In the heat of the pennant race
One of baseball’s bleakest moments occurs 59 years ago today when San Francisco pitcher Juan Marichal uses his bat to deliberately hit Los Angeles catcher John Roseboro in the head to start the bottom of the third inning of their game at Candlestick Park.
The 1965 brawl, photographed by Neil Leifer of Sports Illustrated, starts when Marichal, as a batter, believes Roseboro throws too close to his head while returning the ball to Dodgers starter Sandy Koufax.
The two briefly exchange some non-pleasantries before Marichal – believing Roseboro is about to hit him with his catcher’s mask – swings his bat at Roseboro’s head.
Willie Mays, right, helps John Roseboro off of the field
Roseboro, who is saved from further injury by Giants center fielder and peacemaker Willie Mays, needs 14 stiches to close the gash in his head.
The umpires would eject Marichal from a game the Giants eventually win, beating Koufax and the Dodgers 4-3 before a Sunday afternoon crowd of 42,807 in San Francisco.
Roseboro ends up missing only two games, while Marichal is suspended for eight games and receives a then-record fine of $1,750.
Marichal goes on to win 22 games that season, but the suspension costs him two starts and has a significant impact on the pennant race as the Giants finish only two games behind the National League-leading Dodgers.
Marichal goes on to win 238 games in 14 seasons with the Giants with no pitcher winning more games during the decade of the 1960s than Marichal with his 191 victories from 1960-69.
Marichal reaches the Hall of Fame in 1983, his third year on the ballot.
Juan Marichal and John Roseboro -- combatants turned friends
As for Roseboro, except for one bloody afternoon 59 years ago, he enjoys a 14-year career in the majors that includes three World Series championships with the Dodgers and six All-Star game selections.
“There were no hard feelings on my part,” Roseboro tells the Los Angeles Times in 1990 on the 25th anniversary of the brawl, “and I thought if that was made public, people would believe that this was really over with.”
Eventually, Roseboro and Marichal become good friends and maintain that friendship until Roseboro passes away in 2002. The Roseboro family asks Marichal to be an honorary pallbearer and to speak at the funeral service.
He accepts.