MLB legend Luis Tiant dies aged 83
Luis Tiant, a legendary pitcher whose career spanned 19 seasons, has died at the age of 83, according to sources. WBZ News Boston.
Tiant was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, playing baseball in the MLB from 1964-1982. His longest stint with any team was with the Boston Red Sox from 1971-1978.
Nicknamed “El Tiante,” Tiant was a three-time All-Star and led the American League in ERA in both 1968 and 1972.
He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame and the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame.
Born in Cuba, Tiant began his MLB career in 1964 with the Cleveland Indians after playing baseball at home and in Mexico.
Legendary MLB pitcher Luis Tiant, best known for his time in Boston, has died at the age of 83
Luis Tiant, seen at the Boston Red Sox training camp in Fort Myers, Florida in 2024
His debut was legendary: he started his MLB career with a four-hit shutout and eleven strikeouts against the New York Yankees.
Tiant earned his first All-Star appearance after his dominant 1968 season – one of the best pitching campaigns in MLB history.
He led the American League in ERA (1.60), shutouts (nine), hits per nine innings (5.30, still a franchise record) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.22), while finishing with a 21- 9. file. Despite this, he lost the Cy Young Award to Detroit’s Denny McLain.
After struggling with injuries the following season, Tiant was traded to the Minnesota Twins in a multi-player deal that sent Dean Chance and Graig Nettles to Cleveland.
His lone season in Minnesota started strong with six wins, but ended prematurely with a fracture in his right shoulder blade, ending his season.
After recovering, he returned to spring training in 1971 but was released by the Twins.
The Atlanta Braves signed him to a minor league contract with their Triple-A team in Richmond before he was acquired by the Louisville Colonels – a farm team of the Red Sox.
Boston quickly promoted him to the majors in 1971, but he struggled to finish the season.
Tiant began his MLB career in 1964 with the Cleveland Indians. He played there for five seasons.
After some time in the minors, Tiant was promoted to the Red Sox in 1971
Luis Tiant (L) with Juan Marichal (R) receiving the Roberto Clemente Award in 1974
He is best known for his time in Boston, where he helped the team reach the 1975 World Series
In his 1972 campaign, he returned to his old form with a 15-6 season, throwing six shutouts in 19 starts – while leading the AL in ERA with a 1.91.
Tiant won 20 games in 1973 and 22 games in 1974 – a season in which he made his second All-Star appearance.
His best postseason performance came in 1975, after he won 18 games in the regular season and then defeated the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the ALCS to help lead the Red Sox to the World Series.
In that 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Tiant won Game 1 at home in a five-hit shutout before returning for Game 4 and winning a staggering 173-pitch complete game.
Tiant then returned to the mound for Game 6 and threw a no-decision in a game that lasted twelve innings and ended with one of the most iconic moments in baseball history when Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit a game-winning home run hit the hill. left field line to force a Game 7.
Boston would lose that World Series at home the next day.
After three more seasons in Boston (including his final All-Star appearance in 1976), Tiant became a free agent in 1979. He signed with the rival New York Yankees and played there for two seasons.
After Boston, Tiant pitched for the Yankees, Pirates and Angels before calling it a career
Tiant was an avid cigar smoker and even produced his own brand of premium cigars
After his brief stint in The Bronx, Tiant became a free agent again and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1981, where he played only nine games.
He finished his MLB career with the California Angels in 1982, appearing in six games.
During his time playing in the Majors, Tiant also competed in the Venezuelan professional baseball league in parts of seven seasons between 1963 and 1982, winning league titles with Leones del Caracas in consecutive seasons in 1966-67 and 1967-68. .
After his playing days ended, he was a pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox farm systems. He then became head coach of the Division-III Savannah College of Art and Design baseball team.
Tiant was on the ballot for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame from 1988 to 2002, but received only 30.9 percent of the vote (in his first year).
He was considered for induction by the Golden Era Committee in 2011 and 2014 and by the Modern Era Committee in 2017. None of those times was he inducted. He could next be considered for enshrinement by the Classic Baseball Era Committee in the Hall-of-Fame class of 2025.
An avid cigar smoker, Tiant launched a line of cigars that he formulated and designed himself, under the brand name ‘El Tiante’.
As of 2001, Tiant lived in Southborough, Massachusetts. He and his wife Maria have three children: Luis Jr., Isabel and Daniel.