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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 1964-69; Minnesota Twins 1970; Boston Red Sox 1971-78; New York Yankees 1979-80; Pittsburgh Pirates 1981; California Angels 1982
World Series Appearances: Boston Red Sox 1975
Died: October 8, 2024, Wells, ME (age 83)
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 years, 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.
Died: October 8, 2024, Wells, ME (age 83)
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 years, 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 49th 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.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #578
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)
The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Coming off his career year in 1968, Tiant was 9-20 with a 3.71 ERA in 38 games for the Indians, exceeding 200 innings pitched for the third season in a row. The Al Dark-managed (#91) club finished in last place in the American League East with a 62-99 record. On December 10th, the Indians traded the popular Tiant with Stan Williams (#118) to the Twins for Dean Chance (#620), Bob Miller (#403), Graig Nettles (#99) and Ted Uhlaender (#194).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #145
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1965-71, 1973-83
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2024 Topps Living
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 392 in the Beckett online database as of 10/12/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.
I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set. It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop. This was the 19th of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the 19th of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost a little over $4 after the dealer discount.
The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This has always seemed like an iconic card from the 1969 Topps set, and the odd cropping is needed in order for the photo to work well with the set's design. The photo would have been taken in early 1969 as Tiant is showing off the MLB patch all teams wore during the season to celebrate the league's centennial. Just a few of his accolades from 1968 are shown on the back - his nine shutouts and the 19 batters he struck out on July 3, 1968.
Accuracy Index: Tiant's card definitely earns its +5 rating.
Inserts: Tiant is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set. He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.
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1969 Season
Coming off his career year in 1968, Tiant was 9-20 with a 3.71 ERA in 38 games for the Indians, exceeding 200 innings pitched for the third season in a row. The Al Dark-managed (#91) club finished in last place in the American League East with a 62-99 record. On December 10th, the Indians traded the popular Tiant with Stan Williams (#118) to the Twins for Dean Chance (#620), Bob Miller (#403), Graig Nettles (#99) and Ted Uhlaender (#194).
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #145
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1965-71, 1973-83
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2024 Topps Living
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 392 in the Beckett online database as of 10/12/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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