Boston Red Sox legend Luis Tiant, one of MLB's best and most recognizable pitchers, died Tuesday, the league announced.
Another giant of the game, MLB Hall of Famer and longtime Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench, took to X (formerly Twitter) later Tuesday to pay his respects to Tiant with a heartfelt message.
"We may have taken the World Series in 1975 but Luis Tiant shut us out in Game 1 and threw another complete game victory in Game 4," Bench wrote. "He meant so much to the Red Sox organization, baseball certainly lost another icon. My condolences to his family and the Boston fans."
Bench, a two-time MVP and World Series champion, twice faced the then-34-year-old Tiant in the thrilling 1975 World Series that went a full seven games. And twice the Red Sox ace baffled Cincinnati's Great Eight, a lineup that featured three Hall of Famers in Bench, Joe. Morgan and Tony Perez, and another in the late Pete Rose, who surely would have been elected if not for his lifetime ban from baseball due to gambling.
Tiant started three games in the '75 World Series, winning a pair while allowing 10 earned runs in 25 innings pitched. And Bench, despite being the victor in the series, didn't want people to forget just how good "El Tiante" was on the game's biggest stage.
