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Luis Clemente Tiant
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: November 23, 1940, Marianao, Cuba
Acquired: Purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the Mexico City Tigers before 1962 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1964-1969; Minnesota Twins 1970; Boston Red Sox 1971-1978; New York Yankees 1979-1980; Pittsburgh Pirates 1981; California Angels 1982
Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant, affectionately nicknamed El Tiante, pitched in 19 big league seasons primarily with the Indians and Red Sox. He was a three-time All-Star and won his league's ERA title twice, in 1968 with a 1.60 mark and in 1972 with a 1.91 mark. 1968 was perhaps his finest season, as he went 21-9 for the Indians, pitching 19 complete games and leading the league with nine shutouts. He'd fall back to Earth and suffer a 20-loss season in 1969. After a few rough seasons, Tiant had a career resurgence with the Red Sox in the 1970s, winning at least 20 games for the club in three different seasons. He started three games for Boston in the 1975 World Series against the Reds, going 2-0 with two complete games and a shutout, but the Reds ultimately won the Series in seven games. Tiant wrapped up his Major League career with the Angels in 1982, but he'd go on to pitch a few more seasons in Mexico and then again in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989.
Tiant's career record was 229-172 over 573 games with a 3.30 ERA, 187 complete games, 49 shutouts and 2,416 strikeouts. His strikeout total is currently 48th on the all-time leaders list, while his shutouts rank 21st all-time. Tiant was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum in 2002 and the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.
Building the Set
May 27, 2021 from Seekonk, MA - Card #288
This was the elusive final card needed to complete our set's second series, and for some reason one of the more difficult cards I've tracked down to date. The card arrived on the Thursday before Memorial Day from eBay seller bowye-thoma from Seekonk, Massachusetts.
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| May 31, 2021 - Walking the local trail |
May 27, 2021 from Seekonk, MA - Card #288
This was the elusive final card needed to complete our set's second series, and for some reason one of the more difficult cards I've tracked down to date. The card arrived on the Thursday before Memorial Day from eBay seller bowye-thoma from Seekonk, Massachusetts.
We had a relatively busy month of May, as we slowly re-integrated back into post-vaccination life, with Phillies games, Doug's baseball games, Ben's tennis and virtual piano lessons filling our calendars. In early May, I started returning to my office in Philadelphia once a week after working 15 months from home in my basement. Center City is quieter and emptier, with most of my usual lunch destinations now closed, but I enjoyed the weekly commute and the change of scenery. We had a quiet Memorial Day weekend at home, with Jenna and I taking advantage of the mild weather to take daily walks and occasionally spot wildlife on the way.
I also took advantage of a 15% Memorial Day Weekend sale hosted by one of my favorite dealers, The Battersbox, from Tomball, Texas. With the second series now complete, I spent an enjoyable hour or so over the weekend picking 20 commons from the third series to add to our set and I'll feature those cards in the next 20 posts.
The Card / Indians Team Set
Given his 19 games pitched in 1964, I'm surprised Topps didn't squeeze Tiant onto a late series Rookie Stars card in the 1964 Topps set. They didn't, and as a result, this is Tiant's rookie card. The back of the card highlights Tiant's Topps Minor League Player of the Year honors. This was a relatively new award bestowed by Topps beginning in 1960, and Wikipedia has a semi-complete list of the honorees between 1960 and 2013, when the company apparently stopped giving out the award. A card within the 1972 Topps set features the award and its recipients between 1960 and 1971.
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| 1972 Topps #624 |
Given his 19 games pitched in 1964, I'm surprised Topps didn't squeeze Tiant onto a late series Rookie Stars card in the 1964 Topps set. They didn't, and as a result, this is Tiant's rookie card. The back of the card highlights Tiant's Topps Minor League Player of the Year honors. This was a relatively new award bestowed by Topps beginning in 1960, and Wikipedia has a semi-complete list of the honorees between 1960 and 2013, when the company apparently stopped giving out the award. A card within the 1972 Topps set features the award and its recipients between 1960 and 1971.
The back of this card also mentions Tiant's first big league start and his MLB debut on July 19, 1964 against the Yankees. Tiant threw a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits and striking out 11. Tony Kubek (#65) and Clete Boyer (#475) both struck out three times a piece with Roger Maris (#155) and Joe Pepitone (#245) both striking out twice. Mickey Mantle (#350) wasn't in the line-up.
Tiant signed a reprinted version of this card for inclusion in the 2001 Topps Team Topps Legends Autographs set, and the card was also reprinted for the 2001 Topps Archives sets. A few years later, another reprinted version appeared in the 2003 Topps Shoebox Collection set. Tiant is in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set, but he's not in the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set.
1965 Season
In his first full season in the majors, Tiant appeared in 41 games for the Indians, making 30 starts and going 11-11 with a 3.53 ERA. He threw 196 1/3 innings, which was second on the team behind Sam McDowell (#76) and his 273 innings pitched. Tiant's SABR biography notes he suffered from a sore pitching arm throughout the season, and he reported to spring training in 1966 20 pounds lighter on the advice of his father. Tiant's father, also Luis Tiant, pitched in the Negro Leagues between 1930 and 1947 and was himself a three-time All-Star.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #145
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1965-1971, 1973-1983
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter A Debut to Remember #DTR-29
361 - Tiant non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/19/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1965 Season
In his first full season in the majors, Tiant appeared in 41 games for the Indians, making 30 starts and going 11-11 with a 3.53 ERA. He threw 196 1/3 innings, which was second on the team behind Sam McDowell (#76) and his 273 innings pitched. Tiant's SABR biography notes he suffered from a sore pitching arm throughout the season, and he reported to spring training in 1966 20 pounds lighter on the advice of his father. Tiant's father, also Luis Tiant, pitched in the Negro Leagues between 1930 and 1947 and was himself a three-time All-Star.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #145
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1965-1971, 1973-1983
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter A Debut to Remember #DTR-29
361 - Tiant non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/19/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #144 Ed Kranepool - New York Mets
Previous Card: #144 Ed Kranepool - New York Mets
Next Card: #146 Ron Hansen - Chicago White Sox
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