A Negro League standout, Tiant was a master of changing speeds, a junkball-screwball pitcher with a herky-jerky motion and a superior pickoff move. He was also a fierce competitor; according to one of his beanball victims, the Philadelphia Stars‘ Ted Paige, “he gave no mercy to any batter.” In October of 1935, Tiant’s New York Cubans defeated the Babe Ruth All-Stars 6-1 and 15-3. Tiant pitched both games and held Ruth to one scratch single. At age 41, still pitching for the Cubans, he fashioned a 10-0 record with eight complete games and three shutouts. In 1975, Cuban leader Fidel Castro allowed Tiant to go see his son, Luis, Jr., pitch for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.
