Wow dude, you went 78-77 on coke. Congratulations.

Meanwhile This guy was busy being the GOAT. (new window)

/You will never have the pure, unadulterated SWAG to snort coke in front of a sold out Rose Bowl and TV cameras

Is it surprising that he was a coke head? In the 80's I would say a good portion of MLB players were.

I think players have been on amphetamines pretty much since they were invented.

For a couple of years while on the expos

He would be the starter versus my home town dodgers

I remember (a mothers day game?) he was visiting and it took him a little longer than normal to come out in between innings.

My uncle said he had a nosebleed - makes sense

Always had that coke head look

Umm...so WHY is he called "Oil Can"?

Sounds more like three-fifths of the time.

fastfxr: Umm...so WHY is he called "Oil Can"?

He played the Tin Man for the community theater production of Wizard of Oz, obviously.

I'm pretty sure it was Oil Can who had the mound while away playing the Indians, and the game was called due to poor visibility from fog. Oil Can said something like it was their own fault for building the stadium next to the ocean. Cleveland. Ohio.

Obvious tag on holiday?

Anyone notice this little tidbit at the end of the article?

In May, he will be filming his role as pitcher Satchel Paige in a major motion picture about Jackie Robinson, starring Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, Richard Gere and Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball.

Seems odd to cast two actors, one of whom is white, to play Robinson, though.

VitaminTom: Anyone notice this little tidbit at the end of the article?

In May, he will be filming his role as pitcher Satchel Paige in a major motion picture about Jackie Robinson, starring Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, Richard Gere and Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball.

Seems odd to cast two actors, one of whom is white, to play Robinson, though.

They use Richard Gere to illustrate the point at which it is said that Jackie Robinson became an "Uncle Tom".

Slu: Obvious tag on holiday?

Yeah, my thought as well

fastfxr: Umm...so WHY is he called "Oil Can"?

When he was a kid growing up in Mississippi, he and his friends used to sit around drinking cans of beer, which they called "oil cans".

/Beer - the gateway drug

I am shocked and appalled.

career that spanned from 1982 t0 1991.

Already been said, but: "well, duh."

Also, anybody ever seen an exposé about why Mosi Tatupu was nicknamed "the Coke Machine"?

No? Why does he get a pass for being Samoan?

Pontious Pilates: Sounds more like three-fifths of the time.

It took a minute, but I saw what you did there.

finksta: Is that Adam Sandler interviewing him? You must listen to the audio.

Haha. Jesus Christ, I think it is!

I had to laugh at myself, I wasn't paying attention and had Peter Gabriel 'Big Time' playing at the same time. Perfect soundtrack for the interview.

Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry, and Phil Coke unavailable for comment.

H31N0US: Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry, and Phil Coke unavailable for comment.

Ron Washington. Are managers checked as frequently as players?

CPT Ethanolic: I played baseball for years and know quite a few former MLB players who played back in the 70's/80's. Going out SOBER was called 'playing naked'. If you weren't on something, you weren't trying. People used to spike the water jugs with amphetamines. Cocaine and meth in the 70's and 80's was like steroids in the 90's - everyone was using.

But only steroids are bad and everyone who juiced was worse than everyone else who ever did anything.

The Smails Kid: Pontious Pilates: Sounds more like three-fifths of the time.

It took a minute, but I saw what you did there.

It's an acceptable compromise.

H31N0US: Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry, and Phil Coke unavailable for comment.

Steve's dead.

Approves:


FTA: Boyd explained why he believes he got a worse reputation than some others. "The reason I caught the deep end to it is because I'm black. The bottom line is the game carries a lot of bigotry, and that was an easy way for them to do it,"

Yeah, the fact that you were a 78-77/4.04 ERA pitcher = easily replaceable = why put up with your bullshiat when they can get someone else who'll STFU and can win one more game than he loses pretty easily has nothing to do with it. [eye rolling emoticon here] Plus, he played for 10 years, when the average career is three years, it sure took a long time for them to drive him out of baseball because he was a "proud black man".

Racism exists in baseball, but maybe Denis Boyd just wasn't very good and that's why his career ended.

/Feeling happy in my veins, icicles are in my brain
//Cocaine!

Henry Holland: 78-77/4.04 ERA pitcher = easily replaceable

Putting aside the fact that W/L+ERA is a terrible way to judge a pitcher...even using those methods, it seems pretty obvious that he was an AVERAGE pitcher, and the advanced metrics agree: 102 ERA+, average fWAR of 2 per season, etc.

In what world does average = easily replaceable?

I don't think his reasoning is correct, but it's clearly something more than "oh, he wasn't very good."

Dafatone: CPT Ethanolic: I played baseball for years and know quite a few former MLB players who played back in the 70's/80's. Going out SOBER was called 'playing naked'. If you weren't on something, you weren't trying. People used to spike the water jugs with amphetamines. Cocaine and meth in the 70's and 80's was like steroids in the 90's - everyone was using.

But only steroids are bad and everyone who juiced was worse than everyone else who ever did anything.

Judging by what happened to most of the cokehead's careers... cocaine isn't much of a performance enhancer.

Amphetamines on the other hand...

/still not as bad as steroids and HGH.

Isn't 10 years in the majors considered a pretty good career anyway?

rjakobi: H31N0US: Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry, and Phil Coke unavailable for comment.

Steve's dead.

Then cross him off the list.

zarberg: rjakobi: H31N0US: Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry, and Phil Coke unavailable for comment.

Steve's dead.

Then cross him off the list.

Nice.

ZMugg: The Smails Kid: Pontious Pilates: Sounds more like three-fifths of the time.

It took a minute, but I saw what you did there.

It's an acceptable compromise.

Well, it's a good thing a clean-living team like the 1986 Mets ended up beating them in the World Series, then.