Luis Tiant, longtime great MLB pitcher, has died at the age of 83
Luis Tiant, the longtime major league pitcher who spent most of his career with Cleveland and Boston, has passed away, per multiple reports. Tiant was 83.
Luis Tiant was born in Cuba in 1940, and spent three seasons in his teens pitching in the Mexican League before being acquired by Cleveland prior to the 1962 season. He made his major league debut in 1964 and occupied a swingman role for a few years before joining the rotation for good in 1967. He was a fixture in rotations from then through 1980, as well as making a handful of starts for the Pirates in 1980 and Angels in 1981.
Tiant was a legitimately great pitcher who oftentimes gets overlooked because he pitched in an era with a number of legendary starting pitchers. He led the league in ERA twice, with a 1.60 ERA in 1968 for Cleveland and a 1.91 ERA in 1972 for the Red Sox. He led the American League in bWAR for pitchers in that 1968 season, finished fourth in the league twice, and had five other seasons in the top 10 in bWAR. For his career, Tiant had a 229-172 record with a 3.30 ERA and 114 ERA+, accumulating 65.6 bWAR. He was also well known for the unorthodox delivery he used with the Red Sox, in which he would turn his back to the mound and hold in position in his windup before delivering the pitch.
Tiant is most remembered for his time with the Red Sox, though he traveled a circuitous route to get to Beantown. After a 20 loss season for Cleveland in 1969, when he led the majors in both home runs allowed and walked allowed, he was dealt to the Minnesota Twins, along with Stan Williams, in a deal that brought Dean Chance and Graig Nettles to Cleveland. After a broken scapula cut short his 1970 season, the Twins released Tiant in the spring of 1971. The Atlanta Braves signed him to a minor league deal, but released him not long after, and he signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1971.
That began a memorable eight year run in Boston that included his excellent 1972 campaign, when he finished 8th in the MVP voting, and his memorable performance for the 1975 Red Sox team that advanced to the World Series. Tiant started all three of Boston’s wins in that World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, including the memorable Game 6 that featured a two on, two out pinch hit home run in the bottom of the eighth by Bernie Carbo off of Rawly Eastwick to tie the game, which was eventually won by Carlton Fisk’s walkoff home run.
Tiant has a viable case as a Hall of Famer, despite not getting much support from either the BBWAA or the Veteran’s Committee. Among 20th century pitchers who are Hall eligible, the only pitchers with more bWAR than Tiant who aren’t in the Hall of Fame are Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Rick Reuschel, and Kevin Brown.