51 Facts About Juan Marichal

1.

Juan Antonio Marichal Sanchez was born on October 20,1937, and nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams from 1960 to 1975, almost entirely the San Francisco Giants.

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2.

Juan Marichal won over 20 games six times, on each occasion posting an earned run average below 2.

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3.

Juan Marichal led the National League in wins, innings pitched, complete games and shutouts twice each.

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4.

Juan Marichal was often overshadowed by his contemporaries Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson; in each of Marichal's four best seasons, either Koufax or Gibson won the Cy Young Award, always by unanimous vote.

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5.

Juan Marichal was suspended and received a then-record fine, paying a financial settlement, but the two players later reconciled, and eventually became close friends.

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6.

Juan Marichal was an agile fielder, with his 291 putouts tied for sixth in major league history.

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7.

Juan Marichal's 243 wins were the most by a foreign-born pitcher in over half a century, and he held virtually every career record for Latin American pitchers before most of them were broken by Luis Tiant and Dennis Martinez.

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8.

Juan Marichal was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, with Roseboro's support; he was the first Dominican player, and the first foreign-born pitcher, ever selected.

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9.

Juan Marichal was born on October 20,1937, in the small farming village of Laguna Verde, Dominican Republic, the youngest of Francisco and Natividad Marichal's four children.

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10.

Juan Marichal has two brothers, Gonzalo and Rafael, and a sister, Maria.

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11.

Juan Marichal's father died of an unknown illness when Marichal was three years old.

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12.

Juan Marichal's house did not have electricity, but food was plentiful since his family owned a farm.

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13.

Juan Marichal lived near the Yaque del Norte River and often spent time swimming and fishing.

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14.

One day, while Juan Marichal was playing by the river, he fell unconscious owing to poor digestion and was in a coma for nine days.

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15.

In 1954, sixteen-year-old Juan Marichal joined a summer league in Monte Cristi, playing for a team called Las Flores.

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16.

Juan Marichal left high school after being recruited to play for the United Fruit Company team in 1956.

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17.

Juan Marichal threw five pitches – a slider, fastball, changeup, curve, and screwball – for strikes over the top, three-quarters, or sidearm.

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18.

Juan Marichal disguised them with a delivery that allowed him to conceal the type of pitch until it was on its way, which included a high left leg kick that went nearly vertical.

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19.

Juan Marichal maintained it his entire career, the kick only slightly diminished near retirement.

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20.

Juan Marichal was discovered by Ramfis Trujillo, the son of late Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.

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21.

Juan Marichal was promoted to the major leagues for the first time in July 1960.

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22.

Juan Marichal made an immediate impression: in his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, he struck out Ruben Amaro to begin the game and retired the first 19 batters, then took a no-hitter into the eighth inning only to surrender a two-out single to Clay Dalrymple.

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23.

Juan Marichal ended up with a one-hit shutout, walking one and striking out 12.

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24.

Juan Marichal appeared in every All-Star game of the 1960s beginning in 1962.

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25.

From 1963 through 1969, Juan Marichal had more than 20 victories in every season except 1967 and never posted an ERA higher than 2.

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26.

Juan Marichal won more games during the 1960s than any other major league pitcher, but did not receive any votes for the Cy Young Award until 1970, when baseball writers started voting for the top three pitchers in each league rather than one per league.

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27.

Juan Marichal finished in the top 10 in ERA seven consecutive years, from 1963 to 1969, in which year he led the league.

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28.

Juan Marichal led the league twice in shutouts, throwing 10 of them in 1965.

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29.

Juan Marichal had 2,303 strikeouts with only 709 walks, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.

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30.

Over his career, Juan Marichal led the league in the fewest walks per nine innings four times, and finished second three times – totaling eleven years in which he finished in the top 10, while finishing in the top 10 for strikeouts six years.

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31.

Juan Marichal allowed eight hits in the 16 innings, striking out 10, and saddling eventual career home run king Hank Aaron with an 0-for-6 collar.

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32.

Juan Marichal is remembered for a notorious incident that occurred with John Roseboro during a game between the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Candlestick Park on August 22,1965.

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33.

When Wills came up to bat in the second inning, Juan Marichal threw a pitch directly at him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

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34.

Juan Marichal came to bat in the third inning expecting Koufax to throw at him.

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35.

Juan Marichal later said he thought Roseboro was about to attack him.

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36.

Juan Marichal was ejected from the game, and afterwards, National League president Warren Giles suspended him for eight games, fined him a then-NL record US$1,750, and forbade him from traveling to Dodger Stadium for the final, crucial two-game series of the season.

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37.

Many people thought Juan Marichal's punishment was too lenient, since it would cost him only two starts.

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38.

Ironically, the Giants went on a 14-game win streak that started during Juan Marichal's absence, and by then it was a two-team race as the Pirates, Reds and Braves fell further behind.

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39.

Juan Marichal explained that Koufax would not throw at batters for fear of hurting them due to the velocity of his pitches.

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40.

Juan Marichal further stated that his throwing close to Marichal's ear was "standard operating procedure", as a form of retribution.

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41.

In 1970, Juan Marichal experienced a severe reaction to penicillin which led to back pain and chronic arthritis.

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42.

Juan Marichal's career stumbled that year, as he only posted 12 wins and his ERA shot up to 4.

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43.

Juan Marichal recovered with a stellar 1971 season in which he won 18 games and his ERA again dropped below 3.

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44.

Juan Marichal started the third game in Pittsburgh with the series tied at one game each; he pitched well, limiting Pittsburgh's offense to solo home runs by Bob Robertson and Richie Hebner.

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45.

Juan Marichal finished his career with 243 victories, 142 losses, 244 complete games, 2,303 strikeouts and a 2.

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46.

Juan Marichal played in the 1962 World Series against the New York Yankees and the 1971 National League Championship Series against the Pirates.

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47.

Juan Marichal was named to nine All-Star teams, and was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1965 game in Minneapolis, in which he pitched three shutout innings to begin the game and faced the minimum nine batters, giving up one hit before a double play.

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48.

Juan Marichal fell short of election to the Baseball Hall of Fame during his first two years of eligibility, coming within seven votes in 1982, by all accounts because the Baseball Writers' Association of America voters still held his attack on Roseboro against him.

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49.

However, after a personal appeal by Roseboro, Juan Marichal was elected in 1983, and thanked Roseboro in his induction speech.

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50.

Juan Marichal was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on July 20,2003, in a pregame on-field ceremony at Pac Bell Park.

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51.

Alvin Dark not only consented to Juan Marichal leaving camp, but even gave the pitcher two plane tickets.

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