You know the old saying: "When they made that guy, they broke the mold." Well, when they made Luis Tiant, they didn't break the mold. The mold just faded away.
Luis Clemente Tiant Vega was born in Marianao, Cuba on November 23, 1940. Like an earlier great pitcher who would pitch in Cuba, Satchel Paige, he liked to joke that he was older. Unlike a later great Cuban pitcher, Orlando "El Duque" Hernández, he wasn't older than he said he was.
His father, Luis Eleuterio Tiant Bravo, later known as Luis Tiant Sr., pitched in America's Negro Leagues from 1928 to 1947. In his last season, he helped the New York Cubans, win the Negro World Series. Early in the 20th Century, "Cuban" was often code for "black," but they did have some Cuban players, including the elder Tiant, a lefthander.
American baseball was integrated in 1947, too late for the elder Tiant. The younger Tiant was "discovered" by former Cleveland Indians star Bobby Ávila, and in 1959, Tiant was pitching for the Mexico City Tigers in the Mexican League. In 1961, the Indians purchased his contract. But that meant he was stuck in America: He could never return home, as travel restrictions between the U.S. and a Cuba now ruled by Fidel Castro made it impossible.
He made his major league debut on July 19, 1964. Against the defending American League Champion New York Yankees. At Yankee Stadium. Opposing the Yankees' ace, Whitey Ford. Wearing Number 33, Tiant went the distance. He allowed 4 hits: All singles, to Roger Maris, Bobby Richardson, Phil Linz, and Tom Tresh (who was playing center field in place of Mickey Mantle). He struck out 11. Backed by a home run from Leon Wagner, Tiant won, 3-0.
Despite going 10-4 with a 2.83 ERA (and even 1 save), Tiant was not the American League's Rookie of the Year in 1964. But the winner was another Cuba, Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins, who led the AL in batting average. Afterward, it looked like AL batters had caught up with Tiant, as he went 11-11, 12-11 and 12-9 over the next 3 seasons.
But in 1968, he went 21-9, and had an earned run average (ERA) of 1.60. He pitched 9 shutouts. To put that in perspective: In the National League, Bob Gibson set a modern-era record with a 1.12 ERA, and also had 9 shutouts. Tiant's ERA+ was 186, so he wasn't just benefiting from "the Year of the Pitcher": He was having a great season on top of that. He also made the 1st of 3 All-Star Games.
To counteract that season, the pitcher's mound was lowered from 15 to 10 inches for 1969, and while it didn't affect all pitchers, it affected Tiant, as he dropped to 9-20. But he also battled injury, including a fractured shoulder blade. Just before the start of the 1971 regular season, the Twins released him. They had won the last 2 AL Western Division titles. They would not win another for 17 seasons.
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The Atlanta Braves signed him, but after 5 games at Class AAA Richmond, they decided he was done, and released him. The Boston Red Sox took a chance, and he went 1-7 for them in 1971. But they stuck with him, and, over the next 5 seasons, he went 15-6 (with a League-leading 1.91 ERA), 20-13, 22-13, 18-14, and 21-12.
That 18-14 record in 1975 was actually his least effective over that stretch. But it was the one time between 1967 and 1986 that the Red Sox won the American League Pennant. As they outpaced the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles for the Eastern Division title, and dethroned the Oakland Athletics in the AL Championship Series, Tiant became a bigger star than ever.
How big a star? Big enough that, in August, Castro gave Tiant's parents a special visa so that they could see their son pitch. Knowing that Luis Sr. had been a Negro League pitcher, and knowing the good publicity that would result from having an anti-Castro Cuban do so -- especially in a heavily-Catholic, and thus anti-Communist, city like Boston -- Sox management even had Luis Sr. throw out a ceremonial first ball.
How big a star? In 1971, in trying to come back from injury, Tiant developed a new windup, twisting and turning, looking back at 2nd base before delivering the ball. Every kid in America, even kids like me who hated the Red Sox, imitated this windup.
His parents were in the stands at Fenway Park for Game 1 of the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds hadn't won the World Series in 35 years; the Red Sox, 57. Something had to give. Due to their postseason experience -- although they were 0-2 in World Series play -- "The Big Red Machine" were favored to win the Series. Not only did Tiant pitch a 5-hit shutout, but, with the designated hitter meaning he had come to bat only once all season (but getting a hit), he led off the bottom of the 7th win a single, leading to a 6-run Boston inning, and a 6-0 victory.
He also went the distance in Game 4, winning, 5-4. Had the Sox won the Series, Tiant would have been an easy choice for Series MVP. Even the rain that delayed Game 6 for 3 days seemed to work in his favor, He was now rested enough to make a 3rd Series start, and held the Reds scoreless for the 1st 4 innings.
But they scored 3 in the 5th, and in the top of the 7th, Tiant gave up a home run to César Gerónimo. He was relieved, and the Reds took a 6-3 lead, before the Red Sox tied in it in the 8th, and won the game, 7-6, on Carlton Fisk's home run in the 12th inning. It's been called the greatest game ever played. But the Reds won Game 7, and won the Series.
Tiant was 35, not really a late bloomer in terms of talent, but definitely in terms of attention. He gained attention the next season as his two father figures, Luis Sr. and Sox owner Tom Yawkey, both died. He gained attention for his unusual windup. He gained attention for his status as a Cuban exile.
And he gained attention for his personality. While he understood English, he spoke it with a very heavy accent that made him hard to understand. He loved cigars, something Cuba is known for. He would even smoke a cigar in the shower. How he kept it lit, only he knew. He glued a mirror to the shower wall. With his receding hairline, his biker-style mustache, and his pudgy frame, he sure didn't look like an athlete. But he was once caught lathering up, looking at that mirror, and saying, to no one in particular, in his accent, "Damn! I am a gooooooood-looooooooking son of a beeeeeeeech!"
and one good-looking son of a bitch.
(His words, not mine.)
And yet, he never threw another postseason pitch. The Sox finished a distant 3rd place in 1976. They led the AL East most of the way in 1977, but the Yankees came back to win. Then came 1978, a year which lives in infamy in New England. At age 37, Tiant went 13-8 with a 3.31 ERA.
But the Boston tailspin and accompanying New York surge became legendary. Tiant shut the Orioles out on September 6. The next day began the 4-game series known as the Boston Massacre. Allegedly, team Captain Carl Yastrzemski urged manager Don Zimmer to start Tiant on 3 days' rest in the series finale, to avoid the sweep, and Zimmer refused. Tiant pitched the next day, and beat the Orioles again. Zimmer did pitch him on 3rd days' rest for the regular-season finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, and he pitched a shutout, to force a Playoff. But that meant he was unavailable for the Playoff, and, well, Bucky Blessed Dent.
That regular-season finale also turned out to be Tiant's last game for the Red Sox, as his contract ran out. Having just turned 38, they didn't re-sign him. The Yankees did. Seeing him in a Yankee uniform was blasphemy to Sox fans, and weird to Yankee Fans. But he had something left: Over 2 seasons, he went 13-8 and 9-9. He pitched 2 more seasons, 1981 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and 1982 for the California Angels.
Does Luis Tiant belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame? He retired with a record of 229-172, an ERA of 3.30, 2,416 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.199. In the post-1920 Lively Ball Era, only 8 pitchers are ahead of him in all 4 categories: Warren Spahn, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson and Bob Gibson.
Throw in Tiant's .571 winning percentage, and the number of those ahead of him in all categories drops to 6: Spahn, Maddux, Clemens, Seaver, Johnson and Gibson. Throw in Tiant's 2.18 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and the number drops to 5, eliminating only Spahn. Is that enough?
Baseball-Reference.com has a Hall of Fame Monitor, on which a "Likely HOFer" is at 100. Tiant is at 97, suggesting that he just misses. They also have a Hall of Fame Standards, on which the "Average HOFer" is at 50. Tiant is at 41, suggesting that he's a bit short.
They also have Similarity Scores, showing the 10 most statistically similar players, weighted toward players of the same position. Of Tiant's 10 most similar, Catfish Hunter, Jim Bunning (the top 2) and Don Drysdale are in the Hall of Fame; George "Hooks" Dauss once missed election through the Veterans Committee by one vote; and the rest are Billy Pierce, Vida Blue, Mickey Lolich, Jim Perry, Kevin Brown and Orel Hershiser. Aside from Perry, whose brother Gaylord is in, each of those pitchers has some support for the Hall, but none is ever likely to get in.
If winning matters, then Tiant doesn't get much help: He reached the postseason 4 times, but only won 1 Pennant, and no World Series. If character counts, then he is helped, as he was beloved by his teammates, and was never involved in any kind of scandal. Overall, I can see why some people believe he should be in, but the case is far from tight.
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Although Tiant's Yankee teammates liked him, and he has occasionally returned to New York for Old-Timers' Day, and had some of his best years in Cleveland, it's easy to forget now that he played for anyone other than the Red Sox. He remains, one of the most popular players in Sox history. He is their "barbecue stand guy," the way Boog Powell is in Baltimore, Greg Luzinski is in Philadelphia, Gorman Thomas is in Milwaukee and Randy Jones is in San Diego. One notable difference is that El Tiante's Cuban Barbecue is on the outside of Fenway Park, open on Jersey Street for pregame, as that street is blocked off, with a game ticket required for entry.
He served as a pitching coach in the farm systems of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox, and for Nicaragua in the 1996 Olympics. He was head coach for the Savannah College of Art and Design, an NCAA Division III program in Georgia, from 1998 to 2001, without success. He served as a "special assignment instructor" for the Red Sox, including helping out at Spring Training in Fort Myers, Florida.
He and his wife Maria had 3 children: Luis, Isabel and Daniel. They had homes in Southborough, Massachusetts and Wells, Maine. It was at this latter home that Luis Tiant died yesterday, October 8, 2024, at the age of 83. It was the end of one of baseball's grandest and most entertaining stories.
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