BOSTON (AP) — Luis Tiant, the charismatic Cuban with a horseshoe mustache and mesmerizing windup who pitched the Crimson 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 demise in a put up on X on Tuesday, and the Crimson Sox confirmed that he died at his house in Maine.
“Right this moment is a really unhappy day,” Fred Lynn, a teammate in each Boston and California, posted on X. “A Massive recreation pitcher, a humorous real man who liked his household and baseball. I miss him already.”
FILE – Boston Crimson Sox pitcher Luis Tiant is pictured in 1974. (AP Picture/Phil Sandlin, File)
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 perfect within the AL in half a century and he completed fifth in AL Most Priceless 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 “Yr of the Pitcher” and helped persuade baseball to decrease the pitching mound to present batters extra of an opportunity. Regardless of, Tiant once more received the AL ERA title with a 1.91 mark in 1972, for the Crimson Sox (and misplaced the Cy Younger to Gaylord Perry’s 1.92 ERA and 24 wins).
“Luis embodied every part we love about this recreation: resilience, ardour, and an simple sense of belonging to one thing better than himself,” Crimson Sox Chairman Tom Werner mentioned. “However what made Luis unforgettable was his vibrant character. He was a gifted storyteller, at all times sharing tales full of humor, honesty, and a permanent 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 Crimson Sox.
His demise comes one week after that of all-time baseball hits chief Pete Rose, whose Cincinnati Reds confronted Tiant’s Crimson 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 house 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 celebration for Tiant’s distinctive supply, during which he would wiggle his arms as he got here to the set place, then flip his again to the batter earlier than throwing. The movement could be imitated by generations of youngsters in New England and throughout the nation, however Tiant himself was unmatched.
“Luis had the sort of unforgettable presence that made you’re feeling such as you had been a part of his world,” Crimson Sox proprietor John Henry mentioned. “He channeled every part into his love for the sport and the folks 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 Crimson 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 Crimson 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 yr on the poll. He was additionally thought of and rejected by veterans committees thrice.
“Powerful day to listen to of Luis Tiant passing away. A former participant we liked coming into the clubhouse,” former Crimson Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis tweeted. “At all times joking round with that infectious chuckle and saying ‘Man you a sick pet!’ Without end grateful for the time shared with a legend. Could his reminiscence be a blessing!”
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