I think Tiant was another player whose chances suffered from a lack of a really solid relationship with the press. He was fairly open with them, nowhere near as quiet as Evans or avoiding them like Rice and some of the other Sox players. But at times he could be somewhat hard to understand which didn't make for "good" interviews.
If HOF voting was based on how the local fans perceive a player he'd be in already. I haven't met him myself, but know a couple people who have and by all accounts he's a fun guy.
Another thing that might have hurt his chances was that like many of the sox pitchers in the 70's he was a bit spotty. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes awful. You never really knew what you were getting. And he got a ton of run support for the era. Lee, Wright, Tiant, all were a bit unpredictable. Eckersley was a bit more stable, and Torrez was predictable - He'd get to a certain part of the game and simply disintegrate, and Zimmer never seemed to figure that out.
It's interesting how different eras compare. Today, a pitcher that reliably wins in the mid teens with a decent ERA is doing very well.
Steve B
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