Tiant didn't join the Red Sox until mid-career, but he became one of the most popular players in club history. A balding, overweight starter whose age was often estimated at several years higher that its "official" listing, Tiant spoke with a thick Cuban accent and would smoke cigars anywhere, including the clubhouse whirlpool and shower. He was a renowned locker-room prankster, but was serious on the mound, winning 20 games three times for Boston. He baffled hitters with a rocking, twisting windup and an assortment of release points that ranged from over-the-top to nearly underhand. Or as announcer Curt Gowdy noted, "He comes everywhere except between his legs."

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Tiant's father, Luis Tiant, Sr., was one of Cuba's greatest pitchers; former All-Star Bobby Avila signed the younger Luis to his first contract, for the 1959 Mexican League season. He set a Pacific Coast League record with a .938 winning percentage (15-1) in 1964 before joining the Indians in mid-season, and broke in with a four-hit shutout against the Yankees in his first major league start. He went 10-4 with a 2.83 ERA as a rookie in 1964, and in 1966 he pitched four consecutive shutouts. Tiant really broke through in 1968 after he altered his delivery so that he turned away from the plate during his motion, in effect creating a hesitation pitch. He led the American League with a 1.60 ERA, 9 shutouts, and 5.3 hits per nine innings while striking out more than a batter an inning, and finished 21-9. That July 3 he struck out 19 Twins in a ten-inning game, setting an American League record for games of that length. In his previous start he'd fanned 13 Red Sox, giving him a major league record 32 strikeouts in consecutive starts.

The Indians were overly protective of their newly hot property and ordered Tiant to skip his usual winter ball. The strategy backfired when he led the AL with 20 losses (while winning 9) and 129 walks in 1969. After the season Cleveland traded him with Stan Williams to the Twins for Graig Nettles, former Cy Young winner Dean Chance, Bob Miller, and Ted Uhlaender. Tiant started the 1970 season with six straight wins, but suffered a hairline fracture in his shoulder, missed June and July, and wasn't the same when he came back. Minnesota released him at the end of spring training in 1971, and he signed with the Braves minor league Richmond club. He was cut a month later and rejoined Boston's Louisville farm team. He made it back to the majors late that year, but went only 1-7.

Tiant was the Comeback Player of the Year in 1972 for a contending Boston Red Sox team. He captured his second ERA title with a 1.91 mark and was 15-6. He followed his 20-13 mark in 1973 by going 22-13 in 1974, with an AL-leading seven shutouts. After helping the Red Sox to the AL pennant in 1975 with an 18-14 mark (4.02 ERA) he got real national attention for the first time during postseason play. He beat the three-time World Champion A's in the ALCS opener with a three-hitter, giving up only one unearned run, and followed with a five-hit shutout of the Reds to open the World Series. He also won Game Four, 5-4. Tiant got a hit in each game after batting once all season, and his adventuresome trips from base to base (he scored each time) while bundled in a warm-up jacket provided comic relief in an otherwise tense series. His accent ("Ees great to be weeth a weiner") and his eccentric cigar puffing made him an immediate media favorite. He was rocked in Game Six, but left long before Carlton Fisk's 12th-inning homer ended what has been called the greatest game ever played.

Tiant won 20 for the last time in 1976 (21-12), but he was no longer the overpowering pitcher he once had been. For several years he had increasingly relied on deception, with masterful changes of speed to go with his wide variety of pitching motions. He pitched less, but he kept winning, going 12-8 and 13-8 in his last two years with the Red Sox. He signed with the Yankees as a free agent before the 1979 season and went 13-8, but was ineffective thereafter. (SH)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 19, 1964: Luis Tiant debuts with a 4-hit, 11 strikeout, 3–0 win for Cleveland at Yankee Stadium. The losing pitcher is Whitey Ford. Tiant was brought up yesterday after a 15–1 record at Portland (AAA). » September 30, 1964: In a rarity at Fenway, the Indians shut out the Red Sox in a doubleheader winning 5–0 and 3–0. Rookie Luis Tiant and Sam McDowell go the distance in applying the whitewash. » May 3, 1966: Cleveland regains first place when Luis Tiant (3–0) hurls his 3rd straight shutout and blanks the Yanks 1–0. » May 8, 1966: Orioles RF Frank Robinson hits the first ball ever hit completely out of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, a 451-foot shot, ending Luis Tiant's scoreless-innings streak at 27. Baltimore wins 8–3 and ties Cleveland for first place. » August 22, 1967: Indian pitcher Luis Tiant has 16 strikeouts in a 3–2 win over California. » September 26, 1967: Cleveland's Luis Tiant beats the Red Sox 6–3 despite Yaz's 43rd home run of the season. The Twins top the Angels 7–3 behind two monster home runs by Harmon Killebrew, his 42nd and 43rd of the season. Mickey Lolich blanks the Yanks, 1–0, for Detroit to tighten the pennant race. The Twins (91–68) lead with Chicago (89–68) and the idle Red Sox (90–69) a game back, and Detroit (89–69) one 1/2 back. » May 12, 1968: The Indians Luis Tiant shuts out Baltimore, 2–0, for his 4th straight shutout, a club record. Luis stopped Washington, 2–0, April 28; 2–0 vs. Minnesota, May 4; 8–0 vs. New York on May 7. » June 23, 1968: Cleveland's Luis Tiant tosses his 5th shutout in six games, topping the Tigers, 3–0 on nine strikeouts. » June 29, 1968: The Red Sox finally score on Luis Tiant, but Cleveland tops Boston 8–1. Tiant strikes out 13 in the win. » July 3, 1968: Luis Tiant registers 19 K's in 10 innings, as Cleveland beats Minnesota 1–0. Tiant sets two modern ML records—most strikeouts in a 10-inning game; 32 strikeouts in consecutive games—and ties the modern major-league record of 41 strikeouts in three successive appearances. He will top the American League in ERA with 1.60. » July 9, 1968: Appropriately, pitching dominates the All-Star Game. Willie Mays, playing in place of injured Pete Rose, tallies an unearned run in the first inning against American League starter Luis Tiant to complete the scoring for the day—the first All-Star effort to end 1–0. Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ron Reed, and Jerry Koosman hold the AL to three hits. » September 25, 1968: In Mantle's last appearance at Yankee Stadium, he slices a two-out first inning single off Cleveland's Luis Tiant, the only hit for the Yankees. Tiant tosses his 9th shutout of the year, tops in the AL, to win, 3–0. El Tiante's ERA drops to 1.60; the previous low for an Indian pitcher was Stan Coveleski's 1.87 in 1917. » December 12, 1969: Cleveland trades pitchers Luis Tiant and Stan Williams to the Twins for 3B Graig Nettles, OF Ted Uhlaender, and pitchers Dean Chance and Bob Miller. Tiant led the American League in ERA (1.60 and shutouts while going 21–9; next year he'll reverse that to 9–20. » May 17, 1971: The Red Sox sign P Luis Tiant, who had been released by the Twins and Braves during the preceding five weeks, and assign him to Louisville. He will put together three 20-win seasons for the Red Sox in five years. » June 4, 1971: The Red Sox recall P Luis Tiant from Louisville. » August 2, 1971: Bill Lee pitches tremendous relief, allowing just two hits in eight 1/3 innings, and the 2nd-place Red Sox come back to beat the American League East first place Orioles, 7–4. The Birds get all their runs off Luis Tiant in the 1st. » June 21, 1972: Rico Petrocelli and Carl Yastrzemski lead the Red Sox to 11-inning, 10–9 win over Texas. Yaz collects five hits and score four times, while Rico drives in six runs, four with a grand slam. Frank Howard is 4-for-4 for Texas. Luis Tiant wins with an inning of shutout relief. » August 29, 1972: At Fenway, Luis Tiant pitches his 3rd straight shutout, beat the White Sox, 3–0. Reggie Smith hits two run scoring doubles off starter Tom Bradley for Boston. » September 4, 1972: Luis Tiant (10–4) pitches his 4th straight shutout, beating the Brewers, 2–0, in the opener. Yaz's 2-run home run accounts for the scoring. The Red Sox lose the nitecap, 6–2, as four former Hubmen do the damage. O'Brien and Lahoud homer, Boomer Scott has three hits and Brett is the winner. » October 3, 1972: The Tigers clinch the AL East as Woodie Fryman beats Luis Tiant 3–1 for his 10th win. Chuck Seelbach picks up his 14th save and Al Kaline singles in the winning run for Detroit. Tiant hits a single in the game; not until Roger Clemens singles in 1996 will another Sox pitcher get a hit in the same game he pitches. Fryman also singles, off Tiant; not till interleague play in 1997 will another Tiger pitcher get a base hit. » April 6, 1973: At Fenway Park, the first ball is thrown out by Ed Folger, a Red Sox farm hand who had his legs amputated last September following a farm accident. Then Yankee Ron Blomberg, facing Boston's Luis Tiant, becomes the first official DH in the ML. Blomberg walks with the bases loaded and winds up 1-for-3 in the 15–5 loss to the Red Sox. Sox DH Orlando Cepeda goes 0-for-6, but Carlton Fisk strokes two homers, one a grand slam, in the 20-hit Boston assault. Doug Griffith has four hits for Boston, which overcomes a 3–0 by scoring eight runs to chase Stottlemyre by the 3rd inning. The Yanks have eight hits off Tiant, five by the Alou brothers—Matty and Felipe. » August 8, 1973: Boston DH Orlando Cepeda ties the major-league record with four doubles in a 9–4 triumph over Kansas City. Luis Tiant is the winning pitcher. » June 14, 1974: Nolan Ryan strikes out 19 Red Sox in 13 innings, including Cecil Cooper six times in a row. In an unusual double-double, he also walks 10 batters for the 2nd time this year. The Angels finally win in 15 innings 4–3, with the win going to Barry Raziano over Luis Tiant. » August 22, 1974: Before a crowd of 35,866, the largest in 18 years at Fenway, the Red Sox turn back the A's. 3–0. Luis Tiant wins his 20th for Boston this year. Boston (70-54) now leads the American League by seven games. » September 2, 1974: Boston pitchers Luis Tiant and Bill Lee each allow just one run in a Labor Day doubleheader, yet both lose games to Baltimore. Ross Grimsley and Mike Cuellar toss twin 1–0 shutouts. » June 6, 1975: Luis Tiant wins his 100th game as a Red Sox, defeating Kansas City, 1–0. Boston's other 100+ winners include Cy Young (193), Mel Parnell (123), Joe Wood (112), Joe Dobson (106), and Lefty Grove (105) (Roger Clemens will join the group with 192). Carl Yastrzemski walks in the game, his 1,452nd, tying him for 10th on the all time list with Jimmie Foxx. » July 12, 1975: in a 10–4 loss to Texas, Luis Tiant hits and flies out. He is the 1st Boston pitcher to hit since DH was put into effect. » September 16, 1975: At Fenway, Luis Tiant shuts out the Orioles, 2–0 for the Red Sox. It's the Senor's 1st shutout of the year after leading the American League in 1974. » September 26, 1975: Luis Tiant and Reggie Cleveland toss 4–0 shutouts at Indians in both ends of doubleheader. This is the first back to back Red Sox shutouts since 1956 and the 2nd in 42 years. Aase and Cleveland will repeat the twinbill shutout on Sept. 5, 1977 beating the Blue Jays at Toronto, 8–0 and 6–0. » October 4, 1975: The Reds Don Gullett hurls a complete game, and contributes a home run, a single, and three RBI to lead his team to an 8–3 win over Pittsburgh in the opening game of the NL Championship Series. Boston, behind Luis Tiant's 3-hitter, beats Oakland 7–1 in the AL opener. » October 11, 1975: Boston's Luis Tiant shuts down the Big Red Machine and scores the first run as the Red Sox win the opening game of the 1975 World Series 6–0. The Sox score all their runs in the 7th. » October 15, 1975: At Riverfront Stadium, Luis Tiant throws 163 pitches in winning his 2nd game 5–4, and evening the Series at two games apiece. » January 27, 1977: Boston sports writers honor Luis Tiant as the Red Sox most valuable pitcher. This is the fifth year in a row that El Tiante has won this honor, a record for the award begun in 1952. » June 12, 1977: The Red Sox sweep their first doubleheader in two years, beating Texas 3–2 and 2–0, behind Reggie Cleveland and Luis Tiant. The two were the winners of the last twinbill sweep, on September 26, 1975, when Boston clinched a tie for the Eastern title. » June 21, 1977: Behind Luis Tiant's 2-hitter, the Red Sox pummel the O's, 7–0. Jim Rice and George Scott bang homers. The Sox also sign Tommy Helms, released by the Pirates, and waive Doug Griffin. » June 25, 1977: Mike Torrez outduels Luis Tiant to give the Yankees a 5–1 win over the Red Sox. Greg Nettles 3-run homer is the big blow. New York now trails the Sox by three games. » August 16, 1978: Boston's Luis Tiant wins his 200th ML game, beating Nolan Ryan and the Angels, 4–2. Jim Rice's 2-run home run is the difference. » September 15, 1978: The Yankees, now one 1/2 games in front of Boston, open a 3-game series in the Bronx with the Red Sox. Guidry again gives up two Boston hits and wins a 4–0 shutout. Chris Chambliss and Graig Nettles hit successive homers, off Luis Tiant, in the 4-run 4th inning. » September 27, 1978: At Fenway, Carlton Fisk lines a 2-run triple in the first inning and the Red Sox top the Tigers, 5–2. George Scott hits his 1st homer in a month and collects his 1000th RBI to back Luis Tiant's win (his 203rd). New York maintains its lead by beating the Blue Jays, 5–1, at Yankee Stadium. » October 1, 1978: With the Yankees a game ahead and one to play, Cleveland's Rick Waits stops New York on five hits to win 9–2. Meanwhile, Boston takes their finale, their 8th in a row, on Luis Tiant's 5–0 shutout of the Blue Jays. Boston has two unearned runs in the 5th, a two-run homer by Rick Burleson in the 7th, and Jim Rice's 46th homer in the 8th for their scoring. Both teams end the season with identical 99–63 records, with a one-game playoff to determine the divisional champ. » November 13, 1978: Luis Tiant, formerly of the Red Sox, becomes the first to sign with a new club following the reentry draft. The 38+-year-old pitching star joins the Yankees, and will go 13–8 next year. » August 15, 1997: The Orioles and Mariners split a day-night twinbill, the O's taking the opener, 4–3 and the M's the nitecap, 8–3. Randy Johnson drops the first game, despite striking out 13 batters; he has now struck out 32 in two games to tie Luis Tiant (1968), Nolan Ryan (1974) and Dwight Gooden (1984). » May 13, 2001: Diamondbacks P Randy Johnson strikes out 12 to match Luis Tiant's mark of 32 K's in two straight games. The major league record is 33, by Kerry Wood. It's Big Unit's 6th game in a row with 10+ strikeouts. Arizona beats the Phillies, 6–1.