RIP to Luis Tiant, One of the Truly Great Characters in the History of Sports

Jerry Thornton10/08/2024 6:10 PM

You hate to ever tell somebody that if they were born to late to have seen some great performer at their peak, they'll never be able to understand how special it was. Because it's introducing a FOMO they can't do anything about. I used to hear that stuff from my older brothers about how I missed out on the 1967 Red Sox. Or older guys I worked with about how you can't appreciate basketball if you never saw the Red Auerbach Celtics during their 8-year championship run. Or aged, formerly smelly hippies telling me that if you didn't live through Woodstock, you have no idea what music is or whatever.

But I'm going to go right ahead and say that about Luis Tiant. If you didn't get to see him pitch, you truly missed out. You can watch all the highlights. And I suggest you do. But seeing him in real time was one of the great joys I've ever had. As a fan of sports or of life. (Though I repeat myself.) He was the very definition of, "If you were there, no explanation is necessary. If you weren't, none will suffice.

It's been a long time since a Baseball Hall of Fame discussion was even remotely fun. Maybe 15 years ago or so they all just degenerated into debates about Pete Rose and PEDs and became more tedious than argument about politics. But when I was still having them and pitcher's name came up, I'd always weigh his numbers against Tiant's. Because he to me represents the greatest injustice of them all. If you want a certain guy to get in, you better show me where his resume is more deserving than El Tiante's:

W: 229, L: 172, .571%, 3.30 ERA, 187 CG, 49 SHO, 3,486.1 INN, 2,415 K, 1,104 BB, 1.199 WHIP, 7.9 H9

That "49" is especially significant:

But even as I lay out that argument, I have to mention I think Cooperstown puts way too much emphasis on the back of the baseball card, and not enough on what players brought to the game. Tiant's best traits were something you can't quantify, but were unmistakable. And made him one of the most compelling athletes I've ever seen. Call it what you will. Style. Flair. Charisma. The sort of thing you can't define, but you know it when you experience it. Even as I'm trying to explain it, I sound like I could be talking about hearing Miles Davis or watching the Rat Pack at Caesar's Palace in the 50s. Trying to describe the indescribable. This should be Show & Tell, and I'm just doing a lot of talking:

I dont't what baseball's Copyright KGB policy is toward 50 year old footage, but let's try this and see how long it stays up:

And just as an insurance policy, these others:

He threw every pitch conceivable. From a fastball with pinpoint location to a slow, looping curve, and everything in between. All delivered from every angle the human arm is capable of. I read an old Roger Angell book back in the day where he tried to describe all of Tiant's motions. The one where he completed turned his back to the hitter and faced centerfield. Another where he ducked down while lifting his landing leg up to his chin like a man ducking through an open window. The one where as he turned, he'd look straight up to the sky. All without sacrificing any of his uncanny control.

This adventure he had around the bases after leading off an inning with an improbable base hit against the Reds in the legendary '75 World Series is the kind of moment we'd make documentaries about today:

You simply cannot fake that level of appeal. Of connecting with the public. Not to mention the fact he was one of the funniest fucking people to ever put on a Major League uniform. I talked to my former WEEI coworker and pal Mikey Adams a week or so ago, and he told a story about Tiant at a Fantasy Camp. He sat down buckass naked on a pile of towels with a giant cigar sticking out of his mouth. And any time one of the campers walked by he'd say, "Let me get you a towel!" reach under his bare ass, pull off the top one he was sitting on, and hand it to them. And proceeded to repeat it for everyone that came through, just to watch their reaction. Multiply that one story by the thousands of teammates, coaches and media who knew him, and you'd get some approximation of what he was like.

On a personal note, I got to live out a boyhood dream a few years ago by meeting Tiant at a private screening of the Farrelly Brothers production, The Lost Son of Havana, documenting his first trip to Cuba after defecting as a young man:

It was the first time Tiant or his family had seen the finished product. And it seemed like a difficult, emotional experience for him. As you'd imagine if you were watching a documentary about your life starring you. But still he was friendly and gracious to a blogger from a rapidly growing sports/humor website who was probably fanboying him because he couldn't help himself.

My advice to any of you who never got to see Tiant live is to spend some time over the next few days looking at his highlights. It will be time well spent. His kind will not pass this way again.