Juan Marichal

Quotes From Juan Marichal

"If I can't pitch as well as I want to, I can't take your money." — Marichal to Dodger owner Walter O'Malley in 1975.

Where does Juan Marichal rank among baseball greats?

Juan Marichal ranks among the Top 50 all-time at SP. Rankings ?
 

Juan Marichal All Time Teammates:

Best Season: 1969
At the age of 31, Marichal went 21-11 with a league-best 2.10 ERA in 36 starts, of which 27 he finished. He hurled eight shutouts. Honorable mention to 1965 (22-13, 2.13 and 10 shutouts).

Now Batting: Juan Marichal
Marichal was a great pitcher, but he wasn't a very good hitter. He batted .165 in 1,221 career at-bats, with four homers and 75 RBI. Oddly, one-third of his RBI came in two seasons, 1962 and 1966, when he hit respectably. In those years he hit .236 and .250 with one homer and 25 RBI. Take out those two abnormal offensive seasons, and Marichal batted .150 with 28 extra-base hits (for a .185 SLG!) in 1,020 at-bats.

The Marichal/Roseboro Incident
In an August 22, 1965 game between the bitter west coast rivals, after two of his Dodger teammates had been plunked by Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, Johnny Roseboro signalled for Sandy Koufax to drill Marichal.

"Koufax was constitutionally incapable of throwing at anyone's head, so I decided to take matters into my own hands," wrote Roseboro in his autobiography.

What Roseboro did was whip his return throw past Marichal's ear. This infuriated Marichal, who proceeded to use his bat to open a gash in Roseboro's head. Both benches emptied and Marichal was ordered from the game. Roseboro was carried off the field and needed 14 stitches to close the wound in his head.

Unfortunately, the terrifying event was chronicled in great detail by photographers, and the image of Marichal raising his bat over his head to deliver a blow to Roseboro was carried in practically every newspaper in the nation and re-printed in Life magazine.

Marichal was suspended for eight games and fined $1,750 by Major League Baseball. But most damaging to his character, the "Dominican Dandy" was condemned by many in the media. Roseboro, who missed just two games with his head injury (which required 14 stitches), eventually filed a lawsuit, seeking more than $100,000 in damages. Ultimately, Roseboro and Marichal settled, and Juan paid the catcher $7,000.

Always the gentleman, Roseboro accepted his responsibility for the fight.

"I provoked it," Roseboro would recall, "I threw that ball too close to Juan's ear."

In later years, the two men reconciled and became close friends. When Marichal missed making the Hall of Fame by a few votes one year, Roseboro came to his defense and worried that the incident would unfairly taint the pitcher's legacy. When Roseboro died, Marichal spoke at his funeral.

Where He Played
Ace

Born
Juan Antonio (Sanchez) Marichal was born on October 20, 1937, in Laguna Verde

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Major League Debut
July 19,1960

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1960
Willie Davis
Ron Santo
Joe Torre
Leo Cardenas
Deron Johnson
Dick McAuliffe
Matty Alou
Phil Regan
Ray Sadecki

Nicknames
Manito,Dominican Dandy,Mar

Uniform Numbers
#27 (1960-1973), #21 (1974), #46 (1975)

Similar Players
Greg Maddux

Related Players
Johnny Roseboro, with whom Marichal had a fight on August 22, 1965, at Candlestick Park. Marichal hit the Dodger catcher in the head with his bat, drawing a $1,750 fine and a week suspension.

No-Hitter
6/15/1963: For SF (N) vs. HOU (N), 1-0 at SF. 9 innings pitched.

Post-Season Appearances
1962 World Series
1971 National League Championship Series

Awards and Honors
1965 ML AS MVP

Milestones

• August 28, 1970: 200th Win...

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
Late in the 1962 season Marichal suffered a foot injury which kept him out of the rotation for a short time and limited his usage in the World Series.

Transactions
Before 1958 Season: Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent; December 7, 1973: Purchased by the Boston Red Sox from the San Francisco Giants; October 24, 1974: Released by the Boston Red Sox; March 15, 1975: Signed as a Free Agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

All-Star Selections
1962 NL
1963 NL
1964 NL
1965 NL
1966 NL
1967 NL
1968 NL
1969 NL
1971 NL

Replaced
Billy O'Dell, a left-hander who was sent to the bullpen in 1962.

Replaced By
The Giants replaced Marichal with young John D'Acquisto, a promising right-hander who went on to have a 10-year career, but never blossomed into the starting pitcher he was projected to be.

Best Strength as a Player
Control

Largest Weakness as a Player
He couldn't hit, but it really didn't hurt him much.