He gave up on baseball. Now BJ Boyd is chasing MLB dream again on Wichita Wind Surge
Three months ago, BJ Boyd was dozing off during graveyard shifts at his job working security back in his hometown of Palo Alto, California.
His life had to come to this after he had given up on his dream of playing Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, the team he grew up rooting for in the Bay Area and the team that drafted him out of high school in 2012 but never promoted him to the majors despite 112 games at the Triple-A level.
“I really thought the A’s would give me a chance because I’m from there, I had good numbers, I had a lot of local fans,” Boyd said. “When I didn’t get an opportunity, I felt like my whole career had been for nothing. It was like, ‘Why did I even go this route?’”
When one dream was extinguished, another emerged in its place for Boyd — he wanted to play in the NFL. It wasn’t completely far-fetched: Boyd was a Division I-caliber football player while at Palo Alto. He won a state championship on the same team as Davante Adams, a star receiver for the Green Bay Packers, then broke his receiving records with 1,108 yards and 17 touchdowns the following season.
If you would have asked Boyd what he would be doing in August three months ago, the 28-year-old would have told you that he would be preparing to play a season of junior college football in California.
“If football was my main focus, I still think I could play in the NFL,” said Boyd, who is 5-foot-11 and weighs 230 pounds. “Give me a couple of months to get into football shape and I think I would have been ready. But unfortunately I don’t have the glamorous lifestyle of Tim Tebow to get to choose.”
Instead, Boyd decided to make another run at his lifelong dream of an MLB call-up after a three-year absence from the sport. The Minnesota Twins decided to take a flier on him, signing him on May 27 and sending him to Double-A, where he has played with the Wichita Wind Surge this summer.
In less than three months, Boyd has transformed from a sleepy security guard to one of the most electrifying hitters in Double-A. He has made the most of his new opportunity in Wichita, as Boyd leads the Double-A Central league in batting average (.316) and is among the leaders with his 15 home runs, 60 RBIs and .555 slugging percentage.
And after a four-hit performance in Wichita’s 14-6 win at Springfield on Thursday, Boyd has helped power the Wind Surge (54-39) to the best record in the 10-team Double-A Central and a four-game lead in the North Division.
“It turns out this was all a blessing in disguise,” Boyd said. “In all honesty, all I can do is (dang) near cry. I’m starting to believe this might really be meant to be.”
After never hitting more than eight home runs in a season in his seven-year run in the A’s farm system, Boyd has matched that output already with eight homers in just 12 games in August. In fact, Boyd has been the best hitter in Double-A this month, leading the minors in home runs (8), RBI’s (22), batting average (.393) and slugging percentage (.839).
Since joining the lineup full-time in June, Boyd has proven himself to be one of the best power hitters in all of Double-A.
“I’m proving I should have been in the big leagues a long time ago,” Boyd said. “This game is all about opportunity and when is it going to come. It might never come for me. But I’m going to keep striving and keep pushing through as long as it’s possible.”
Playing baseball for a living again sure beats the security job he had back home, which he would clock in at 11 p.m. and clock out at 7 a.m. the following morning.
He was still working that job when he enrolled at Foothill College in 2019 to pursue his football dream. In his first season on the gridiron in eight seasons, Boyd did well — racking up 653 total yards, scoring six touchdowns and averaging eight yards per touch on a 10-1 team — considering he was running on no sleep most games.
“I would work until 7 a.m., go home and sleep for a few hours, then wake up on Saturday morning and play in a college football game at 11 a.m.,” said Boyd, who was motivated to continue working to support his two young daughters.
Boyd said he was receiving Division I football interest from California, San Jose State and UNLV after his first season. Boyd was beginning to believe his NFL dream was possible, especially after watching his former teammate and still-close friend Davante Adams reach stardom in the NFL.
“I felt like football was me,” Boyd said. “I was really good at football and I had the chip on my shoulder. When me and Davante won state, it was really cheating. We had so much talent. I’m telling you, Davante could be a quarterback in the NFL and thrive. A lot of people don’t know that, but he was amazing. It felt like every time he touched the ball in high school, he scored. It wasn’t fair.”
But when the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 football season in California, Boyd’s plans were put on hold.
An unlikely “audible” as Boyd calls it came back in May when a friend of his in Palo Alto asked him to play in an adult softball league. In his first at bat, Boyd blasted a home run over the fence. It was that exact moment when he realized he wanted to give baseball another chance.
Fast forward three months and Boyd is now a viral sensation for his behind-the-back bat flips following home runs in minor-league parks. In his hopes of reaching the majors in his comeback bid, Boyd is determined to show some flair with the way he plays the game.
“I want people to see I’m having fun and I love this game,” Boyd said. “If you don’t do something to make yourself known, then nobody is going to see you. Hopefully someone will see that and see how much fun I’m having and give me a chance.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
.jpg)