Luis Tiant Marquee

b. November 23, 1940 · Cleveland Indians 1964–1969, Minnesota Twins 1970, Boston Red Sox 1971–1978, New York Yankees 1979–1980, Pittsburgh Pirates 1981, California Angels 1982

He won 229 games with a 3.30 earned run average, 2,416 strikeouts, 187 complete games and 49 shutouts across nineteen seasons, leading his league in shutouts three times. The delivery is what people describe first: he turned his back fully on the hitter at the top of the windup, and varied where he looked and when he came back around.

He was Cuban and could not go home. His father, Luis Tiant senior, had been a star pitcher in the Negro leagues and in Cuba, and after the revolution the family was separated; the two did not see each other for fourteen years, until 1975, when the Red Sox arranged for his parents to come to Boston. His father threw out a first pitch that August and watched him pitch in the World Series that October.

He was on fifteen writers' ballots between 1988 and 2002, peaked at 30 percent, and has been before seven committees since without election. He died in October 2024.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	3	1968, 1974, 1976
Player of the Week	2	1974, 1976
Babe Ruth Award	1	1975
Player of the Month	1	1976
The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year	1	1972

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1964	CLE	19	45	3	5	0	0	1	3	0	13	0	.111
1965	CLE	41	68	2	6	0	0	1	3	3	30	0	.088
1966	CLE	46	36	0	4	0	0	0	3	1	12	0	.111
1967	CLE	33	71	9	18	3	0	1	10	2	23	0	.254
1968	CLE	34	87	4	7	1	0	0	3	0	14	0	.080
1969	CLE	38	81	8	19	2	1	2	9	3	22	0	.235
1970	MIN	18	32	7	13	4	0	0	4	1	6	1	.406
1971	BOS	21	19	0	3	1	0	0	1	0	4	0	.158
1972	BOS	43	56	3	6	1	0	0	4	2	18	0	.107
1973	BOS	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1974	BOS	38	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1975	BOS	35	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1976	BOS	38	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
1977	BOS	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1978	BOS	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1979	NYY	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1980	NYY	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1981	PIT	9	16	0	3	2	0	0	4	1	3	0	.188
1982	CAL	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
Career	—	573	513	36	84	14	1	5	44	13	146	1	.164

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1964	CLE	10	4	19	16	1	127.0	94	40	47	105	2.83
1965	CLE	11	11	41	30	1	196.1	166	77	66	152	3.53
1966	CLE	12	11	46	16	8	155.0	121	48	50	145	2.79
1967	CLE	12	9	33	29	2	213.2	177	65	67	219	2.74
1968	CLE	21	9	34	32	0	258.1	152	46	73	264	1.60
1969	CLE	9	20	38	37	0	249.2	229	103	129	156	3.71
1970	MIN	7	3	18	17	0	92.2	84	35	41	50	3.40
1971	BOS	1	7	21	10	0	72.1	73	39	32	59	4.85
1972	BOS	15	6	43	19	3	179.0	128	38	65	123	1.91
1973	BOS	20	13	35	35	0	272.0	217	101	78	206	3.34
1974	BOS	22	13	38	38	0	311.1	281	101	82	176	2.92
1975	BOS	18	14	35	35	0	260.0	262	116	72	142	4.02
1976	BOS	21	12	38	38	0	279.0	274	95	64	131	3.06
1977	BOS	12	8	32	32	0	188.2	210	95	51	124	4.53
1978	BOS	13	8	32	31	0	212.1	185	78	57	114	3.31
1979	NYY	13	8	30	30	0	195.2	190	85	53	104	3.91
1980	NYY	8	9	25	25	0	136.1	139	74	50	84	4.89
1981	PIT	2	5	9	9	0	57.1	54	25	19	32	3.92
1982	CAL	2	2	6	5	0	29.2	39	19	8	30	5.76
Career	—	229	172	573	484	15	3486.1	3075	1280	1104	2416	3.30

On this day & linked events

1940

Born November 23, 1940

Marianao, La Habana, Cuba

2024

Died October 8, 2024

1964

Major-league debut: Luis Tiant

Luis Tiant made a major-league debut on July 19, 1964.

1965

Dave Morehead's No-Hitter

Dave Morehead threw a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox against the Cleveland Indians on September 16, 1965, winning 2–0.

1982

Final major-league game: Luis Tiant

Luis Tiant played a final major-league game on September 4, 1982.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain