Examining the Hall of Fame case for Boston Red Sox legend Luis Tiant

Boston Red Sox legend Luis Tiant is one of a few starting pitchers that have been overlooked for the Baseball Hall of Fame in recent years.

But, unlike some of the other snubs that we have looked at recently, Luis Tiant stayed on the BBWAA ballot for all of the time that he had. At the time he was on the ballot, players were allowed to stay on the ballot for 15 years (now, it’s 10) but Tiant was on the ballot for all 15.

Interestingly enough though, Tiant received the most amount of votes on his very first ballot in 1988 with 30.9 percent of the vote. After that, Tiant never got above 18 percent of the vote, which is what he got in his 15th and final year on the ballot in 2002.

But when you look at his career in more depth, you can see that Tiant should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Boston Red Sox legend Luis Tiant should be a Baseball Hall of Famer

Luis Tiant spent parts of 19 seasons in the major leagues, most famously spending eight years with the Boston Red Sox and six with the Cleveland Indians.

In his career, he went 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA, a 114 OPS+, a 3.47 FIP, and (perhaps most impressive of all) a 66.1 rWAR. His best season came in 1968 with Cleveland and, oddly enough, he came in 5th in AL MVP voting … but he did not receive a single vote for the Cy Young Award. Why is that the case?

Well, if you’ve brushed up on your baseball history, you know that 1968 was “The Year of the Pitcher.” The average team hit .237/.299/.340 and averaged 3.42 runs per game. That was the lowest amount of runs scored per game since the 1908 season.

Bob Gibson won the NL Cy Young Award, completed 28 of his 34 games, and had an ERA of 1.12 in 304.2 innings pitched in the regular season. Denny McLain won the AL Cy Young Award because he won 31 games. He made 41 starts and had a 1.96 ERA with 28 complete games and 336 innings pitched in the regular season.

Gibson and McLain won the awards unanimously and, at the time, the Cy Young Award voters got one vote. That changed after the 1969 season and, now, BBWAA voters get to vote for five people. So, in 1968, Tiant didn’t get a vote. Coincidentally, both Gibson and McLain won their respective league’s MVP awards too.

However, Tiant led the AL in ERA (1.60) with 34 appearances (32 starts). He led the AL in shutouts (9), ERA+ (186), FIP (2.04), and hits per nine innings (5.3 H/9). He also was in the top five in strikeouts and numerous other categories too but he was the leader in AL among pitchers in WAR.

He had a WAR of 4.0 or higher in eight seasons (and he had another at 3.9). He had nine seasons with an ERA+ of 120 or better. He was a three-time All-Star, had three top six Cy Young Award votes, and three top 10 MVP finishes (and another 11th place finish).

When you look at his career compared to other Hall of Famers, the case becomes even more obvious.

His 66.1 career rWAR puts him 44th all-time, while 41st and 42nd on the list are Hall of Famers Don Drysdale (67.1 WAR) and Don Sutton (66.7 WAR). Sutton played in four more seasons than Tiant. Below Tiant for numbers 45 through 53 are all Hall of Famers too. Included in that batch are Roy Halladay (who played three fewer seasons than Tiant), Bob Feller (who played in one fewer season), and Juan Marichal (who played in three fewer seasons).

Number 54 in WAR is C.C. Sabathia. Like Tiant, he played in 19 seasons but his WAR is slightly less at 62.5. Do you think C.C. Sabathia’s a Hall of Famer?

Furthermore, when you look at JAWS (which balances WAR and WAR in their best seven seasons), Tiant’s JAWS is 55.1, which is 59th all-time.

The five starters below him? All Hall of Famers. Some are old-time pitchers (Dazzy Vance, Red Ruffing, Rube Waddell), one is just before Tiant’s time and slightly overlapping (Jim Bunning), and one is modern (John Smoltz). Don Sutton (a contemporary of Tiant) is 74th on the list.

Jim Kaat, who was just voted in this year by the Era Committee, is 111th among primary starters with the JAWS.

Fortunately, though, Tiant has been able to get onto three Veterans/Era Committees in the last decade. However, he has fallen short of the 75 percent needed for induction each time. He will likely be on the ballot in December 2023 for the Class of 2024 but Tiant isn’t getting any younger as he is 81 years old.

Hopefully, unlike many Hall of Famers in recent years, Tiant will be inducted while he is still alive and can still travel to Cooperstown to make a speech for an honor that should have been bestowed on him long ago.