of Pigs invasion in April of that year—it was impossible for Tiant to return home. He would not see his parents for 14 years. Tiant progressed through the Indians' farm system beginning in 1962 with Charleston of the Eastern League, then on to Burlington, N.C., where he was one of the best pitchers in the Carolina League in 1963 and Portland, Oregon, in 1964. Tiant recalled that at Charleston, "I couldn't speak very good English but I understand racism. They treated me like a dog, but when I got to Portland, I didn't have any problems " (Oregonian, September 6, 2010). After a 15–1 record at Triple-A Portland which included a no-hitter and a one-hitter in consecutive starts, Tiant was called up by the Indians. MLB career Cleveland Indians On July 19, 1964, Tiant debuted in the major leagues for the Cleveland Indians with a four-single, 11 strikeout, 3–0 shutout victory against the defending AL Champion New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The losing pitcher was Whitey Ford. Tiant finished his rookie season with a 10–4 record, 105 strikeouts, and a 2.83 ERA in 19 games. Tiant broke through in , leading the American League in ERA (1.60), shutouts (nine, including four consecutive), hits per nine innings (a still-standing franchise record 5.30, which broke Herb Score's 5.85 in and would be a Major-League record low until Nolan Ryan gave up 5.26 hits/9 innings in ), strikeouts per nine innings (9.22), while finishing with a 21–9 mark. His four consecutive shutouts are matched by only four other pitchers in the 50-year expansion era, with Don Drysdale (six, 1968), Bob Gibson (five, 1968), Orel Hershiser (five, ) and Gaylord Perry (four, ) being the others. Besides this, opposing hitters batted just .168 off Tiant, a major league record, and on July 3 he struck out 19 Minnesota Twins in a ten-inning game, setting an American League record for games of that length. His 1.60 ERA in 1968 was the lowest in the American League since Walter Johnson's 1.49 mark during the dead-ball era in , and was eclipsed that season only by National Leaguer (St. Louis Cardinals) Bob Gibson's 1.12—the lowest ever during the live-ball era. With Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, and others, the Indians staff led the AL in strikeouts for five consecutive years, including a record 1189 strikeouts in 1967, a record that would stand for 30 years. Minnesota Twins