DALLAS –– Luis Tiant will not be heading to Cooperstown.
On Monday, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the righty –– who never gained more than 30.9 percent of votes on regular ballots –– received fewer than three votes as a member of the Golden Era ballot, which counts the period from 1947-1972.
The lone inductee of the 10 candidates was third baseman Ron Santo, who played 14 years for the Chicago Cubs and one season for the White Sox, and will be posthumously honored on July 22, 2011.
To gain enshrinement, candidates needed at least 12 votes from the 16-person committee, a group featuring Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ralph Kiner, Tommy Lasorda, Juan Marichal, Brooks Robinson, Don Sutton and Billy Williams; executives Paul Beeston (Blue Jays), Bill DeWitt (Cardinals), Roland Hemond (Diamondbacks), Gene Michael (Yankees) and Al Rosen; and media members Dick Kaegel, Jack O'Connell and Dave Van Dyck.
"I like [Tiant], but I think all these people on the ballot had merit," Michael told NESN.com. "It's a fair process of what we run through and there are pluses and minuses, but I like the process."
Over his 19-year career in the majors, Tiant went 229-171 and owned a 3.30 ERA. The former Red Sox flamethrower also tossed 49 shutouts, which ranks 21st all time among pitchers.
"We vote, it's all secret ballots and when they come out, if you have the certain number of votes, you get inducted," Lasorda said. "It's as simple as it is –– [Tiant] didn't have enough votes."
During Santo's 15-year career, he belted 342 homers and 1,331 RBIs and was a nine-time All-Star.
"I always preached that Santo should be in [the Hall of Fame]," Lasorda said. "This time, Santo got the votes, but sadly it's after he died. He should have been able to get it and enjoy it."
