Luis Tiant, charismatic Cuban pitcher with mesmerizing windup, dies at 83

Luis Tiant, the charismatic Cuban with a horseshoe mustache and mesmerizing windup who pitched the Boston Red Sox to the brink of a World Series championship and himself to the doorstep of the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 83.

Major League Baseball announced his death Tuesday on social media, and the Red Sox confirmed that he died at his home in Maine.

“Today is a very sad day,” Fred Lynn, a teammate in both Boston and California, posted on social media. “A Big game pitcher, a funny genuine guy who loved his family and baseball. I miss him already.”

With a swaggering style and an iconic wiggling windup that froze batters in the box, “El Tiante” was a three-time All-Star and four-time 20-game winner whose greatest season came with Cleveland in 1968, when he went 21-9 with 19 complete games and nine shutouts — four of them in a row. His 1.60 ERA was the best in the AL in half a century and he finished fifth in AL most valuable player voting; 31-game winner Denny McLain won it, as well as the league’s Cy Young Award.

Those performances, along with Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA in the NL, earned 1968 the nickname “Year of the Pitcher” and helped persuade baseball to lower the pitching mound to give batters more of a chance. No matter, Tiant again won the AL ERA title with a 1.91 mark in 1972 for the Red Sox (and lost the Cy Young to Gaylord Perry’s 1.92 ERA and 24 wins).

Red Sox pitcher pitcher Luis Tiant delivers a pitch against the Orioles at Fenway Park in 1974.

(Anonymous / Associated Press)

“Luis embodied everything we love about this game: resilience, passion, and an undeniable sense of belonging to something greater than himself,” Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said. “But what made Luis unforgettable was his vibrant personality. He was a gifted storyteller, always sharing tales filled with humor, honesty, and an enduring loyalty to his teammates. All of us are deeply saddened by his passing. We lost one of the great ones today.”

The son of a Negro Leagues star, Tiant was 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA and 2,416 strikeouts. He had 187 complete games and 47 shutouts in a 19-year career spent mostly with Cleveland and Boston.

His death comes one week after that of hits leader Pete Rose, whose Cincinnati Reds faced Tiant’s Red Sox in the 1975 World Series — still considered one of the greatest matchups in baseball history.

Tiant shut out the Reds in Game 1, threw 155 pitches in another complete-game victory in Game 4 and was back on the mound for eight innings in Game 6, which Boston won on Carlton Fisk’s home run in the bottom of the 12th. The ’75 Series, which Cincinnati won in seven games, is often cited as the greatest of all time.

It was also a national coming-out party for Tiant’s distinctive delivery, in which he would wiggle his hands as he came to the set position, then turn his back to the batter before throwing. The motion would be imitated by generations of children in New England and across the country, but Tiant was unmatched.

“Luis had the kind of unforgettable presence that made you feel like you were part of his world,” Red Sox owner John Henry said. “He channeled everything into his love for the game and the people around him. He was magnetic and had a smile that could light up Fenway Park.”

After he retired in 1982, Tiant worked as a minor league coach for the Dodgers and Chicago White Sox and was the pitching coach for Nicaragua at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He remained active with the Red Sox in spring training and was visible around Fenway Park, often signing autographs before the game at the ballpark’s El Tiante Cuban sandwich stand.

After his retirement, Tiant was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame but never made the national shrine in Cooperstown, N.Y., receiving a high of 30.9% of the votes in 1988, his first year on the ballot. He also was considered and rejected by veterans committees three times.

“Tough day to hear of Luis Tiant passing away. A former player we loved coming into the clubhouse,” former Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis tweeted. “Always joking around with that infectious laugh and saying ‘Man you a sick puppy!’ Forever grateful for the time shared with a legend. May his memory be a blessing!”