Boston Red Sox pitching great Luis Tiant, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League ERA leader, has died at age 83.
Major League Baseball announced the right-hander’s passing in a post on X, saying it was “deeply saddened” by his death.
Tiant won 229 games with six teams over 19 seasons in the majors (1964-82), striking out 2,416 batters and retiring with a 3.30 ERA in 573 appearances (484 starts).
The Cuban-born Tiant made his first All-Star team and captured his first ERA title (1.60) as a 21-game winner with the then-Cleveland Indians in 1968.
Traded to the Minnesota Twins after a 20-loss season in 1969, Tiant revived his career after signing with Boston as a free agent in May 1971.
Over eight seasons with the Red Sox, he went 122-81 with a 3.36 ERA while winning another ERA title in 1972 (1.91) and earning All-Star nods in 1974 and 1976. He recorded at least 20 wins with Boston in three seasons (1973, 1974 and 1976) and was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Luis Tiant,” the Red Sox wrote on X. “Anyone who met him, on or off the mound, knew he was a true force. A fixture of Fenway and Fort Myers well beyond his playing days, El Tiante was family.
“We send our love to his wife, Maria, their children, and grandchildren.”
Tiant pitched for Cleveland (1964-69), Minnesota (1970), Boston (1971-78), the New York Yankees (1979-80), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1981) and the California Angels (1982).
He won two of his three starts against Cincinnati during his lone World Series appearance in 1975, with the Reds beating Boston in seven games.
His teammate on that Red Sox squad, Fred Lynn, remembered Tiant on Tuesday.
“Today is a very sad day. My friend and teammate, Luis Tiant, passed away,” Lynn posted to X. “A Big game pitcher, a funny genuine guy who loved his family and baseball. I miss him already….RIP my friend.”
