Oil Can Boyd - Little League Coach

[TonyK]

Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd appeared on the FOX radio network to discuss his new autobiography. During the interview, a host brought up that Oil Can was a little league coach and coached his son Dennis Jr. The conversation moved forward and Oil Can was asked why there are not as many black major league ballplayers as there were twenty or thirty years ago. Oil Can gave his own son's little league team as one example of the problems encountered by young blacks. Of the players who were on that little league team several years ago, four are dead and a fifth player is serving life in prison for murder.

Oil Can may not be the perfect role model for today's youth, but he certainly tried his best to give them opportunites to succeed despite the long odds.

I read the local paper and see that former little league players that I have coached had been arrrested for mostly minor violations. I know of only one former player who went to prison, and he had been adopted, and later grew into a troubled teenager. I tip my cap to Oil Can for trying to inspire kids from poor backgrounds.

[HeinekenMan]

Although it's somewhat unrelated, I watched a team from the Tampa area play in the state tournament on Saturday. One of their coaches is Brad Culpepper, who played in the NFL. Apparently, there was a bit of a shouting match between Culpepper and a coach from another team. At one point, Culpepper shouted, "Go back to your doublewides" to the other side. I'm not sure if he was shouting this at the fans, the coaches, the kids or all of them. But it's disgusting. He also is the first coach I've seen with his shirt unbuttoned to his belly button and the first I've seen wearing a white belt. No wonder his wife was on Survivor. I think she was trying to get away from the jerk.

[Jake Patterson]

Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd appeared on the FOX radio network to discuss his new autobiography. During the interview, a host brought up that Oil Can was a little league coach and coached his son Dennis Jr. The conversation moved forward and Oil Can was asked why there are not as many black major league ballplayers as there were twenty or thirty years ago. Oil Can gave his own son's little league team as one example of the problems encountered by young blacks. Of the players who were on that little league team several years ago, four are dead and a fifth player is serving life in prison for murder.

Oil Can may not be the perfect role model for today's youth, but he certainly tried his best to give them opportunites to succeed despite the long odds.

I read the local paper and see that former little league players that I have coached had been arrrested for mostly minor violations. I know of only one former player who went to prison, and he had been adopted, and later grew into a troubled teenager. I tip my cap to Oil Can for trying to inspire kids from poor backgrounds.

Props to The Can for doing what he's doing... Sad story though.

[dominik]

Props to The Can for doing what he's doing... Sad story though.

Indeed. But hasn't the situation of the "black ghettos" drastically improved over the last 15 years? Of course there is still a lot of crime but I have heard that classic "ghettos" like the bronx or harlem became much better when 20 years ago the police wouldn't even dare to go there.

Is that true?

[Jake Patterson]

Indeed. But hasn't the situation of the "black ghettos" drastically improved over the last 15 years? Of course there is still a lot of crime but I have heard that classic "ghettos" like the bronx or harlem became much better when 20 years ago the police wouldn't even dare to go there.

Is that true?

In some areas... The economy hasn't helped much...

[AdamInNY]

I'm in NYC. There are some very good leagues in the lower income communities. Brooklyn Bonnies and YSL come to mind. Manny Ramirez came out of YSL actually.

[davewashere]

You know, I had never even thought about this. I grew up in an area with very few black people (well under 5% of the population). I had exactly 1 black teammate during 5 years of Little League (2 in the "minors", 3 in the "majors"). Jason's family was too poor to buy him a glove, so for our first practice he went out to the outfield wearing my catcher's mitt. My dad called up our team sponsor and for the next practice he had a brand new glove. He learned the game and tried hard, but after Little League he seemed to have little interest in baseball or school. I don't think his mother was very involved with his life, and I never saw his father, so I assume he wasn't around. Jason was in and out of trouble throughout high school, which he never completed. Where is he now? He was stabbed to death in a fight.

Getting kids interested in playing baseball is only the start. Keeping them focused and out of trouble during their teenage years is vital. Too many young boys are being raised without a father figure present, and I think this is likely a major culprit in the decline of black baseball players. The lack of nearby fields and the organization required to get a game going also make it inherently less appealing to those living in cities compared to sports like basketball.