I greatly enjoyed ESPN's documentary on Luis Tiant last night, "The Lost Son of Havana." It was incredibly well done -- an amazing story of a single man's journey, along with that of his family and the entire country of Cuba.While much of the two hours were both inspirational and tragic, one of the lighter moments was Tiant (actually Luis Tiant Jr.) talking about his father (Luis Tiant Sr.) who was an outstanding pitcher in the Negro Leagues.
Of his father Tiant said, "He threw so hard he would knock catchers down. Catchers actually would put a steak between their hand and the catchers mitt to catch him and by the end of the game the steak would be cooked!"
ESPN will no doubt replay this and if you get a chance, especially if you love baseball, you need to watch it. As a young man I was a big fan of El Tiante but that was just from watching him pitch. After learning of his struggles just to have the right to pitch in America, I am now and even bigger fan of Luis Tiant the man.
