<\/a> from the Boston Globe<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"