 Born in Kansas, Borland graduated from high school in McAlester, Oklahoma, and attended what is now Oklahoma State University, where he was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1955 College World Series.His minor league career began in 1955 with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, but he was declared a free agent by Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick when it was discovered that the Baltimore Orioles had violated the bonus rule of the day by signing Borland, then loaning him to the Oaks.Signed then by the Red Sox, Borland missed two full years (1956–57) while serving in the United States Army.