Before the Red Sox had Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez or Curt Schilling, they had another money pitcher who always seemed to come through when the pressure was at its most intense point. Luis Tiant -- the pride of Cuba -- was Boston's ace for most of the 1970s.

He performed similar heroics for the Cleveland Indians. With a herky jerky delivery that made him overwhelmingly deceptive, Tiant baffled opposing hitters during his career.

Thus far, it has not been enough for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tiant stayed on the Baseball Writers Association of America's ballot for the maximum of 15 years (1988-2002). He is now making his second attempt at being voted in by the Veterans Committee. Tiant received 25 percent of the vote two years ago. An electee must get 75 percent of the vote.

Results of the 2007 Veterans Committee election will be announced on February 27, and the Induction Ceremony will take place on July 29 in Cooperstown.

"Luis is definitely a Hall of Famer," said former Sox right fielder Dwight Evans. "His numbers support it. When that bullpen door unlatched, [Fenway Park] would go crazy. It was the same way every time, the same way they do it for Schilling now. You talk about pitch counts. I remember in [Game 4 of] the World Series in '75, he threw 172 pitches. He had a big heart."

When you access Tiant's profile on baseballreference.com, the two pitchers the site says he's most comparable to are both in the Hall of Fame -- Catfish Hunter and Jim Bunning.

Tiant split his 19-year career between the Indians (1964-69), Twins ('70), Red Sox ('71-78), Yankees ('79-80), Pirates ('81) and Angels ('82), going 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA. He was a 20-game winner four times and posted a ridiculous 1.62 ERA in 1968, which was, to be fair, a season in which offensive stats were down throughout baseball.

2007 Hall of Fame Inductions
  2007 Candidates  
The 2007 Veterans Committee ballot features 27 candidates on the player ballot, 15 on the composite ballot.
Players ballot
• Dick Allen
• Bobby Bonds
• Ken Boyer
• Rocky Colavito
• Wes Ferrell
• Curt Flood
• Joe Gordon
• Gil Hodges
• Jim Kaat
• Mickey Lolich
• Sparky Lyle
• Marty Marion
• Roger Maris
• Carl Mays
 • Minnie Minoso
• Thurman Munson
• Don Newcombe
• Lefty O'Doul
• Tony Oliva
• Al Oliver
• Vada Pinson
• Ron Santo
• Luis Tiant
• Joe Torre
• Cecil Travis
• Mickey Vernon
• Maury Wills
 
Composite ballot
• Buzzie Bavasi
• August Busch Jr.
• Harry Dalton
• Charlie Finley
• Doug Harvey
• Whitey Herzog
• Bowie Kuhn
• Billy Martin
 • Marvin Miller
• Walter O'Malley
• Gabe Paul
• Paul Richards
• Bill White
• Dick Williams
• Phil Wrigley

"All of the fans who watched me and players who played with me, they all know," said Tiant, who is an instructor in the Red Sox organization. "I don't have to tell you anything else. That's the way it was. Everybody who saw me pitch knows what I did. Everyone who talks to me says, 'Why aren't you in the Hall of Fame?'"

By comparison, Hunter -- who won five World Series rings and was fortunate enough to play on more good teams than Tiant -- went 224-166 with a 3.26 ERA while pitching slightly fewer innings (3449) than Tiant (3486). Bunning? He went 224-184 with a 3.27 ERA.

"Not too many people have [entered the Hall]," said Tiant. "Those are the best players in the world there. That's as big an honor as any player could have. I'm not going to lose a day of sleep. I'm proud of what I do. I did what I never thought I would do in my life. If they pick me, fine; if not, fine. The game gave me a lot, more than I ever expected. I'm still making money from baseball; I still work in baseball. I'm proud the way I did it because it took a lot of sacrifice."

He also takes pride in how much the savvy baseball fans of Boston appreciated his work.

"Boston is my town, my second country," said Tiant. "People there have been nice to me. People respect me, show me love. They show appreciation for what I did."