Luis Tiant, the beloved Boston Red Sox pitcher who also spent one season with the Twins in 1970, died on Tuesday, according to various news reports on his passing. He was 83.
The Boston Red Sox announced his death, but did not cite a cause for it, the New York Times reported.
Tiant, famous for a pitching windup that practically had him looking at second base before he threw home, won 229 games over 19 seasons. His pitching career got off to a promising start with the Cleveland Indians — he won 21 games for the Tribe in 1968 — and then he promptly lost 20 games the following season.
The Twins, perhaps sensing a now-or-never moment, then sent four players, including future Yankee third baseman Graig Nettles, to Cleveland to get Tiant and reliever Stan Williams.
“He won his first six decisions in 1970, but an injury to his shoulder — eventually diagnosed as a broken scapula — undermined his season, and the Twins, believing he was finished at age 30, released him before the beginning of the 1971 season,” the Times reported.
Tiant later pitched well for a Red Sox minor league team and he was eventually promoted again to the big leagues.
Boston media initially had their reservations about Tiant, according to a June 1971 story in the Boston Globe.
“The latest investment by the Red Sox in Luis Tiant looked about as sound as taking a bagful of money and throwing it off Pier 4 into the Atlantic,” sportswriter Cliff Keane reported on June 12.
“Luis couldn’t wait to get to the mound against the Royals. He raced out onto the field. . . But when he left with nobody out in the second inning, he was much more deliberated in his pace. Luis was responsible for five runs as the Sox lost, 6-3 to the Royals. It was their fourth straight loss to the team that used to be a soft touch.”
Tiant was 1-7 in 1971, but the next season he won 15 games, followed by four straight seasons in which he won 18 or more games. He was 22-13 in 1974 with a 2.92 ERA. He tossed 311 innings, including 25 complete games and seven shutouts, and finished fourth in the AL Cy Young vote that season.
Extra innings…
-The Twins are saying goodbye to Bally Sports and hello to TV and streaming services provided by Major League Baseball, MLB.com reported Tuesday.
“Today is a good day,” Twins president and CEO Dave St. Peter told MLB.com “It’s an exciting day for the organization, but more importantly, for our fans and for our partners. We’re going to be joining the Major League Baseball platform in 2025. That will significantly expand the reach of Twins baseball across Twins Territory. It will eliminate all blackouts.”
This is a quick turnaround for the Twins after Bally’s bankrupt parent company, Diamond Sports Group, had previously announced plans to drop the Twins and several other teams as part of its reorganization plan.
The only question I have is: Does this significantly change the TV revenue situation for the Twins?
Maybe not, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
“By all accounts, the revenue generated from (the MLB) model is lower than what the clubs were previously receiving from the cable model, as the latter led to a passive stream of revenue from fans who signed up for cable packages but didn’t watch much or any baseball.
“The direct-to-consumer model cuts out the middleman but is dependent on active fan interest.”
Sources: New York Times, Baseball-Reference.com, Boston Globe, MLB.com, MLB Trade Rumors.