Luis Tiant, the brilliant and inventive Cuban right-hander who pitched in parts of 19 big-league seasons, has died. He was 83 years old. MLB announced the news Tuesday morning on social media.
Tiant suited up for six different teams during his career, including eight seasons with the Boston Red Sox and six with the Cleveland Guardians. He began his career with Cleveland, a stretch that reached its apex in 1968, when he finished fifth in Most Valuable Player Award voting on the strength of a 1.60 ERA and a 21-9 record. The next season, Tiant’s final with the organization, he suffered a reversal of fortune, going 9-20 with a 3.71 ERA.
Cleveland would trade Tiant to the Minnesota Twins, but he would make only 18 appearances for the club before being shunned. A mediocre first campaign with the Red Sox doubled as his age-30 season, and it appeared that his big-league career might be coming to a close. Tiant turned things around in 1972, however, forcing his way into the rotation as part of a Red Sox postseason push and posting a 1.91 ERA in 179 innings.
Tiant would find himself in the good graces of the Fenway faithful, who took to chanting his first name over and over again. “I’ve never heard anything like that in my life,” legendary Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski said at the time. “But I’ll tell you one thing: Tiant deserved every bit of it.”
Tiant also had stints with the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and then-California Angels, the team with whom he wrapped up his career in 1982.
Some of Tiant’s most notable career achievements include two ERA Titles and three All-Star Game appearances. His statistical collection include 229 wins, a 3.30 ERA (114 ERA+), and a 2.19 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions were worth an estimated 66.1 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations. The average Hall of Fame pitcher amassed 73 Wins Above Replacement for their career. Yet he never received serious consideration for Cooperstown. Only once did he appear on more than 30% of ballots from writers, with that coming in his first year of eligibility back in 1988.
Summing Tiant up using mere numbers does him no justice. He was known for, among other things, being as experimental as any pitcher who has graced a mound. He would reliably alter his delivery’s timing by turning his back to the plate; his release point by dropping down as needed; and his ever expanding arsenal that included both a good fastball and a knuckleball, among countless other offerings — anything to thwart an offense.
Perhaps the finest summation of Tiant’s ability came from Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson, who once described Tiant to Roger Angell as being the “Fred Astaire of baseball.”
