Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Luis Tiant Jr.

2018 Modern Era Hall of Fame Ballot: Luis Tiant Jr.

The Baseball Hall of Fame recently announced their 2018 Modern Era ballot. One player on the ballot is former Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox pitcher, Luis Tiant.

The first table below presents Luis Tiant Jr.'s career as measured by Player won-lost records.

Luis Tiant Jr.
Basic Player Won-Lost Records
Value Decomposition
Season Team Age Games pWins pLosses pWin Pct. pWOPA pWORL eWins eLosses eWin Pct. eWOPA eWORL
1964CLE23
19
9.26.90.5711.4
2.2
8.57.60.5270.71.5
1965CLE24
41
13.013.10.4990.4
1.5
13.013.10.4970.31.5
1966CLE25
46
11.610.00.5371.1
2.2
11.110.60.5120.51.6
1967CLE26
33
14.212.40.5341.4
2.5
13.513.10.5070.71.8
1968CLE27
34
18.812.70.5983.6
4.9
18.013.50.5712.84.0
1969CLE28
38
16.120.90.436-1.8
-0.1
16.720.30.450-1.30.4
1970MIN29
18
6.35.20.5490.8
1.3
5.56.00.479-0.00.5
1971BOS30
21
3.85.50.407-0.8
-0.3
4.25.10.456-0.30.2
1972BOS31
43
11.78.90.5681.7
2.7
11.19.60.5361.02.0
1973BOS32
35
17.813.60.5672.1
3.5
17.214.20.5481.52.9
1974BOS33
38
20.113.50.5993.3
4.8
19.214.40.5712.43.9
1975BOS34
35
15.513.40.5361.1
2.4
15.014.00.5180.51.9
1976BOS35
38
17.515.60.5280.9
2.4
17.016.20.5130.41.9
1977BOS36
32
13.210.50.5581.4
2.6
12.311.40.5200.51.7
1978BOS37
32
13.310.10.5671.6
2.7
12.411.00.5290.71.8
1979NYA38
30
11.49.20.5531.1
2.0
11.09.60.5350.71.6
1980NYA39
25
7.57.60.497-0.0
0.6
7.87.30.5160.20.9
1981PIT40
9
2.93.90.431-0.4
-0.1
3.53.30.5150.20.5
1982CAL41
6
1.71.90.464-0.1
0.0
1.71.90.467-0.10.1
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
CAREER (reg. season)
573
225.8194.90.53718.6
37.8
218.6202.10.52011.530.6
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
PostSeason (career)
6
2.81.10.721 1.12.31.60.595 0.6
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
COMBINED
579
228.6196.00.537
38.8
221.0203.70.520 31.2


Luis Tiant earned 20 or more pitcher wins four times in his career. He also led the American League in ERA twice, with ERA's below 2 in both cases (1.60 in 1968 and 1.91 in 1972).

Luis Tiant pitched most of his career in a very low-run environment. For example, according to Baseball-Reference, Tiant's AL-leading 1.91 ERA in 1972 produced an ERA+ of 169. In 2008, Cliff Lee led the AL in ERA+ at 167 on an ERA of 2.54.

In addition to pitching in a low run-scoring environment, the 1960s and 1970s were something of a Golden Age for Hall-of-Fame pitchers. Luis Tiant debuted on the BBWAA's Hall-of-Fame ballot in 1988. From 1987 - 1999, 11 pitchers whose careeer overlapped with Tiant's were elected to the Hall of Fame. At least 5 pitchers whose career overlapped at least partially with Tiant's were elected to the Hall of Fame before 1987 and at least 3 more have been elected since 1999.

Luis Tiant last appeared on a Veterans' Ballot in 2015. In my article on Luis Tiant at that time, I compared him to Catfish Hunter. At that time, Catfish Hunter was the most similar player to Luis Tiant, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Because of some updates to Player won-lost records since that time - which have been largely favorable to Luis Tiant - Catfish Hunter is no longer the player most similar to Tiant. The 10 players (since World War II) most similar to Luis Tiant in career value, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown in the next table.

Most Similar Players to Luis Tiant Jr. in Value
through age 28
Wins over Baseline
Player Games pWins pLosses pWOPA pWORL Batting Baserunning Pitching Fielding
Luis Tiant Jr.
573
225.8194.918.6
37.8
-2.9-0.10.00.3
David Cone
451
184.5153.718.1
35.1
-2.3-0.10.00.5
Don Drysdale
547
219.9204.614.8
33.1
-3.8-0.10.01.0
Orel Hershiser
519
195.0176.515.0
32.5
-3.2-0.20.00.3
Rick Reuschel
579
219.9205.814.2
32.2
-6.0-0.20.00.6
David Wells
660
206.9179.714.8
35.5
-1.1-0.10.00.3
Billy Pierce
615
218.8189.820.6
38.4
-5.6-0.20.00.9
Jim Bunning
600
239.1217.517.7
37.6
-7.3-0.20.00.1
C.C. Sabathia
539
213.6179.218.1
39.1
-0.4-0.00.0-0.2
Mark Buehrle
518
195.5175.410.8
30.7
-1.1-0.00.00.8
Dwight Gooden
434
184.0156.019.4
35.1
-3.1-0.10.00.5


Luis Tiant's 10 most similars includes three Hall-of-Famers: Don Drysdale, Jim Bunning, and Early Wynn.

The next table compares the career records of Luis Tiant and Jim Bunning. Bunning was nine years older than Tiant, so, while their careers did overlap by eight seasons, the comparison below is by age. I think I'll just let the comparison speak for itself.

Luis Tiant Jr. Jim Bunning
Age Games pWins pLoss Win Pct. pWOPA pWORL Games pWins pLoss Win Pct. pWOPA pWORL
23199.26.90.5711.4
2.2
153.15.60.358-1.2-0.8
244113.013.10.4990.4
1.5
153.32.30.5950.60.9
254611.610.00.5371.1
2.2
4518.014.10.5612.53.8
263314.212.40.5341.4
2.5
3614.714.70.5010.41.6
273418.812.70.5983.6
4.9
4016.016.30.4960.41.8
283816.120.90.436-1.8
-0.1
3815.113.50.5271.22.4
29186.35.20.5490.8
1.3
3818.514.30.5642.53.9
30213.85.50.407-0.8
-0.3
4318.114.30.5592.53.9
314311.78.90.5681.7
2.7
4015.116.10.483-0.11.4
323517.813.60.5672.1
3.5
4118.213.50.5742.84.5
333820.113.50.5993.3
4.8
3919.314.10.5773.14.6
343515.513.40.5361.1
2.4
4320.316.70.5492.44.0
353817.515.60.5280.9
2.4
4019.315.10.5612.74.1
363213.210.50.5581.4
2.6
278.312.00.408-1.6-0.8
373213.310.10.5671.6
2.7
3412.612.70.4990.31.5
383011.49.20.5531.1
2.0
3511.913.00.477-0.20.9
39257.57.60.497-0.0
0.6
317.49.10.447-0.70.1
4092.93.90.431-0.4
-0.1
4161.71.90.464-0.1
0.0
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
CAREER RECORDS573225.8194.90.53718.6
37.8
600239.1217.50.52417.737.6


2018 Modern Era Hall of Fame Ballot



All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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