Mods please tell me if this should go somewhere else, but I love this story and think it captures El Tiante perfectly.
It was 1986 and my dad was attending the Equitable Old Timers game at Fenway. After the game, my dad (in his early 20s) went down to the Cask 'N Flagon as was customary in the 80s to grab a drink.
In the back of the bar, through what I can only imagine was about as thick of a wall of smoke as there's ever been, my dad could see Luis sitting at a table with some players. Growing up in Boston, my dad naturally wanted to quickly say hi to Luis and some of the guys real quick before he made his way out.
When my dad got towards the table, however, he got stopped. The monstrous 6'6" frame of Dick Radatz had gotten up and in front of my dad, telling him that they weren't having any visitors and that this was just for the players. He wasn't being rude necessarily, I can only imagine the amount of attention these guys had been getting around the city, and my dad completely understood and didn't want to bother them. He just wanted to say something real quick.
Now, in the 1975 World Series, Luis had gotten on base and had one of the greatest trips around the base path in baseball history, warmup jacket and all.
My dad, as he was turning around to head out, said "I just wanted to let Luis know he's the greatest base runner I've ever seen." Luis' face lit up and a huge smile grew, and he told Dick Radatz to let my dad come have a drink with them. Radatz obliged, my dad had his game program signed by the table, and he drank with the Red Sox.
I had the pleasure of meeting Luis briefly at an event 7 or 8 years ago and got to show him the program and recount the story. He was an absolute gem on the mound and in everyday life and I'm incredibly glad he was ours. They don't make them like him anymore.
RIP Luis Tiant, your windup will live on the youth fields of New England forever
6 comments
What a great clip! Awesome to see and hear all those names, and the great Curt Gowdy!
Did he remember drinking with your dad?
Ah the days when you could just drop in to the Cask and grab a drink after a game with no crowds. Great story!
I went to a game years ago with my mom and siblings. We were walking outside Fenway and my mom grabbed by arm and said, that’s Luis Tiant!
We were walking by and someone else asked for an autograph and he obliged. My mom, politely, asked as well and he signed my hat. I believe the hat is still at my mom’s.
He was very gracious and just went on his way after signing a few more. My mom was thrilled the rest of the day, too.
Thanks for sharing that story! What a treat that must have been. Oh, man!
Also, thanks for sharing the clip. That slide into second looked like that of a Sunday slow pitch player, just flopping down on the way to the base. And Pudge smacking Luis on the butt when he scores. Also, seeing Pudge and Bench in the same clip. What a series that was. It’s the first one I remember as a little kid, and our cousins that were visiting from Columbus got the last laugh. They actually brought with them a piece of George Foster’s splintered bat that they had been given at a game earlier that season, which they prophetically described as their good lunch charm. Painted it red and everything.
My Luis story is not as entertaining. One of my friends used to be married to a woman one of the team’s attorney firms about 15 years ago. Got to see the Sox play the Rangers from the catered luxury boxes. Rode the elevator with Jim Rice and Luis Tiant with my buddy. Total silence. I didn’t want to be that guy, but I couldn’t even summon the nerve to say hi. Your dad’s story is so much cooler, wish I had read this story 15 years ago – I woulda used that line!
The guy exuded kindness and charisma.
I remember him talking at an assembly at one of the schools I went to in Fitchburg – I don’t remember a thing about it other than that he lit up the room. I think maybe he told us not to do drugs.