Luis Tiant, the Cuban-born pitcher, and beloved cigar-chomping Red Sox personality, whose unique windup was imitated by every New England kid playing whiffle ball in the late 1970s, died on tuesday, October 8, at the age of 83.
El Tiante's delivery was described as "begin[ning] with an exaggerated mid-windup pivot, during which he turns his back on the batter and seems to examine the infield directly behind the mound for signs of crab grass", by Roger Angell of The New Yorker. With men on base, "his stretch consists of a succession of minute downward waggles and pauses of the glove, and a menacing sidewise, slit-eyed, Valentino-like gaze over his shoulder at the base runner.