Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
If Jim “Catfish” Hunter is a Hall of Famer, then former Boston Red Sox ace Luis Tiant should be a shoo-in. But for whatever reason, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) has ignored the latter’s legendary career to date. Tiant’s numbers, believe it or not, are actually slightly better than Hunter’s. And aren’t statistics precisely what it’s all about in assessing baseball careers?
With an almost identical number of innings pitched, Tiant has a handful more wins (229 to 224) and shutouts (49 to 42) than Hunter, and over 400 more strikeouts. Tiant also struck out one more batter per nine innings than his adversary from the A.L. West. The two have an almost identical career ERA and winning percentage. The biggest difference in the stat lines of Tiant and Hunter is Hunter’s susceptibility to give up the gopher ball. His 374 home runs allowed ranks 19th most all-time.
Tiant was a four-time 20-game winner, including his 1968 campaign of 21-9 with an incredible 1.60 ERA, the fourth lowest of any pitcher in the Live Ball Era with at least 200 innings pitched (Bob Gibson, 1.12 in 1968, Dwight Gooden, 1.53 in 1985, and Greg Maddux, 1.56 in 1994). Tiant also put together a string of four consecutive shutouts that year, one of only five pitchers to accomplish the feat since 1950. “El Tiante” would go on to pitch five seasons in his career with five or more shutouts. Only three pitchers since 1920 have bettered that mark—Hall of Famers Tom Seaver (7), Bert Blyleven (6), and Jim Palmer (6).
Tiant led the league in ERA twice, shutouts three times, WHIP once, fewest hits per nine innings once, and most strikeouts per nine innings once. He’s one of only nine pitchers since 1921 to win 200 games, pitch 150 complete games, and allow fewer than eight hits per nine innings. And you guessed it; the other eight pitchers have all been elected to the Hall of Fame (Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Palmer, Hunter, Gibson, Whitey Ford, and Bob Feller).
It’s extremely difficult to pinpoint where exactly the BBWAA found fault in Tiant’s résumé, especially considering the fact that they were so good to Hunter. In a multitude of postseason innings, Hunter went 9-6 with a 3.26 ERA (identical to his regular season ERA). Tiant had far fewer postseason opportunities in his career, but still managed to prove his big-game worth, with a 3-0 playoff record and a 2.86 ERA (0.54 points lower than his regular season mark).
Luis Tiant belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and 2013 could be his year. The Veterans Committee will release their ballot this fall, and Tiant is expected to be on it. He’ll need the support of 75 percent of the voting body—made up of eight Hall of Famers, four baseball executives, and four members of the media—in order to punch his ticket to Cooperstown. Best of luck!
(JM Catellier is the author of the book Fixing Baseball, a guide to restructuring the Hall of Fame. Follow him on Twitter: @FixingBaseball and Facebook, and check out his site: www.fixingbaseball.com)
