Comments on: The Fight Between Juan Marichal and John Roseboro

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 28 May 2013 14:03:40 +0000

I never made a point of where I was and you are well out of line in trying to make that an issue. I cited the boxscore as my source, and I did not say Mays was less reliable than me — I specifcally wrote that he was less reliable than a boxscore.

My point is that if you wanted to confirm, it would have been better to do so with the easily available online sources such as Google’s newspaper archives or retrosheet.org. It was silly to choose to go to a LESS reliable source, an eyewitness writing about an emotionally charged memory from over 20 years ago, and someone with possible prejudice as well. I tried to make that point by demonstrating how unreliable Mays’ actual memory was by pointing out his dramatic but incorrect detail that Fairly was the next batter.

(In regard to my agreeing with Mays that Fairly was the other batter involved, that was in the newspaper accounts at the time.)

By: Dennis Nizzi

Dennis Nizzi — Tue, 28 May 2013 05:51:41 +0000

Well, I’m just quoting Mays in his autobiography. Mays was watching from the bench. I wasn’t there. I doubt that you were either.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 28 May 2013 03:23:52 +0000

Willie Mays is less reliable than a boxscore. He’s right that Fairly was the other Dodger who was “dusted” by Marichal that day, but he was not the next batter. He hit three slots after Wills and did not bat until the next inning. Incidentally, Marichal had a very low HBP rate both in his career and in 1965. It was about half the league rate per inning.

By: Dennis Nizzi

Dennis Nizzi — Tue, 28 May 2013 02:49:22 +0000

You’re correct, Craig. According to Willie Mays in his autobiography “Say Hey” (Simon & Schuster 1988), Mays said that Marichal threw a pitch right at the head of Maury Wills, then a “close” pitch to the next batter, Fairly. No mention was made of hitting any batter.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 28 May 2013 00:13:48 +0000

Completely false that Marichal beaned Wills or anybody in that game. All you have to do is look at the boxscore to see that.

By: Dennis Frank

Dennis Frank — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 06:06:11 +0000

I grew up in the Bay Area and was in 5th grade when the Giants came to SF. I attended many games over the years through August 1965 when I went to war. I did not see this fight but studied about it over the years and bought a copy of the picture of Marichal hitting Roseboro with the bat. I keep it as a reminder of the blood-fued between these two ball teams. Forget blaming any one person. The teams hate each other, pure and simple.

By: Shirley Anne

Shirley Anne — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 01:54:54 +0000

People should remember that in addition to the provocation by Roseboro, there were some pretty traumatic events going on at that time. The so-called Watts Riot had gone on the week before (august 11 through 17), and the whole state was on edge. As a black man in Los Angeles, Roseboro must have been pretty tense. And in the Dominican Republic, Marichal’s home, where his family lived, the US Marines had invaded and there was a military coup in April 1965. The US occupation continued and so did guerrilla fighting until a truce was declared at the end of August 1965. So the occupation and street fighting were still going on at the time of this baseball game.
Athletes do not live outside of the real world.

By: Tony Boskovich

Tony Boskovich — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:19:29 +0000

I was 12 and we had seats behind home plate. After the first pitch, Marichal looked back and said something to Roseboro; his head snapped around. The next pitch, you could tell Roseboro whipped one by his ear, and Marichal turned, put the bat over his head and swung down like he was splitting firewood. I remember Shag Crawford flying out backwards from this huge group of players like he was thrown out. I remember seeing Orlando Cepeda come flying out of the dugout with a bat in his right hand and his eyes were aflame; you could see it from the stands. Willie Mays was right behind him and grabbed him. If it hadn’t been for Willie, it would have been much worse.

By: Dave Nazz

Dave Nazz — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 08:15:44 +0000

Been a Dodger fan since 1964. Koufax and Wills were my favorite Dodgers, but Willie Mays was then and to this day the greatest ball player in all aspects ive ever seen, and the fact that both Koufax and Mays were responsible for stopping that brawl, well, all i can say is that not only just that day but ever since, they are 2 of the best ive ever had the priveledge of watching play the game!!! Four words come to mind about them, Class act, and Greatest ever!!! Thank You!!

By: John

John — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 04:17:13 +0000

I was 11 years old and a HUGE Dodger fan, even though I lived in Northern California. Koufax was my idol. My father, brother, neighbor and I were at the game. They were all Giant fans. It was a big game in the pennant race. One of the few times that Koufax faced Marichal. Usually, it was Drysdale against Marichal. I was sitting behind home plate about 15 rows from the backstop. We could see the blood pouring from Roseboro and Mays helping him with a towel. After the delay, Koufax gave up the big homer to Mays and the Dodgers ended up losing the game – but went on to win the pennant and the World Series.