A Man of Character

or at least quite a character. Luis Tiant; Senor Smoke, El Tiante. One of the greats when we were growing up. He wasn't the same pitcher as he was earlier in his career, but it was funny seeing him on the Yankees from 1979-1980.

Tiant was the focus of many reporters today with word that Fidel Castro had resigned as the president of Cuba.

You can read all about it here.

We have 3 memories that come to mind about El Tiante, besides his unusual pitching motion. He was on the mound on June 20, 1980 against the Oakland A's and we were in the stands.

The Yankees pounded the A's 15-7, but that wasn't the best part. That would be the drunk fan yelling, "I paid $5 to hear Don Ho?", while "New York, New York" played over the loudspeaker. That was also the night, little Freddie Patek cracked 3 home runs and the Angels beat the Red Sox, in Fenway, 20-2.

The first of two amusing memories of Senor Smoke was using his name as a way to get around paying long distance. Let us explain. When our brother returned home to D.C. after visiting up in Jersey, he would call to let us know he got home safely. He did this by making a person-to-person call...and he said that Luis Tiant was calling. We don't know why he chose El Tiante, but we still laugh about it.

The final memory wasn't meant to be funny...maybe. While a member of the Yankees, Luis Tiant became the spokesman for "Yankees Franks". The funny part? You really couldn't understand a word the native Cuban said on the commercials.