July 19, 1964 - Luis Tiant, a 23-year-old Cuban refugee with a strong facial resemblance to Don Newcombe and a right arm to match, today made the sort of major league debut that little boys dream about, even in Havana.
Before a crowd of 30,061 at Yankee Stadium, Tiant shut out the celebrated New York Yankees on their home grounds. He struck out 11 men, permitted four singles, and pitched the Cleveland Indians to a 3-0 victory after the Yanks had won the first game of a doubleheader, 6-2.
Tiant’s shutout of the Yankees dropped them to third place, 1½ games behind the Orioles, who beat the Tigers, 5-4.
Less than 48 hours before, Tiant had been busy compiling a sensational record for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. There he won 15 games, lost only one, and struck out 154 batters in 135 innings.
Eight months before that, however, Tiant was not so much in demand. He could have been drafted by any other major league club for $25,000 last December, but no one was interested, even though he already had compiled a 7-0 record in a winter league in Venezuela. He remained, therefore, the property of the Indians.
Tiant’s father, also named Luis, used to pitch in New York for the Cuban Stars, when major league baseball still practiced segregation. Young Luis grew up in Havana and became a professional player in 1959 in Mexico City. His parents still live in Havana, but the son and his family cannot go back.
Would his father hear of Luis’s achievement?
“Maybe,” replied Luis with the aid of an interpreter — Joe Azcue, his catcher in today’s game. “Sometimes there is some wire service report on the Cuban boys here, and sometimes they may hear the Voice of America.”
To make his first big-league experience even more memorable, Tiant had the honor of out-pitching Whitey Ford. The distinguished left-handed Yankee pitching coach was not at his best, but certainly good enough to win against a lesser mound opponent.
Against Tiant, however, the run Whitey forced across by walking three men in the first inning was enough to spell defeat. Two singles and an infield out made it 2-0 in the fourth, and Leon Wagner smashed his 23rd homer into the upper deck in right in the fifth. After that inning, Ford retired.
That left the spotlight on Tiant, who showed as powerful a fastball and as much poise and control as Newcombe, the Brooklyn Dodger star of a decade ago. Occasionally, Tiant threw sidearm, and he did well with a slider, but the fastball was the key pitch.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments