Marichal was my favorite pitcher while I was growing up. In 1974 when Marichal was sold to the Boston Red Sox, I was in heaven as I lived in Massachusetts and was a Red Sox fan; I was devastated when Marichal was let go after going 5-1 that season by Boisdton. Today, I have an autographed baseball and photo of my favorite pitcher, Juan Marichal. He is a very underrated MLB pitcher who won more games in the 1960s than anybody else.
As a Mexican- American I envied The San Francisco Giants as a boy in the 1960s because they had all of those great Latino players! Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Felipe Alou, Matty Alou, Jesús Alou, José Pagan, Tito Fuentes. Wow!
I listened to Juan's first game on the radio as a kid in the bronx n.y. in july les kitter was the broadcaster I also heard mcCovey first game 4 for 4 against Robin Roberts to me marcial was the best right hand pitcher I ever saw
one of the greatest pitchers of all time, in an era with bob gibson, sandy koufax, ferguson jenkins, tom seaver, jim palmer, nolan ryan to name a few, juan's stats match up with anyone.
My favorite trio of players of all time - Mays, McCovey & Marichal... So amazing that they didn't win it all at least one time... Marichal is now barely mentioned now when the greatest pitchers are discussed... He was better than Gibson; he had a winning record against Koufax... 1966 - 25-6, 2.23 ERA, 307 innings and only 36 walks with 25 complete games!!!!! I'm a Red Sox fan but I lived in SF in '62. After returning to New England I used to get up at 6am the next morning every time Marichal pitched to hear the result... There was just no one quite like him, and he did NOT get his due...
This man sure projects in his talking a very gentle, kind-hearted, humble man compared with the fiery monster he was that one summer day in 1965 at SF's Candlestick Park.
5/24/63 - I was working in S.F., age 18, decided to go to the L.A. vs. S.F. game that night, a Friday; though a Giant fan I was hoping to see Koufax wrack up strikeouts or maybe even a no-hitter! You never knew what Koufax would come up with. In the first inning, the Giants knocked Koufax out of the game, he pitched less than a full inning and I remember thinking "so much for a spectacular Koufax show". Marichal pitched a 4-hitter that night, Giants won 7-1, and as more seasons went by and revealed the greatness of both of those pitchers, I concluded I had seen a rare kayo of prime Koufax and one of the great matchups in baseball history, just one-sided that night. I was able to see several Marichal performances (I lived in Marin County just north of the Golden Gate) over the years but that was the only game I watched Koufax live. It's interesting to research the Cy Young voting during that decade and note what Marichal did---didn't win even 1 vote for Young award (until 1970). Look at what he did at those seasons in the 60s decade---eyepopping numbers over many years!
In my opinion the reason why Marichal never received The Cy Young Award was because where he came from . Same thing with being inducted into The Baseball Hall Of Fame,some form of discrimination.
Even though I rooted for Koufax in those days, Marichal always scared me. He was incredibly good and was Pedro Martinez before Pedro was. His command was the best in baseball and his artistry on the mound a joy to watch. The Roseboro incident hurt his legacy because people judged him but didn't know the whole story. That was a tremendous era for pitchers. Several Hall of Famers.
Lawrence Reves you clearly don't have a clue. From 1997- 2001 Martinez had a run that is unmatched in MLB history. his WHIP in 1999 was.0737. No one will ever come close to this again and he did it against majority peds users. He made them look silly nightly.
WMH Health I have the clue of someone who has followed baseball since 1963, and has seen the steady degradation of the sport, in that time. within the context of his era, Martinez was excellent. with the historical content, no.
Lawrence Reves look at the numbers. Compare Martinez and Marichals numbers they are remarkably similar. However Marichal benefited from a larger strike zone, never pitched to a dh and played most of his career in a pitchers park, Candlestick for half his starts. His career winning percentage was .631 which is obviously hall of fame worthy. Martinez pitched his prime years in the best hitters park in MLB at the height of the steroids era and put up better numbers than either Marichal or Koufax. His lifetime winning percentage was .just under. 680. His red sox winning percentage was .730! In his first 4 years in the sox rotation he had no one even halfway decent so the pressure on him was incredible and yet the red sox made the pist season in bith of his first 2 seasons with a very mediocre starting rotation aside from him. He had seasonal WHIPS below 1.00 6 times to Marichal's 4. Marichal wasn't even the best pitcher of his era. From 1997- 2002 there wasn't a better pitcher on planet earth than Martinez. Maddux Johnson and Clemens did it over a longer period of time but in those 6 seasons no one had the sheer dominance if Martinez in any era. His numbers were out of the dead ball era and everyone was on peds. Mind boggling.
As a young boy I saw Juan Marichal pitch against the Sacramento Solons when he was pitching in the Pacific Coast League just prior to his going up to the Giants. He pitched a one hitter that day, and that one hit was an accident, a wild swing which blooped over the first baseman's head. Other than that one hit the Solons didn't have a chance against him. As young as I was I realized that this guy wasn't going to stay in the minors very long. He was a great pitcher.
Juans first start coming in the league straight BALLIN'! 1hit shutout! Love the Latin pitchers. They are very good showmen, and like Marichal and Luis Tiant were my favorite. Juan was top notch. Wish he could've pitched in the World Series. Tiant did and did a great job.
Luis should be in the hall of Fame. His 1968 season with Cleveland was otherworldly but Denny McClain happened to win 31 games. Any other season Luis would have been a unanimous Cy Young winner.
In case anyone wants to know, the "Answer" That Johnny Roseboro told Marichal, it was an insult regarding his mother and from there Marichal turned his bat into a weapon and well..... you all know the rest.
After 1969 at age 31, Marichal was 191 and 88 with an era of 2.43 and was injured in 1970 and never the great Juan again. He lasted until 1975 but his lifetime numbers were hurt! That was typical of all the greats who at some point aged and unless if they retired like Sandy Koufax saw their lifetime numbers affected. Tom Seaver as an example was 52 and 62 his last 5 years after being 259 and 143 with a 2.50 era. However we know of one guy who from age 30 to 33 was 40 and 39 with an era around 3.90 and thought to be at best fair so his team let him walk with 192 career wins. We all said he may not get to 200 wins? Then all of a sudden at age 34 in another Country he found some new found magic and was back pitching like he was 25! Some guy named Roger Clemens! He goes from washed up and dumped at age 33 with 192 wins to amazing and 354 wins and 25 pounds heavier and throwing like at his peak. Imagine if that had happened to Juan Marichal or Tom Seaver as an example?
You must be young or a very casual baseball fan any baseball fan in the sixties knows who Juan Marichal was, hell he was a teammate for damn near 10 years of Willie Mays, does that name ring bell, how about Willie McCovey? Gaylord Perry, he's was a pitcher too by the way.
Juan Marichal is on my all time major league pitching staff. As an all time great he's underrated, but was one of the top five all time pitchers in my opinion, and I wasn't a Giants fan. But, he should've clocked Roseboro with a left hook, not with a bat.
Jaun Marichal was in no way "underrated" by anyone who either knows the game or saw him pitch. The problem lies in the approach by outlets like ESPN, MLB, etc. who hype the present game and are tight-lipped and stingy with the coverage of anything outside of the most recent history. Zoom graphics and a barrage of commentary for those with short attention spans and the memory of gold fish. There are plenty of us still out here who know better, however...
You nailed it. The situation is even more egregious in the NFL which the TV guys seem to believe didn't start playing until the game they dubbed the Super Bowl started in the late 60s.
Its a shame Marichal didn't win a Cy Young Award. He should've been a co Cy Young Award Winner with Koufax in 63'. To me he's a Cy Young pitcher anyway. Marichal makes my all time major league baseball pitching staff.
When I hear the name Juan Marichal, all that comes to my mind is when he lost it and brutally attacked Johnny Roseboro with a bat. I honestly had no idea that he was a great Pitcher!
Wow I always said Willie would have hit more in any other ball park but Juan saying over 800 now that is ridiculous! Candlestick was just not a good ballpark for right handers! Watching Juan Marichal pitch was pure excitement with every pitch he threw!
I grew up in So Ca in the 1950’s and 60’s, all I did was dream what it would be like to have a Dodger rotation of Koufax Marichal and Drysdale! He a.ways was a little hot tempered but I always felt he was such a competitor and wanted his team to win.
Giants first team to have Latin player's May's was my idol I would go to a game and keep my eyes on him in the outfield and not the batter at the plate I played ball in the service and played center and caught basket style like my idol
Screw the Cy Young Award. Sportswriter opinion polls have no relevance to anything on the field. Gibson called Marichal the finest pitcher of his generation. He was not underrated. I'd rather watch Marichal than any other pitcher.
This is just fascinating. He still acts like his bat incident actions were no big deal. And compares his ear being nicked to an out of control maiming with a bat. Yes, everyone, keep saying what a great man he is.
Thrown in jail for losing a doubleheader. DR hell of a country. It’s a good thing for Juan that he got the chance to play pro ball in the States. Great interview as usual by Costas. Juan was a nice man, but hitting Roseboro on the head with his bat was a cowardly and maniacal move. And it’s a shame that he never really apologized. He tries to rationalize it by saying you can hurt someone either with a bat or a baseball. But how do you equate clipping the edge of an ear by throwing the ball back to the pitcher from the catcher’s position and using a bat as a potentially lethal weapon? You can’t. And if you try to then you’ve got one hell of a character flaw. And I know that he and Roseboro became friendly years later, but that’s more of a testament to Roseboro character than anything else.
Exactly. Attempting to maim a guy with a bat is horrible enough. But justifying it (especially over something as petty as the typical on-field baseball brushbacks).....that's one horrendous human being.
@@williammedve1061 Yes, that is mentioned. Nicking someone's ear is just a shade different than an out of control maiming with a bat. And Marichal still acts like it wasn't a big deal. How heartwarming.
Didn't he take a bat to a catcher? Disqualifies him from baseball in every form in my opinion. Great pitcher, but if you use the bat as a weapon, you should be thrown out of baseball and into jail for assault.
Hold on. Not condoning what he did, but what about a ball in the hands of pitcher? Dangerous as well. Would you disqualify them as well? In Marichal's case, it happened once.
Its a shame Marichal didn't win a Cy Young Award. He should've been a co Cy Young Award Winner with Koufax in 63'. To me he's a Cy Young pitcher anyway. Marichal makes my all time major league baseball pitching staff.
1963? Marichal was great, but Sandy had the better season in 1963. A better era (1.88 vs 2.41), more shutouts, better WHIP, more strikeouts. Juan had the misfortune of playing in the same era as Drysdale, Koufax, Dean Chance, Gibson, and later Seaver Marichal certainly had Cy Young type seasons, no question.
