The headline, spanning the entire page of the “San Francisco Chronicle”, was: “Ugly, iconic, incredible incident”.
The journalists declared themselves very surprised by what had happened.
The headlines reflected disbelief, because a big leaguer as gentlemanly, as refined and decent as Juan Marichal, pitcher for the Giants, seemed incapable of having committed such an act of aggression in the San Francisco stadium.
Four on the road to the Hall of Fame
Marichal, called "The Dominican Dandy" for his elegant figure and fine manners, had attacked John Roseboro in the head with a baseball bat, and he had to have 14 stitches applied.
It happened 61 years ago, on the afternoon of August 22, 1965, before the largest crowd the Giants received that season at their Candlestick Park in San Francisco, 42,807 people.
The Giants, who were in first place, beat the Dodgers 4-3 in that game, starting with two future Hall of Famers on the mound, Sandy Koufax and Marichal. Two more future Hall of Famers, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey, were also in the Giants' lineup, both destined for Cooperstown.
It was a time of many blows to the head.
It was a time when there were many reasons to hit the ball close to the batter's head. Don Drysdale (Dodgers) was very aggressive in that regard. In contrast, Koufax was considered incapable of intimidating any batter.
That attitude of the glorious left-hander was part of the drama. Marichal had thrown two fastballs close to Maury Wills' face because he had bunted for a hit in his first at-bat, and Koufax wasn't sending any hits home when "The Dominican Dandy" came up to bat.
Therefore, Roseboro decided to take matters into his own hands, and at the end of the third inning, when returning the ball to Koufax, he passed it very close to Marichal's right ear, who felt so offended that he turned to look at him and, with his bat raised, was about to attack him.
Roseboro lost a lot of blood.
They exchanged only a few words. Roseboro took off his mask, and the Dominican, thinking he was going to attack him with it, swung at the center of Roseboro's head, from which a lot of blood gushed. The umpire, Shag Crawford, helped the injured man, while all the players threatened a fight in the infield.
Mays, Marichal's friend, appeared to calm him down and took him to the dugout. The Dodgers ultimately won, going on to defeat the Twins in the World Series.
Marichal was suspended for 10 games and fined $750. He was earning $60 that season.
Marichal was very embarrassed
However, El Dandy de Quisqueya immediately began a series of efforts to show Roseboro that he was ashamed of what had happened.
Roseboro even went so far as to file a lawsuit against Marichal. But they settled out of court for seven thousand dollars, which the Dominican paid him.
They eventually became great friends, and even autographed photographs of the fight.
They also played golf together. Juan even invited John to a tournament in Santo Domingo, and they spent two weeks there together, all at Juan's expense.
Before the burial of Roseboro's remains, who died of a heart attack on August 16, 2002, it was Marichal, very tearful, who pronounced the farewell words.
He was punished by the journalists
Marichal was passed over for the Hall of Fame election during his first four years as a candidate because the voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America cited that attack against Roseboro as the reason.
It took a personal appeal from Roseboro himself for him to be elected in 1983, and he thanked Roseboro in his induction speech. Furthermore, his uniform number, 27, was retired by the Giants.
Thanks to the life that has given me so much, even a reader like you.
