I really only got to see Luis Tiant pitch near the end of his career… a little bit when he was with Boston in the late 70’s and his two semi-serviceable years with the Yankees in ‘79 and ‘80. I knew a little about his story, that he was born in Cuba and had been one of the top pitchers before reviving his career with the Sox (after being traded or released by three teams, I later learned). And I vaguely remember the hot dog commercial he made when he came to New York, in which he declared “It’s good to be with a winner” in his exaggerated Spanish accent. He seemed like a fun, cheery guy off the mound and a determined pitcher on it.
But I didn’t know much else until watching Lost Son of Havana, the excellent documentary which made the film festival circuit this year and was featured across some of the ESPN networks, including Deportes. It’s well worth a look, available on Netflix, or you can get it online here.
If you are so inclined, check out my interview with the film’s director and writer, Jonathan Hock, on BaseballDigest.com.
What I like so much about the film is how much it humanizes Tiant. We think of players as spots on a roster or numbers on a page or athletes performing on the field. The movie captures the sense of loss that Tiant felt not being able to see his parents for more than a decade while he made a run at the Majors in the 60’s and early 70’s, then the near-diplomatic miracle it took to get them to the U.S. to see him pitch in Boston in 1975.
The hook is his return to Havana more than 40 years after he left, to see his remaining family. It’s compelling stuff, a must-see for Sox fans and pretty much all fans of the human race.