Can Watch

This promises to be must-see TV.

Buster Olney ‏ @Buster_ESPN

We did one of the most wrenching interviews I've conducted, with Oil Can Boyd, a man in pain. It'll air tonight at 7 on ESPN, on E:60.

It's hard to describe Oil Can Boyd. He was infamous. A "Can watch"was when local sportswriters waited for him to have an outburst.

My lasting image of him is a shot in the Herald, when a photographer got too close, and Oil Can threw his drink at him. The picture shows him, scowling, as the liquid sprays toward the lens. It's a ring of glory with an angry man in the middle.

He had moments of brilliance on the mound, and at times he seemed about to become great, but it never happened. He was, oddly enough, a mentor to the young Roger Clemens, according to Jeff Pearlman's biography of Clemens. He started (and won) Game 3 of the 1986 World Series.

He was a guy you rooted for; you wanted him to have a happy ending. Buster says he is a man in pain, so we're still waiting.