Scroll Down to Read Today’s Essay
Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive for automatic updates. As a Free Bonus, you’ll get instant access to my Special Report: Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide!
Johnny Roseboro/Juan Marichal Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
We welcome back Bill Schaeffer today with a detailed account of one of baseball’s ugliest incidents: the brawl between Johnny Rosoboro and Juan Marichal. As Bill relates, Willie Mays’s peacekeeping heroics kept the incident from becoming much worse. Even better news is that the two antagonists later buried the hatchet and became friends. I think you’ll enjoy Bill’s essay. -GL
Baseball’s Ugliest Incident
GIANTS, DODGERS AND A BRAWL FOR THE AGES
“Baseball fights can be more dangerous than hockey fights, where two players square off, because you’ve got guys running all over the place and people throwing punches at you that you don’t see half the time.”—Tom Glavine
The Giants/Dodgers Storied Rivalry
The rivalry officially started in 1890 when Brooklyn joined the National League. The Giants occupied the Polo grounds in the so-called “classier” borough of Manhattan, while the Dodgers held forth in the blue-collar borough of Brooklyn. As the calendar continued its assent into the final decade of the 19th century, the rivalry began heating up as if jabbed by a red-hot poker.
The long-standing personal feud between Brooklyn owner, Charles Ebbets, and Giants manager, John “Muggsy” McGraw, intensified and a palpable hatred began to develop between the two teams. In 1940, Bill Terry knew the Dodgers were “still in the league” and their followers could be ferocious. Umpire George Magerkurth was brutally beaten by an enraged Dodger fan ostensibly for making a pro-Giants call. Around the same time, my dad was seated in the upper deck in left field, at Ebbets Field. He was standing, cheering the Giants. As he settled back into his seat, he felt a harsh tap on his shoulder. My father turned and looked into the angry eyes of a guy with arms like tree trunks. The Brooklyn fan forcefully asked, “Was you rootin’ for the Giants, Buddy?” From that point on my dad made a concerted effort to curb his enthusiasm for the visiting team.
Starting in 1951, many of the pennant races between the two clubs were legendary. We all know about The Shot Heard ‘Round the World, made possible by the Giants winning 37 of 44 games to catch the Dodgers and force a three-game playoff.
Nineteen-fifty-nine was also a doozy. The San Fran Giants led the Los Angeles Dodgers by three games as late as September 6—only to be swept two weeks later by the same Dodgers and eliminated. This enabled the Dodgers to catch the Milwaukee Braves and beat them in the first two games of a three-game playoff, then vanquish the Go-Go White Sox in six games. This was mainly due to the “cannon for an arm” possessed by Dodger catcher John Roseboro, curtailing the White Sox’s great base-stealing speed. John also contributed the winning hit in game three. (We’ll spare Dodgers fans 1962)
At the 1965 Academy Awards, My Fair Lady won eight Oscars and on March 25, Martin Luther King, Jr. concluded a four-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, along with 25,000 civil rights proponents. Also, the Giants and Dodgers put on another remarkable pennant race.
The Giants won 14 straight and 17 of 18 games approaching the last two weeks of September, poised on the top step of victory – when they exhaled. The Dodgers then concluded a 13-in-a-row streak and 15 of 16 to advance to the WS! They beat the Minnesota Twins in a seven-game thriller. But along the way, a shocking event occurred on August 22, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.
Two Great Pitchers Square Off
The Dodgers were a game and a half ahead of the Giants, as two HOF pitchers opposed each other: Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal. Maury Wills led off with a bunt single and scored the first run on a Ron Fairly double. Marichal thought bunting was a cheap way to get on and when Wills faced him again Juan knocked him down. This called for retaliation when Willie Mays stepped into the batter’s box. Now, Koo foo was a complete, soft-spoken gentleman who just couldn’t throw at a batter. But he sounded more like Leo Durocher when the pitching maestro once said, “Show me a guy who can’t pitch inside and I’ll show you a loser.” So, did he dust Willie? Not on your life. He aimed the next pitch a mile over Mays’ head!
The next inning Marichal sent Ron Fairly sprawling with nasty chin music. Tempers flared. Roseboro told teammates, “I’ll take care of it.” When Marichal came to bat, Roseboro, on the third pitch, deliberately whistled the return throw to Koufax, possibly clipping the tip of Marichal’s ear. As John rose from his crouch, Juan swung his bat and hit the side of Roseboro’s head at least twice. Blood poured out. The infuriated backstop immediately tried to attack the rival pitcher. (Marichal claimed the next day, “I thought he was going to hit me with his mask so I hit him with my bat.”)
Willie Mays Prevents Further Damage
At the sight of their bleeding catcher, enraged Dodgers charged toward the plate. Left fielder Lou Johnson, wild with anger, was suddenly hoisted up in a bear hug by behemoth Willie McCovey, who gently placed him out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, Giants’ captain Willie Mays, tears in his eyes, pulled his close friend back and guided him into the Giants’ dugout with a towel pressed to his bloody skull. That seemed to end the brawl. Johnson proclaimed, “Willie Mays was the hero, his action stopped what could have been much worse. Marichal was suspended for eight days (10 games) and fined a mere $1750. Both pitchers struggled a bit in their next few starts.
Dodgers GM Buzzy Bavasi said Roseboro “was the best .240 hitter in baseball history.” John was also an intelligent field general and was considered the premier defensive catcher in the 1960s. Loved by his pitchers, Roseboro caught two of the four Sandy Koufax no-hitters. Very quiet and spoke in a whisper, thus his nickname, “Gabby.”
The Two Antagonists Later Become Friends
Roseboro eventually “buried the hatchet” with Marichal, and when Juan was ironically signed by
the Dodgers in 1975, they became good friends. John campaigned for Marichal’s induction into the Hall in 1983, realizing the delay was because of the “incident.” No one could argue with the Dominican Dandy’s glittering stats, which included 243 victories, three years with 25 plus wins, and a 16-year career 2.89 ERA. He’s still robust at 84, living in Santo Domingo, and currently serving as the Minister of Sports for the Dominican government.
Roseboro had some difficult times in baseball toward the end of his 14-year career but did appear in TV commercials, as well as a few films afterward. He succumbed to heart disease in 2002. Marichal served as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral.
He said poignantly, “Johnny’s forgiving me was one of the best things that happened in my life. I wish I could have had John Roseboro as my catcher.”
Bill Schaefer
Sources: Wikipedia; SABR article by Warren Corbett; schedule almanac Dodgers/Giants, ’65; Baseball America on line; Baseball ref: Roseboro, Marichal
Subscribe to our website, “Baseball History Comes Alive!” with over 1200 fully categorized baseball essays and photo galleries, now closing in on the one million hits mark with 890K hits and over 700 subscribers: www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com
