Yankees and the Hall of Fame: Luis Tiant
- James Vlietstra
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
by James Vlietstra
***
Over the next many months, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees.
With all that being said, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees. Together, we can discuss if we believe that they are deserving of being included in the Hall Of Fame or not. I hope you read along and give me your opinions over the next several weeks.
Note - Some people currently in the Hall Of Fame are not specifically in for their merits as a player alone. For instance, Joe Torre didn't get in until after his success as a manager. Phil Rizzuto made it after a career as an announcer. Overall, their careers were definitely deserving. Similarly, Bill Mazeroski was generally considered a light hitting middle infielder, however, one iconic moment got him enshrined. I am including some of these type players too for us to discuss.
Today we are going to be discussing:
Luis Tiant
Played for six teams during his 19 year career, two with the Yankees.
His 66.1 WAR ranks 44th among pitchers and is higher than Roy Halladay and Bob Feller.
He had six seasons of 5.0+.
His 1.60 ERA in 1968 was the lowest in the AL in 49 years.
He was a three time all star.
He won 20+ games four times and his career total of 229 ranks 67th all time.
He had eight seasons of 200+ IP.
His 3,486 IP ranks 74 and his 2,416 strikeouts is 49th.
He is in the Venezuelan and Red Sox Hall Of Fame.
He was on the ballot from 1988-2002, receiving as much as 30.9% of the vote.
He was on the Veterans Committee ballot four additional times, failing to earn entry each time.
El Tiante is a YES!
Few players played with as much joy as Luis Tiant. If you never got to see him pitch, you were cheated.
In last night's game v. Marlins' starting pitcher Max Meyer the announcers made a huge deal about Meyer darting his eyes away from the plate toward 3b as he started his pitching motion, taking his eyes momentarily off the catcher's glove/pitching target. Tiant made that look like child's play. His most typical pitching motion (he had several) was to pivot as he started his delivery - clockwise on the rubber - so that his back was completely turned to home plate, simultaneously taking his eyes OFF the catcher's target. As his arm started forwar…
Finally, someone who I agree should be in the HoF. Of the six pitchers immediately behind him in career bWAR, all are in the Hall. Of the six pitcher immediately ahead of him in career bWAR, all are in the Hall. I just wish it could have happened while he was alive. Can you imagine his induction speech?