FORT MYERS, Fla. – The stocky man with the Fu-Manchu moustache was digging into a fruit cup with what appeared to be the same intensity he used to stare down opposing batters for two decades.

El Tiante was taking a break from his duties as a Boston Red Sox special assignment instructor when a reporter came up and asked if he might be available for an interview later on.

“Oh no, no… Sit. Sit down. We do it now,” Luis Tiant said, motioning for his would-be interviewer to sit down.

The former ace pitcher and key member of a Red Sox squad that made the 1975 World Series arguably one of the best ever played may have lost his enthusiasm for the fruit cup, but even at age 64, he has lost none of it for the game of baseball.

“Baseball been great to me,” the Red Sox Hall of Fame member said. “So far, it’s still been great. I make more money now than when I used to play.”

Tiant, who now resides in Southboro, Mass., is in his fourth season as an instructor in the Red Sox organization and he couldn’t be happier.

“I like it here. The new owners have been good to me. They take care of me and they respect me,” the bearish Tiant said. “I do PR and come down here for spring training, working with the pitchers and seeing if there’s anything wrong we can correct.”

After coming tantalizingly close to a World Series title and a ring in 1975 and watching as his team lost a one-game playoff in the infamous 1978 “Bucky Dent” game, Tiant is finally getting his ring.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time to have this. It’s going on my finger and then maybe later on, I’ll give it to my kids. I don’t know who I’m going to give it to,” he said through a big, bright smile. “It’s a great thing. I thank the Red Sox for that, for giving me a ring.”

Tiant pitched eight of his 19 major league seasons with the Sox, compiling a 122-81 record with a 3.36 earned-run average and three 20-win seasons. He was the American League Comeback Player of the year in 1972 after going 15-6 with a 1.91 ERA. Tiant finished his career with a 229-172 record and a 3.30 ERA with 2,416 strikeouts.

The Havana, Cuba, native has lived in Southboro for four years. Before that, he was the head baseball coach for Division III Savannah (Ga.) College of Art in Design for four years and before that, he and his family lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for six years.

He was lured back to Boston by then-Boston general manager Dan Duquette in 2002.

“I wanna come back. Dan had some things for me to do in Boston and gave me opportunity to come back and be a pitching coach,” said Tiant, who was a minor league pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1992-95.

Tiant and wife Maria have three children: Luis Jr., Isabel, and Daniel.

“I get the best I can get out of my life. I’m happy,” he says simply, noting that the current atmosphere in Boston’s clubhouse suits him perfectly. “This is my kind of place. The guys joke and make you feel good.”

Just as he says that, Kevin Millar walks by, asking Tiant – a noted card shark – if he’s going to play some cards.

“You going to play or what? I got the money,” Tiant says with a wink and a wry smile.

“You think I’m stupid?” Millar asks incredulously.

“Well, you look like it. You look like you stupid,” Tiant says with a hearty laugh that trails off to an infectious giggle.

Yes, baseball is still very, very good to Luis Tiant.

Dirtbags with dirty helmets

It may look that way, but there is no team contest for the dirtiest batting helmet among Boston Red Sox players – who Millar proudly referred to as a bunch of dirtbags.

Millar’s batting helmet looks like it was used as a target in a tobacco spitting contest, Trot Nixon’s resembles a miner’s helmet more than a batting helmet, and Orlando Cabrera’s – even though he didn’t start playing for the team until a July 31st trade – looked as though it was used to bail pine tar.

What is the attraction for helmets so dirty and despoiled that the red, scripted “B” is barely visible on some of them?

“Well, I started that situation when I was playing with the Marlins,” Millar admitted after chuckling at the question. “I used the same helmet from 1998 all the way to 2002 and it became a source of pride for me.”

The Red Sox first baseman/designated hitter said he’s proud of the fact he hasn’t broken a batting helmet in frustration in more than eight seasons.

“You don’t want to see pros slamming helmets and breaking stuff so I used always the same helmet to show I didn’t break it,” he explained. “This will be the third year going for my current helmet.”

Mcplayer of all trades

There isn’t anything David McCarty won’t do to make Boston’s 25-man roster for his third straight season with the Red Sox… Literally.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound McCarty looks like he’ll be the only non-roster invitee to make Boston’s opening day roster, and it could be his versatility that made him a tough cut.

“Whatever it takes. You’ve got to try to do whatever you can to be as versatile as possible because that tends to be important when it comes to the last couple of roster spots,” said the 35-year-old veteran of 12 major league seasons.