Luis Tiant, former pitcher for Boston and Cleveland, dies at 83 : NPR

BOSTON — Luis Tiant, the charismatic Cuban with a horseshoe mustache and mesmerizing windup who pitched the Pink Sox to the brink of a World Sequence championship and pitched himself to the doorstep of the baseball Corridor of Fame, has died. He was 83.

Main League Baseball introduced his dying in a publish on X on Tuesday, and the Pink Sox confirmed that he died at his residence in Maine.

“At present is a really unhappy day,” Fred Lynn, a teammate in each Boston and California, posted on X. “A Large recreation pitcher, a humorous real man who liked his household and baseball. I miss him already.”

With a swaggering type and an iconic wiggling windup that froze batters within the field, “El Tiante” was a three-time All-Star and four-time 20-game winner whose best particular person season got here with Cleveland in 1968, when he went 21-9 with 19 full video games and 9 shutouts — 4 of them in a row. His 1.60 ERA was the very best within the AL in half a century and he completed fifth in AL Most Invaluable Participant voting; 31-game winner Denny McLain received it, in addition to the league’s Cy Younger Award.

These performances, together with Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA within the NL, earned 1968 the nickname “12 months of the Pitcher” and helped persuade baseball to decrease the pitching mound to provide batters extra of an opportunity. Irrespective of, Tiant once more received the AL ERA title with a 1.91 mark in 1972, for the Pink Sox (and misplaced the Cy Younger to Gaylord Perry’s 1.92 ERA and 24 wins).

“Luis embodied the whole lot we love about this recreation: resilience, ardour, and an simple sense of belonging to one thing larger than himself,” Pink Sox Chairman Tom Werner stated. “However what made Luis unforgettable was his vibrant persona. He was a gifted storyteller, at all times sharing tales crammed with humor, honesty, and an everlasting loyalty to his teammates. All of us are deeply saddened by his passing. We misplaced one of many nice ones right this moment.”

The son of a Negro Leagues star, the youthful Tiant was 229-172 in all with a 3.30 ERA and a couple of,416 strikeouts. He had 187 full video games and 47 shutouts in a 19-year profession spent principally with Cleveland and the Pink Sox.

His dying comes one week after that of all-time baseball hits chief Pete Rose, whose Cincinnati Reds confronted Tiant’s Pink Sox within the 1975 World Sequence — nonetheless thought of one of many best matchups in baseball postseason historical past.

Tiant shut out the Reds in Sport 1, threw 155 pitches in one other full recreation victory in Sport 4 and was again on the mound for eight innings in Sport 6, which Boston received on Carlton Fisk’s residence run within the backside of the twelfth. The ’75 Sequence, which Cincinnati received in seven video games, is usually cited as the best of all time.

It was additionally a nationwide coming-out social gathering for Tiant’s distinctive supply, during which he would wiggle his fingers as he got here to the set place, then flip his again to the batter earlier than throwing. The movement can be imitated by generations of youngsters in New England and throughout the nation, however Tiant himself was unmatched.

“Luis had the form of unforgettable presence that made you’re feeling such as you had been a part of his world,” Pink Sox proprietor John Henry stated. “He channeled the whole lot into his love for the sport and the individuals round him. He was magnetic and had a smile that might gentle up Fenway Park.”

After he retired in 1982, Tiant labored as a minor league coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox and was the pitching coach for Nicaragua on the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He remained lively with the Pink Sox in spring coaching and was seen round Fenway Park, usually signing autographs earlier than the sport on the ballpark’s El Tiante Cuban sandwich stand.

Tiant was inducted into the Boston Pink Sox Corridor of Fame however by no means made the nationwide shrine in Cooperstown, New York, receiving a excessive of 30.9% of the votes in 1988, his first 12 months on the poll. He was additionally thought of and rejected by veterans committees 3 times.

“Powerful day to listen to of Luis Tiant passing away. A former participant we liked coming into the clubhouse,” former Pink Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis tweeted. “At all times joking round with that infectious snort and saying ‘Man you a sick pet!’ Perpetually grateful for the time shared with a legend. Might his reminiscence be a blessing!”