MLB: Why Red Sox Hero Luis Tiant Should Have Gotten in the Hall of Fame Today

The 1975 postseason was the grandest hour for the man Reggie Jackson called "the Fred Astaire of Baseball" for the style he displayed on the mound.

Tiant whipped Jackson and the three-time-defending world champion Oakland A's, 7-1, in the ALCS opener, sparking the Red Sox to a three-game sweep and the AL pennant.

In the opener of the World Series against heavily favored Cincinnati, Tiant spun another shutout against Rose-Morgan-Perez-Bench and Co., then came back to gut his way through a 163-pitch, 5-4 complete game road win in Game 4.

He left in the eighth inning of Game 6 trailing 6-3; but Boston came back to win that one as well on Carlton Fisk's epic 12th-inning homer, meaning Tiant started all three Boston victories in the series.

Tiant's career numbers are impressive, especially considering he spent eight years pitching his home games at Fenway Park—a burdensome task for many hurlers—and six seasons with an Indians team that never finished higher than fifth place. 

The Cuban right-hander was 229-172 lifetime, with a 3.30 ERA, four 20-win seasons, 49 shutouts, and 187 complete games—going the distance in roughly 40 percent of his starts.   

In an era of great hitters, he had two years in which his ERA showed he was as dominant as any pitcher over the past 75 years—1.60 in 1968 (lowest in the American League since 1919) and 1.91 in '72.

Tiant has several "twins" among current Hall of Famers:

Catfish Hunter: 224-166 with 3.26 ERA, 42 shutouts and five 20-win campaigns

Jim Bunning: 224-184 with a 3.27 ERA and just one 20-win season (although he won 19 four times)

Don Drysdale: 209-166 with a 2.95 ERA, 49 shutouts, and two 20-win years while spending the majority of his career in a pitcher's ballpark (Dodger Stadium)

Ted Lyons: 260-230, 3.67 ERA, 27 shutouts, three 20-win seasons

Research by Red Sox VP and team historian Dick Bresciani pulls up some more numbers: Tiant has more wins and a better winning percentage than 26 Hall of Famers, and more shutouts than 46 if them.

The only other pitcher in history with two streaks of 40-plus consecutive scoreless innings? Hall of Fame great Walter Johnson.

The 1975 postseason was the grandest hour for the man Reggie Jackson called "the Fred Astaire of Baseball" for the style he displayed on the mound.

Tiant shutout Jackson and the three-time-defending world champion Oakland A's in the ALCS opener, sparking the Red Sox to a three-game sweep and the AL pennant.

In the opener of the World Series against heavily favored Cincinnati, Tiant spun another shutout against Rose-Morgan-Perez-Bench and Co., then came back to gut his way through a 163-pitch, 5-4 complete game road win in Game 4.

He tired in Game 6 and left trailing 6-3; but Boston came back to win that one as well on Carlton Fisk's epic 12th-inning homer, meaning Tiant started all three Boston victories in the series.

Tiant never had a chance to pitch meaningful late-season games with the Indians; but with Boston often in the thick of things, he was masterful when it meant the most.  

In 1972, he went 9-1 with an 0.82 ERA over 10 starts for Boston in the heat of a four-team race for the AL East title. He had nine complete games, four shutouts, and 40 straight scoreless innings during the stretch, which covered most of August and September. 

In 1975, with the Sox trying to hold off the hard-charging Orioles, Tiant was 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA in four September starts—including a 2-0 shutout of Baltimore that effectively sealed the division.

In 1978, with the Red Sox having blown their 14-game lead over the Yankees, Tiant won his last three starts in September as Boston made a stretch-drive push to re-catch New York.

On the last day of the season, with the Sox needing a win and a Yankees loss to finish tied for first, Tiant hurled a two-hit shutout over the Blue Jays at Fenway while New York was falling to Cleveland.   

All told, Tiant was 31-12 in September and October for Boston.

Tiant was an expert bench jockey and prankster, and he could always be counted on to keep things loose in the clubhouse. He called team captain and resident legend Carl Yastrzemski, "Polacko," and hard-nosed catcher Carlton Fisk, "Frankenstein," but both men knew he'd go through a wall for them on the field.

Before a must-win game at Toronto during the 1978 stretch drive, Tiant said beforehand that "if we lose today, it will be over my dead body. They'll have to leave me face down on the mound." He won 3-1.

And when Tiant signed with the arch rival Yankees after Red Sox owners refused to give him a two-year contract in the '78 offseason, Yaz said that "they tore out our heart and soul."

After winning 95 or more games in three of the previous four seasons, Boston wouldn't reach the mark again for eight years.

Tiant's life story is compelling. He fled Castro's Cuba in 1961 (leaving behind his entire family save his new wife), was reunited with his parents during the '75 postseason and then returned to his homeland in 2007 after many years of trying. It was the first time he had seen his extended family in nearly a half century.

It's the stuff movies are made of, and in Tiant's case the movie was an award-winning documentary called, "Lost Son of Havana." It would be easy for a man like Tiant to be bitter about the decades of family ties lost, but on film he seems more concerned with giving cash to as many of his people as possible.

He's been a mentor to minor leaguers as a coach with the Red Sox, White Sox and Dodgers, and for four years had an oddity of a job for a man of his credentials: head baseball coach at the Savannah (Georgia) College of Art. "SCAD" wasn't exactly a hotbed for big-league talent, but he loved the job.

Today, Tiant can be seen once again around Fenway, greeting folks as they pick up Cuban sandwiches at "El Tiante's" grill on Yawkey Way. He also gives plenty of autographs, and unlike most ballplayers who make this a quick, drill-like process, he invites fans of all ages to sit down and talk. He gives pecks on the cheek to little girls and high-fives to middle-aged men who yelled "LOO-IE! LOO-IE!" in the Fenway bleachers as kids.

All of them now must wait a bit longer for this superstar to get his due.

SAUL WISNIA has authored, co-authored or contributed to numerous books on Boston baseball history, including his latest—Fenway Park: The Centennial. He grew up cheering for Luis Tiant at Fenway Park, and shares Fenway reflections in cyberspace . Wisnia lives 6.78 miles from MLB's oldest ballpark in Newton, MA, and can be reached at saulwizz@gmail.com or @saulwizz.