Speaker 1: It's night's time with Dan Ray I dell you fleazy
Speaker 1: Boston Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome out back everyone. As we move into
Speaker 2: the ten o'clock hour, I'd like to spend one hour
Speaker 2: talking about your remembrance, your recollection of Louis Tiant. I
Speaker 2: don't care if you watch the game on TV, if
Speaker 2: you watch it in person, if you met him. It's
Speaker 2: a real gentleman, and we lost him yesterday, and I
Speaker 2: would love to have you join the conversation. But before
Speaker 2: we do that, we'll open up the lines right now
Speaker 2: at six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty. But
Speaker 2: we have some tickets. These are special tickets. There's a
Speaker 2: great show coming to the Hanover Theater in Worcester, So
Speaker 2: I'd like to take the tenth caller since it's the
Speaker 2: ten o'clock hour. At six one, seven, nine, three, one,
Speaker 2: ten thirty, the tenth caller, Robin Dan will win two
Speaker 2: tickets to see Tina the Tina Turner Musical at the
Speaker 2: Hanover Theater in Worcester on Friday night, October eighteenth, at
Speaker 2: eight pm. That is a week from this Friday night.
Speaker 2: It's an uplifting comeback story like no other. Tina the
Speaker 2: Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman
Speaker 2: who broke barriers and became the Queen of rock and roll,
Speaker 2: set to the pulse pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits.
Speaker 2: This electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.
Speaker 2: So again, this is on October eighteenth at eight o'clock.
Speaker 2: All you have to do is become caller number ten
Speaker 2: at six one, seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. Rob
Speaker 2: will let me know when we have a winner. You
Speaker 2: can stop calling. Rob is just going to tell you
Speaker 2: call her one, you call her two, you call her
Speaker 2: three or whatever, and just move on. And if if
Speaker 2: in the you can call, you can call twice. At
Speaker 2: the point I'm trying to make okay, you always can.
Speaker 2: If you call on number seven, keep calling. You just
Speaker 2: got to hit lucky caller number ten. That's the secret. Uh.
Speaker 2: And someone from WZ will contact you tomorrow and get
Speaker 2: these tickets to years in plenty of time to enjoy
Speaker 2: the show next Friday night, October eighteenth at eight o'clock.
Speaker 2: And Rob, once you get caller number ten, you let
Speaker 2: me know and we will we will let everyone know that.
Speaker 2: And again, if you're calling, if you're calling the regular
Speaker 2: number of folks the call The number to call is
Speaker 2: six one seven, nine three, one ten thirty six one seven, nine,
Speaker 2: three one ten thirty. That is the contest line. The
Speaker 2: other lines are not going to get you these tickets.
Speaker 2: You've got to waste your time calling the other lines.
Speaker 2: Oh this is fun to watch. Actually, I'd like you
Speaker 2: guys to write these two numbers down and understand that
Speaker 2: the that that on the show, they both work six
Speaker 2: one seven nine three one ten thirty is the one
Speaker 2: that works for the caller line. So when you when
Speaker 2: you get a winner, rob let me know and we
Speaker 2: will we will get to the to the to the
Speaker 2: the issue of the hour. So yesterday, earlier tonight, we
Speaker 2: spoke with a good friend of the Tion family, Alberto Vassalo,
Speaker 2: president CEO of El Mundo Boston, about Louis Tiant and
Speaker 2: Louis Tiant I don't think that Boston. You know, Pedro Martinez,
Speaker 2: for those of you who were a little younger, was
Speaker 2: a great picture for the Red Sox in the early
Speaker 2: part of this century, in the two thousand oughts, as
Speaker 2: they say, uh, and it well obviously in the late
Speaker 2: nineteen nineties as well.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: And and Pedro an incredible pitcher. Louis was an incredible pitcher,
Speaker 2: but for those of you who remember him, he was
Speaker 2: at his best in a big game. He was born
Speaker 2: in to poverty in Cuba, was able to escape Cuba
Speaker 2: after the revolution. He was born in nineteen forty, so
Speaker 2: by time he was I guess in his late teens,
Speaker 2: he had escaped and he was playing baseball in Mexico. See,
Speaker 2: we have a winner. So if you're dialing any more, folks,
Speaker 2: the winner has been this pair of tickets. Will give
Speaker 2: away another pair next hour, I promise. So just the
Speaker 2: lines of full clear, those lines robbed, so everybody knows
Speaker 2: we have a winner this hour for the Tina Turner tickets,
Speaker 2: and we will have two more another set of these
Speaker 2: tickets available next hour. So Louis Tiant. They don't make
Speaker 2: pitches like Louis ti Hunt anymore. I mean the stories
Speaker 2: about Louis Tiant, the number of pitches that he threw
Speaker 2: in a game. I think those of you who are
Speaker 2: real baseball fans at this point know that most pitchers
Speaker 2: are very limited on their pitch count, and the managers
Speaker 2: get nervous if particularly young pitchers, if they're throwing in
Speaker 2: the in the eighties or nineties, ninety pitchers during a
Speaker 2: game and they want to take him out. Now, pitchers
Speaker 2: today might be throwing a little harder. I think that
Speaker 2: might be true consistently. There aren't too many Greg Maddox
Speaker 2: pitchers in Major League Baseball anymore. Not that Louis Tiant
Speaker 2: was a Greg Maddox pitcher. He could throw as hard
Speaker 2: as anyone at his you know, when he was pitching,
Speaker 2: but he was a pitcher. He wasn't a thrower, and
Speaker 2: he was I mean, it was magical to watch him
Speaker 2: perform at Fenway Park, and I'm sure many of you
Speaker 2: remember those games. But when you look at his the
Speaker 2: entirety of his record, he pitched for nineteen seasons, and
Speaker 2: then of course after his career, after his career really
Speaker 2: became his home. I have a friend, Joe Fitzgerald, who
Speaker 2: was a writer for the Boston Harold and a sports
Speaker 2: writer and a really good sportswriter, and he befriended Louis,
Speaker 2: and he wrote a biography of Louis, and he would
Speaker 2: tell stories about Louis and Joe and Louis I think
Speaker 2: both enjoyed cigar smoking, and maybe that's what they bonded over.
Speaker 2: But Louis spent several years with the then Cleveland Indians
Speaker 2: now the Cleveland Guardians. He then went to Minnesota for
Speaker 2: one year, did okay, a pretty good year. Didn't pitch
Speaker 2: as much that year, he must have been hurt. And
Speaker 2: then he came back with the Red Sox in seventy
Speaker 2: one and it was only one in seven and a
Speaker 2: picture of less confidence might have said at that point, hey,
Speaker 2: I'm thirty one years old. Maybe I've hit my peek,
Speaker 2: and maybe it's time for me to move on. But
Speaker 2: he didn't. He came to the Red He stuck with
Speaker 2: the Red Sox, and the next year he won fifteen games,
Speaker 2: and the next year twenty, and the next year twenty two,
Speaker 2: and then he won eighteen in nineteen seventy five, as
Speaker 2: well as some games in the playoffs in the World Series.
Speaker 2: And then in seventy six he won twenty one games,
Speaker 2: and then it fell off a little bit, seventy seven
Speaker 2: to twelve games. But all of those seasons, all of
Speaker 2: those seasons he pitched magnificently. I mean again, if you're
Speaker 2: a real baseball fan, wins and losses are important, but
Speaker 2: things like earned run average and whip, you know, walks
Speaker 2: and hits per inning pitch pitched. That is now the
Speaker 2: sacred scroll in which people ad judged because you could
Speaker 2: be a great pitcher for a bad team and you
Speaker 2: might lose more games than you win, but that's the
Speaker 2: pitcher who if they can get that pitcher to a
Speaker 2: good team, that picture that can become dominant. But enough
Speaker 2: about Willie Lewis's career. I had the good fortune to
Speaker 2: meet him many times, and he would always remember your
Speaker 2: face and also always remember your name. He was just
Speaker 2: an extraordinary guy, plain and simple, Louis Tian. So what
Speaker 2: I'd like to do is open up the phone lines
Speaker 2: and hear your stories about Louis Tiant because particularly for
Speaker 2: people you know who have been I don't know, were
Speaker 2: born after nineteen ninety, they never would have seen Louis pitch.
Speaker 2: Louie's career was over in the early nineteen eighties, they
Speaker 2: never would have would have seen him on the mound.
Speaker 2: I mean he was he was a showman on the mound.
Speaker 2: And you know, if you've seen the video, you know
Speaker 2: what I'm talking about. So those of you who spent
Speaker 2: interacted with him, I would see him at this restaurant
Speaker 2: in Milton, which was just a wonderful a restaurant. Would
Speaker 2: go there, I'd go there for breakfast, and more often
Speaker 2: than not, Louis would be there and we'd have a conversation.
Speaker 2: Uh and uh, Louis would always try to buy you.
Speaker 2: I buy breakfast. I know, Louis, you bought breakfast last time.
Speaker 2: I'm buying you up. Oh no, no, no, Louis buy breakfast.
Speaker 2: That was the sort of guy he was. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was as regular a guy as as as you
Speaker 2: could find. And those of you who might remember Louis
Speaker 2: when when he came to the Red Sox, and even
Speaker 2: after he left the Red Sox, he was doing television
Speaker 2: commercials for I think it was a paint store, might
Speaker 2: have been one of the big paint and you know
Speaker 2: Louis English at that of course, his English now was superb,
Speaker 2: but his English at that time was unlimited. But it was.
Speaker 2: It was a commercial everybody watched because it was Louis
Speaker 2: ti On. So anyway, I'm going to open up these lines. Uh,
Speaker 2: all the the lines are open at six one, seven ninety.
Speaker 2: We did those for the the Tina Turner tickets. Will
Speaker 2: do them next hour, So stay away you Tina Turner fans,
Speaker 2: but if you're a Louis Tian fans six month, seven
Speaker 2: ninety three thirty and I got one line in six one, seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. We'll be back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: I was just looking at Louis Tian's career. We talked
Speaker 2: about wins and losses and all of that. According to
Speaker 2: apparently he passed away in Wells, Maine. I don't know
Speaker 2: the circumstances. Uh. He was born in nineteen forty in Mariano, Cuba,
Speaker 2: UH and of course was probably what nineteen years old
Speaker 2: when the Cuban Revolution occurred in nineteen fifty nine, was
Speaker 2: able to get out of the country UH, and was
Speaker 2: pitching for the Mexico City Tigers in Mexico. He didn't
Speaker 2: think he would ever go back to Cuba. He was
Speaker 2: traded who sold rather by the Mexico City Tigers to
Speaker 2: the Cleveland Indians in nineteen sixty two. Cleveland traded him
Speaker 2: to Minnesota in nineteen seventy one, and in the spring
Speaker 2: of seventy one he's released by the Minnesota Twins signed
Speaker 2: with the Atlanta Braves. His career obviously was in trouble
Speaker 2: at that point. He was released by the Atlanta Braves.
Speaker 2: Never pitched in a Major League game for the Atlanta Braves.
Speaker 2: Thankfully signed by the Boston Red Sox in nineteen seventy one,
Speaker 2: and the rest is history, and he had his best
Speaker 2: years here in Boston. He was one of those first
Speaker 2: guys who became a free agent and was signed by
Speaker 2: the Yankees in November of seventy eight, shortly after the
Speaker 2: Bucky Dent home run. If you remember that, pitched for
Speaker 2: a couple of years with the Yankees. I remember when
Speaker 2: he left Boston, there was a big news conference at
Speaker 2: Logan Airport and I covered that news conference. So he
Speaker 2: pitched for the Yankees, was given free agency by the Yankees,
Speaker 2: signed by the Pirates, released by the Pirates, sold to
Speaker 2: the Tabasco So he went to play for a team
Speaker 2: in Tabasco, Mexico, who sold his rights back to the
Speaker 2: California Angels. So it was a very interesting career for
Speaker 2: Louis Tian. I mean, let's go to phones. Your memory
Speaker 2: of Louis Tion Maybe you bumped into him, maybe you
Speaker 2: saw a great game in Fenway Park, and ladies, you
Speaker 2: are more than welcome to participated this. So far, all
Speaker 2: the callers are mail. The only lines that are available
Speaker 2: right now are six, one, seven, nine, ten thirty. Let
Speaker 2: me start it off with Dennis and Lowell. Dennis, what's
Speaker 2: your Louis Tion story? Go ahead, Dennis.
Speaker 4: Of course, Dan, you know I had to call. He's
Speaker 4: talking about baseball stories. Absolutely, I met Louis at least
Speaker 4: two times, one time in andover at a sports night.
Speaker 4: I sat at the table with him and Casey Jones
Speaker 4: and sat Sanders. Now that's not a bad trio.
Speaker 2: That's not a backgroop. Whatso there's a few championship rings there.
Speaker 4: Oh, I guess. Oh you talk about his record nineteen
Speaker 4: sixty eighty earn run average of one point six oher.
Speaker 4: You know, great year in sixty eight, but of course
Speaker 4: the year remember best nineteen seventy five when he said
Speaker 4: he remember he threw one hundred and fifty five pitches
Speaker 4: in one game. He won game four in nineteen seventy five.
Speaker 2: I mean that's unheard of, unheard of.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was clutch and his style, his rotating acrobatic,
Speaker 4: you know, facing the center field, having around pitching, and.
Speaker 2: He didn't have the build of an acrobat, if you get.
Speaker 4: My yeah, not at all. And I'll just I'll just
Speaker 4: finish up. He came to Lowell about nineteen eighty eight
Speaker 4: when we're desegregating the schools, and I rode a bus
Speaker 4: with him, you know, and here what a nice man
Speaker 4: like you said. He's a very very nice man.
Speaker 2: Great gentleman. Every time I met him. I mean, there's
Speaker 2: a big bear hog and a handshake. You know. He's
Speaker 2: one of those guys that had his hands were like,
Speaker 2: you know, shaking hands with uh, you know, a bear
Speaker 2: or something you felt like you were from a baseball glove.
Speaker 4: Oh it's great now, but great person anyway.
Speaker 2: Great, appreciate your calls. A baseball guy. I know that
Speaker 2: from from many years ago.
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you, talk to.
Speaker 2: You, my friend. I'll keep rolling here. See who else?
Speaker 2: What are the stories we have? Let's go to Mike
Speaker 2: in Plymouth. Mike, you next side, Welcome?
Speaker 5: How are you, hi, Dan, how are you tonight? Thanks
Speaker 5: for taking my call.
Speaker 2: Remembering Louis t On and again this is there's a
Speaker 2: lot of people out there tonight who are young in
Speaker 2: the audience, who they think about Louis Tiant maybe like
Speaker 2: those of us think about Cy Young or someone. I mean,
Speaker 2: his his career was for all intents and purposes over. Well,
Speaker 2: it wasn't over, but it was. You know, it's over
Speaker 2: forty five years ago. It's been forty five years, and
Speaker 2: he threw a pitch in the major leagues. Well, it
Speaker 2: would be forty nine. No, now, let me see, it
Speaker 2: would be forty two years ago. So it's forty let's
Speaker 2: just say forty years. You'd have to be at least
Speaker 2: fifty years old. Who have ever seen a pitch so
Speaker 2: in person?
Speaker 5: Well, I was born in sixty one, so I'm sixty
Speaker 5: three years old man, and I do remember him pitching.
Speaker 5: I don't say. I can't say for sure I ever
Speaker 5: saw him pitch live at some way, but I remember
Speaker 5: the seventy five series like it was yesterday. Yeah, however,
Speaker 5: as great as that that was, to see, my story
Speaker 5: is about heart, not about baseball. And I'm going to
Speaker 5: tell you why I grew up.
Speaker 2: As to Louis, we're not acre ahead.
Speaker 5: Well, the story is about his son, Louis Junior. As
Speaker 5: you know, he was from Milton, and I grew up
Speaker 5: in the city of Boston, but we moved to Milton
Speaker 5: when I was in junior high and I played Milton
Speaker 5: youth hockey and Louis son played in Milton youth hockey
Speaker 5: against me at Milton at the Milton Academy rink on
Speaker 5: Sunday mornings and Sunday nights, and I had the pleasure
Speaker 5: or misfortune, whichever you want to call it. Infamy, I
Speaker 5: guess of scoring one goal against his son, who played
Speaker 5: goalie for the Flyers that year, and it was either
Speaker 5: seventy four or seventy five. I scored the one goal
Speaker 5: to break up his son Louis shut out against us,
Speaker 5: and his son was very upset at the end of
Speaker 5: the game and nudging me and pointing at me saying
Speaker 5: you you, you, you you. And Louis came over and said, hey,
Speaker 5: give him a high five and shake his hand. You
Speaker 5: know he's scoring on it. There's nothing you can do.
Speaker 5: That's the type of guy he was. His son was
Speaker 5: upset that he lost the shutout good nakedly. Of course
Speaker 5: he wasn't really crying.
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, I get that. Sure. Well, that's
Speaker 2: what sportsmanship is all about. It, That's that's it.
Speaker 5: And my older brother my older brother and his best
Speaker 5: friend were in the stands and saw me score that goal.
Speaker 5: And I'll tell you it was it was one of
Speaker 5: the greatest memories of my childhood. And for Louis to
Speaker 5: come up afterwards and say, hey, nice job kid. You
Speaker 5: know I was twelve or thirteen years old. I think
Speaker 5: it was thirteen or fourteen years old at the time.
Speaker 5: That memory is forever etched in my mind. And I'll
Speaker 5: again if your.
Speaker 2: Math is if you said you were born in nineteen
Speaker 2: sixty one, right, right, yep, Okay, so if you were
Speaker 2: twelve or thirteen years old, that would get you to
Speaker 2: seventy three or seventy four. And Na ti On was
Speaker 2: as big in Boston as Pedro Martinez ever won. It's
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, in seventy four. Louis that year
Speaker 2: won twenty two games.
Speaker 5: That's my point. And he was a regular guy. He
Speaker 5: went and watched this kid play hockey in the winter,
Speaker 5: you know. So it had to be in December and
Speaker 5: January before spring training started, which it was probably a
Speaker 5: January Sunday night more than like early.
Speaker 2: And that that year, okay, of we were talking about
Speaker 2: seventy four, he pitched three hundred and eleven innings. I
Speaker 2: don't think there's a Red Sox started this year who
Speaker 2: pitched over two hundred innings.
Speaker 5: He skate this a complete game in the seventy five
Speaker 5: complete game, shutout five nothing in the first game of
Speaker 5: the seventy five World Series.
Speaker 4: Wah No, that's unheard of today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think he had.
Speaker 6: He had three wins October in the postseason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know he had three wins in the in
Speaker 2: the seventy five World Series. Mike, that's a great Believe
Speaker 2: me as a as a guy who played goal in
Speaker 2: high school a little bit in college. Were a lot
Speaker 2: of guys.
Speaker 5: I knew you played hockey.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I made my kids skate out, so you have
Speaker 2: to pick pucks out of the net.
Speaker 7: And I did.
Speaker 5: I think I know that Milton restaurant you're talking about too,
Speaker 5: Is it the one up by the Yeah?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, Louis was there. More of Louis and
Speaker 2: his and his beautiful wife Maria would be there. And
Speaker 2: Maria is just lovely, I mean, one of the loveliest
Speaker 2: people you'd ever want.
Speaker 5: A fantastic guy. Fantastic guy.
Speaker 2: Great, I appreciate it. Appreciate all right, we won't see
Speaker 2: he's kind again. I don't think thanks, I don't think
Speaker 2: all right. I have a great one, good night. Great
Speaker 2: articles in the Herald or other in the Globe today,
Speaker 2: particularly Dan Shaughnessy and Peter Abraham's article, amongst others, uh,
Speaker 2: in other newspapers, But feel free to join the conversation.
Speaker 2: I like to hear some of you Louis Tian stories.
Speaker 2: He was around, whether you were a kid and you
Speaker 2: went and you watched him play, whether you were diehard
Speaker 2: rich fan. Again, people who were under twenty, they don't
Speaker 2: have any recollection of a guy who would pitch when
Speaker 2: twenty two games.
Speaker 8: Uh.
Speaker 2: And then of course in seventy five he won eighteen
Speaker 2: games and won won three games in the World Series
Speaker 2: that year. That's they don't make baseball players like Louis
Speaker 2: taunt and uh. That's that was part of the magic
Speaker 2: and the mystique of him. I love baseball. Louis was
Speaker 2: a great guy. I got to know him, you know,
Speaker 2: not my closest friend to the world, trust me on that,
Speaker 2: but I knew him very well and a gentleman, never
Speaker 2: a taint of scandal or anything like that. He was
Speaker 2: just a baseball player who loved the game and loved
Speaker 2: the city of Boston, and the city loved him back.
Speaker 2: Here's the news. We're coming right back. I got one
Speaker 2: line at six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
Speaker 2: I got two lines at six one seven, nine, three, one,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. And I know that some of you ladies
Speaker 2: out there at some point met Louis uh and I'd
Speaker 2: love to hear your stories as well. Back on nights after.
Speaker 1: This Night's Side with Dan Ray ONBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Back to the phones, wed go, let me go to
Speaker 2: Steve and Stephen in Franklin, Massachusetts. Steven, welcome next on
Speaker 2: nightscer right ahead.
Speaker 6: Yeah, a day in that. I mean, you mentioned that
Speaker 6: Louis escaped from Cuba. I guess jose Knseko escaped from Cuba.
Speaker 2: A lot of these players got out of Cuba. It
Speaker 2: probably was a little easier when Kenseco got out. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's not easy at all. But Louis would have gotten
Speaker 2: out either just before or just after the revolution in
Speaker 2: fifty nine. He didn't see his family, his dad until
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy five. There was a story about some of
Speaker 2: the politicians here in Massachusetts who were able to convince
Speaker 2: Castro to allow Louis's dad, who was a great baseball player, to.
Speaker 6: Go yatch, he was letting some people out in.
Speaker 2: The major leagues.
Speaker 6: Yeah, come to think of you, when you mentioned seventy five,
Speaker 6: I was thinking of seventy seven when the Red Sox
Speaker 6: had that fourteen game lead.
Speaker 1: Then they blew.
Speaker 6: It with the Yankees. Oh yeah, he was probably on
Speaker 6: the team.
Speaker 2: He was Yo. Absolutely, seventy seven.
Speaker 7: They blew it.
Speaker 6: But anyway, I'm.
Speaker 2: Not sure if you're thinking of seventy seven or if
Speaker 2: you think seventy eight.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, in eight when they had a pretty comfortable lead
Speaker 2: in early September and the games just chipped away. That
Speaker 2: was the y They had the one game playoff, yep
Speaker 2: with the Yankees when Bucky whose name shall not be
Speaker 2: mentioned his middle name shall not be mentioned, on the
Speaker 2: year Dent, Bucky Dent, you know Homeward. You know.
Speaker 6: I went over my friend's house and the guy was
Speaker 6: relating the Red Sox and he said that that ground
Speaker 6: ball Buckner Mookie Wilson thought he could have beat it
Speaker 6: out anyway.
Speaker 2: Well, it doesn't matter because it went through Buckner's legs.
Speaker 2: But that was after.
Speaker 6: That was after Louis time could beat it out anyway,
Speaker 6: but I was.
Speaker 2: After after his time. My one story about that I
Speaker 2: remember so vividly about Louis was nineteen sixty five when
Speaker 2: he was pitching in his first year for the Indians.
Speaker 2: He pitched and uh at Fenway Park late in the season.
Speaker 2: There are about a thousand people in the ballpark that afternoon.
Speaker 2: It was a Thursday afternoon, and he lost.
Speaker 6: There've been there in the sixties.
Speaker 2: Well, he lost the Frank.
Speaker 6: Coward the Senators.
Speaker 2: I'll tell that story later.
Speaker 6: We'll look for retirement. He's walking with a cane.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it happens to all of us. Steven. I
Speaker 2: appreciate your call, Thank you very much, No problem, Bye bye.
Speaker 2: The story that I was going to tell was that
Speaker 2: late September game, the Red Sox were in probably ninth
Speaker 2: place or something like that. I think that was the
Speaker 2: The league was ten at that point, and the Indians
Speaker 2: were there, and I had a friend of mine who
Speaker 2: was on the Indians, and so I had tickets right
Speaker 2: next to the Indians, dugout and was stayed with my dad.
Speaker 2: I was a seventeen year old kid at the time,
Speaker 2: and Louis was pitching for the Indians, and he lost
Speaker 2: that day to nothing. There was a Red Sox pitcher
Speaker 2: by the name of Dave Moorehead, who was not the
Speaker 2: greatest Red Sox pitcher in history, not the best known,
Speaker 2: but Dave Morehead happened to throw a no hitter that afternoon,
Speaker 2: and Louis lost to nothing. Pitch very well, but Moorehead
Speaker 2: that day threw a no hitter, and you generally don't
Speaker 2: beat guys that throw no hitters. So that was a
Speaker 2: no hitter that I had that I witnessed. So again,
Speaker 2: I think the official attendant that day was twelve hundred.
Speaker 2: It was the depth of the Red Sox two years
Speaker 2: before the Miracle year, the impossible Dream of nineteen sixty
Speaker 2: seven where we got to go. Next, let me go
Speaker 2: to Gail in Lancaster. Hey, Gail, thank you for calling in.
Speaker 2: How are you tonight?
Speaker 8: Oh fine, thank you.
Speaker 2: Dan.
Speaker 4: I just have a quick story.
Speaker 8: Nineteen seventy five World Series. I saw Ltiante, I saw
Speaker 8: Louis tiant pitch. I was with my dad and missus
Speaker 8: Kean was ahead of us, you know, in the stands,
Speaker 8: and she had this giant noise maker thing she was.
Speaker 8: It was amazing, just amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, his wife Maria was was one of the prettiest women.
Speaker 2: I mean just in terms of wholesome, pretty looks.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I know she was something yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm talking about seeing her a couple of
Speaker 2: years ago when probably you know, she and Louis were
Speaker 2: both eighty years old. They were a vibrant couple. I mean,
Speaker 2: they enjoyed life. As I said, I would see them
Speaker 2: at this restaurant in Milton that I frequented, and Louis
Speaker 2: would be there and it'd be holding court. You know,
Speaker 2: people would come by and shake his hand, and he
Speaker 2: was he was kind and and and generous with his
Speaker 2: time to everyone, which you know, it was kind of
Speaker 2: hard to do after a while, you know, you he
Speaker 2: probably he probably met virtually everybody in Boston. I would
Speaker 2: think at some point or another he he was around
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, I just when I when I
Speaker 2: saw this yesterday, the Globe broke the story that he
Speaker 2: had passed, and it just hit me. I mean, I
Speaker 2: wasn't his closest friend or anything like that. I knew
Speaker 2: him a little bit, knew him, you know enough. We
Speaker 2: knew each other's names and all of that, and we
Speaker 2: knew each other's families. But it's impossible, Gail, for people
Speaker 2: who weren't living in the seventies and baseball fians in
Speaker 2: Boston to know the impact that he had on the
Speaker 2: city and on the team.
Speaker 4: I agree.
Speaker 8: No, a wonderful person and it's a great loss.
Speaker 2: Yeah, as they say. The other thing, too, is that
Speaker 2: today when you see the pictures, a lot of them
Speaker 2: like six four six ' five, Louis was probably five ten,
Speaker 2: five eleven on a really good day. He didn't have
Speaker 2: true he didn't have the body structure of the pictures
Speaker 2: that happen today. I think about Chris Sales six seven
Speaker 2: years old, six seven, six feet seven inches. But Louis
Speaker 2: did it. Louis won. Amazing, just an amazing guy.
Speaker 4: Thanks so much, Jail, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2: Talk to you soon. Let me get one more in
Speaker 2: here before we got to go to break. We get
Speaker 2: more calls coming in, which is great. We got Bob
Speaker 2: and Raynham. Hey Bob, thanks for calling in your thoughts,
Speaker 2: your recollection of the great Louis tant ltante.
Speaker 9: Yeah, and I get an unbelievable story to tell you.
Speaker 2: So I met Louis all the years go ahead.
Speaker 9: I met Louis on September twenty second of this year.
Speaker 9: It was a Sunday afternoon game against the Twins. I
Speaker 9: received a gift of tickets. Long story I bought. I
Speaker 9: bought a Tim Wakefield autograph baseball at the God Sale
Speaker 9: a few years ago for God. I had it when
Speaker 9: he passed away. I was planing up junk in my cellar.
Speaker 9: I got the ball. I gave it to the Red
Speaker 9: Sox organization. I knew he was in charge of that
Speaker 9: and they were going to take it in auction it
Speaker 9: off and they gave me a hat and a shirt
Speaker 9: that was back in January. They said, you know, make
Speaker 9: sure you call us. We'll get your tickets to the game.
Speaker 9: So anyway, they got me tickets to the game. I
Speaker 9: was in the deull box and Louie was standing was
Speaker 9: I'm sorry. We were eating breakfast and Louis was in
Speaker 9: there with his wife Maria. I introduced myself to both
Speaker 9: of them, and you know, I told Louis, you know
Speaker 9: you were one of my boy had boyhood idols. I
Speaker 9: was fifteen and nineteen seventy five. I suppose to Maria
Speaker 9: briefly and I shook his hand and I was like,
Speaker 9: and then when I heard I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 9: I like, I feel like I was blessed to be
Speaker 9: able to shake his hand and meet him.
Speaker 2: You know, there was nothing, There was nothing in the
Speaker 2: newspapers that that he was sick, you know. And I
Speaker 2: just was reading an obituary which said that he passed
Speaker 2: in Wells, Maine. So I'm sure more and more will
Speaker 2: come out about it if you, if you read either
Speaker 2: Shaughnessy or Peter Abraham and the Globe today.
Speaker 9: I would think I would rather be I would think
Speaker 9: it would have had to have been rather sudden, because
Speaker 9: again I saw him on the twenty second of September,
Speaker 9: and he was definitely slow. And actually when I saw
Speaker 9: him walk to the men's room and I asked his
Speaker 9: wife Maria, Hey, how's it doing, and she said, oh,
Speaker 9: he's doing okay. And but he was definitely slowing down
Speaker 9: for sure.
Speaker 2: Well he was at that age we all we all
Speaker 2: slow down. But look, that's only that's less than three
Speaker 2: weeks ago. When you think about it, I mean today
Speaker 2: is the ninth of October. That's that's two and a
Speaker 2: half weeks ago. You had a chance to see him,
Speaker 2: so I can understand. I mean, again, i'd heard heard
Speaker 2: nothing either publicly or privately that Louis was in any trouble,
Speaker 2: but you know you had a chance to meet him,
Speaker 2: which I had that opportunity to and just you know,
Speaker 2: again it's there's a few players that connect, but they
Speaker 2: connect as athletes, you know Bobby or Ted Williams, Kyle Ustremsky.
Speaker 2: But his involvement with the city, and of course Tim
Speaker 2: Wakefield was another one. You mentioned Tim Wakefield, who really
Speaker 2: you know, came to Boston and you know Tim Wakefield's
Speaker 2: his career looked pretty much over with the Pirates, but
Speaker 2: he came here and learned a knuckleball and it was
Speaker 2: great about baseball is you don't have to be of
Speaker 2: certain measurements to play a lot. In football, you got
Speaker 2: to be pretty big. I mean even the wide receivers
Speaker 2: now are six three sixty four. There's a few like
Speaker 2: Tyreek Hillhudot who aren't that that size. Basketball, you gotta
Speaker 2: be big. But in baseball, you know, Louis t On
Speaker 2: I mean you saw him the other day. He was
Speaker 2: five ten, maybe five to eleven on a good day.
Speaker 9: Yeah, he'll never be a delivery like his again.
Speaker 2: No question, no question. Hey, thanks Bob, appreciate you call.
Speaker 2: It's good memory. Thank you much.
Speaker 9: Have a good way, all right.
Speaker 2: I got some open lines here. We need a couple
Speaker 2: more Louis Tian stories to finish the hour out. I'll
Speaker 2: talk about Louis t On for the rest of the
Speaker 2: hour if you want, but we'll change topics on the
Speaker 2: other side of the eleven o'clock news. But if you
Speaker 2: have a memory of Louis, either on the field or
Speaker 2: off the field, I'd love to have you share it.
Speaker 2: Six one seven, two five four. We got low open
Speaker 2: lines there, and I got one open at six one
Speaker 2: seven nine. The word yesterday came suddenly and swiftly, and
Speaker 2: Louis was gone. And again he meant so much to
Speaker 2: so many people. Uh, not only during his time here,
Speaker 2: but in his post career. He lived in Milton and
Speaker 2: just he was part of he was part of Boston.
Speaker 4: For a.
Speaker 2: Young guy that was born into real poverty in Cuba,
Speaker 2: certainly made a name for himself and he should be
Speaker 2: in the Hall of fame. And he should have been
Speaker 2: in the Hall of fame. Before we talked with Alberto
Speaker 2: Vassalo earlier tonight with El Mundo, he said that Louis
Speaker 2: had said to him, if they put me in the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame after I die. I don't want anyone
Speaker 2: to go to the ceremony. Can you imagine what his
Speaker 2: speech would have been like at the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: if the Hall of Fame had been smart enough to
Speaker 2: induct him while he was alive, it would have been memorable.
Speaker 2: Give us a call your memory of Louis Tiant, either
Speaker 2: as a player or as someone who you had the
Speaker 2: good fortune to meet. My name's Dan Ray. This is
Speaker 2: the Night Side. We're coming right back right after these messages.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray line from the Window World,
Speaker 1: Night six Studios on w b Z the news radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we're gonna I'd like to finish out with
Speaker 2: a couple of more Louis Tian stories. Six one seven, four,
Speaker 2: ten thirty, triple eight nine two nine, ten thirty or
Speaker 2: six one, seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. Boston lost
Speaker 2: a great champion, a living legend who passed yesterday. Louis Tian.
Speaker 2: Let me go to Charles Charlie and Bill Ricket. Charlie,
Speaker 2: I appreciate you calling in. What's your Louis Tian story
Speaker 2: you'd like to share?
Speaker 7: Hi, jid HOWI I'm a first time caller by the way.
Speaker 2: Well all right, and give you a lot of applause. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: welcome on in. Thanks that's finally got you to the
Speaker 2: telephone to talk about Louis tiant I love that.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I watched the coops. Tom would Com just kind
Speaker 7: of emaguated in the Hall of Fame and he was
Speaker 7: just getting off the golf course. Louis was and uh
Speaker 7: I asked him what he was doing there, and he says,
Speaker 7: I'm here for Counton Fisk.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 7: You know, when I said, well, Louis, you're going to
Speaker 7: be the next one to go in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 7: he goes, oh jeesez. He says, they'll probably do it
Speaker 7: when I die. He said, I'm in the Redstarts Hall
Speaker 7: of Fame. But you know I got the same number
Speaker 7: when this Catfish Hunter he says, I don't know why
Speaker 7: I'm right in there now, you know. And uh, we
Speaker 7: were just coming back and forth. Of course he was
Speaker 7: spoken the All Road cigar and.
Speaker 2: You're right, I mean his statistics the Globe Sports writers
Speaker 2: made it very evident today. Did you look at you know,
Speaker 2: Catfish Hunter, who obviously pitched it a little bit in
Speaker 2: New York a little more than Louis did in New York.
Speaker 2: Hunter died very early of luke gat disease, so that
Speaker 2: might have been an emotional factor. Don Drysdale, whose numbers
Speaker 2: it was, a great pitcher, should be in the Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame. I'm not saying that those guys should not
Speaker 2: be in, but I think Louis should be in as well,
Speaker 2: no question, no ifs in butts about it. Ye.
Speaker 7: Ken Coleman was there also. Ken Coleman said, if I'm
Speaker 7: on that beference committee, I'll vote for him. But uh,
Speaker 7: I don't know what happened, but.
Speaker 2: I hope I missed who you said you? Who'd you
Speaker 2: say said they would have voted for him?
Speaker 7: Ken Coleman. He used to broadcast for the Red Sox.
Speaker 2: Oh sure, Ken Coleman. Absolutely, Well, his the guy that
Speaker 2: he brought to Boston, Joe kistig Leone is now in
Speaker 2: the broadcasters wing of the Hall of Fame. We've had
Speaker 2: Joe on the show last week.
Speaker 7: That he deserves it.
Speaker 2: Oh. Absolutely, He's done a great job over the years,
Speaker 2: There's no no question about that. Well, Charlie, that's that's
Speaker 2: a great story and and it's a memory that you
Speaker 2: should hold forever. Obviously, Louis was Carlton Fisk was Louis
Speaker 2: battery mate in that world series. So you know Carlton
Speaker 2: was soon heading heading off to the Chicago White Sox.
Speaker 2: But but that was a magical year, magical October that
Speaker 2: year in nineteen seventy five, we missed that.
Speaker 7: He was probably probably the best that you have, one
Speaker 7: of the best pictures he ever caught.
Speaker 2: So I think there's no question about that, no question
Speaker 2: about that. Charlie, thanks so much for the call. I appreciate.
Speaker 2: Cooperstown is a special place, isn't it.
Speaker 7: It sure is?
Speaker 2: I thanks John. All right, let me go to Rick
Speaker 2: and Bill rick We go from Charlie and Bill Ricket.
Speaker 2: We're hot and Bill Rickett tonight, Rick next time. That's right.
Speaker 3: How are you? Then?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great. What's your Louis Tian story?
Speaker 7: Wow?
Speaker 3: I don't really have a story. Charlie is as much
Speaker 3: better than mine. But I just remember if I was
Speaker 3: born in nineteen sixty nine, but I just remember the
Speaker 3: name and watching it on TV in the seventies. I
Speaker 3: had a baseball card of him because I used to
Speaker 3: collect cards, and I don't know, I have no idea
Speaker 3: when my cards are located but when I clean my
Speaker 3: house out, I'll probably come across them. I know, I
Speaker 3: throw them out, they.
Speaker 2: May they may have some value. Don't throw them?
Speaker 3: Well no, wait, yeah you can. I don't throw anything
Speaker 3: of you can.
Speaker 9: No.
Speaker 3: Of course, baseball cards have value, the most value in
Speaker 3: America when it comes to America. That America's past Simon's baseball.
Speaker 3: So it's the biggest sport and cards hold the most value.
Speaker 3: But I don't know the conditioner, but I know I
Speaker 3: had a card of them. And I also remember my
Speaker 3: father was a clock collector, and he got a clock
Speaker 3: from this guy named Elmer Tennis. He was out of waymouth.
Speaker 3: Elmer was accused of murdering I think two wives, so
Speaker 3: the first one, and then I know, well it's okay.
Speaker 3: He was a great clockmaker. You can look him up.
Speaker 2: No, I believe in the story.
Speaker 3: But I got to tell you what what happened was.
Speaker 3: I looked in the clock for information about this but
Speaker 3: number twenty two because his stuff clock's whole value was
Speaker 3: an excellent clockmaker. And I saw that my father wrapped
Speaker 3: something and a story, I mean in a globe or
Speaker 3: a herald might have been the globe my parents used
Speaker 3: to get the Herald, but might have been a Globe,
Speaker 3: and it was nineteen seventy five, and Louis Tian was
Speaker 3: on the cover and they had won a game. They
Speaker 3: had won some sort of game. It might have been
Speaker 3: the World, So I don't know. I think it was
Speaker 3: October of seventy five, and I's still in my brother
Speaker 3: Greg's house. He's got the clock many other ones too,
Speaker 3: But I put it back and it was wrapped in
Speaker 3: a newspaper where Louis Tian was jumping up and down
Speaker 3: or something. I don remember that.
Speaker 2: I would have been nineteen seventy five, Rick, I don't
Speaker 2: remember the Elma story. But let's I don't know if
Speaker 2: he's passed on, but we'll remember it was a clockmaker,
Speaker 2: not as someone who who killed two of his wives.
Speaker 3: Well you can look at Elbert sixteen and then yes
Speaker 3: he was not away man and unbelievable clockmaker. But anyway,
Speaker 3: that's just the side story. But that's where I saw
Speaker 3: Louis Tian the last on a nice fresh piece of
Speaker 3: Boston Globe, ar Herald and picture and it was wrapped newspaper,
Speaker 3: and all.
Speaker 2: Right, you got it. All that, hich I appreciate. I
Speaker 2: appreciate the story a good night much Okay, didn't need
Speaker 2: to know about the background of the clockmaker, but that's okay.
Speaker 2: The whole story is there. You got it, the whole story,
Speaker 2: the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We'll be
Speaker 2: back right after the eleven o'clock news and I'm going
Speaker 2: to uh cover a story that deals with a newscast
Speaker 2: that I very really watch, the CBS Morning News. I
Speaker 2: will explain