Caple: What if a Marichal-Roseboro brawl happened today?
From Jim Caple at ESPN.com on August 21, 2015, with mention of SABR member John Rosengren:
The Kansas City Royals received considerable coverage and social media attention for fighting earlier this season, but the brawl that has been written and talked about more than any other in baseball history took place 50 years ago Saturday: the infamous fight between San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro.
The Giants and Dodgers were fighting for the National League lead, and their heated rivalry intensified early in the Aug. 22, 1965, game at Candlestick Park when Marichal knocked down Maury Wills and Ron Fairly with tight, inside pitches. This was a much more common pitching tactic in those days, but Dodgers starter Sandy Koufax did not hit a Giants batter in retaliation. “He said, ‘No, that’s not my game,'” then-Dodgers second baseman Jim Lefebvre recalled last week.
Instead, Roseboro decided to retaliate himself.
With Marichal batting in the third inning, Roseboro threw a ball back to Koufax so close to Marichal that he said it nicked him in the ear. Marichal responded by confronting Roseboro, and the two exchanged curses. The catcher took a step toward Marichal, and Marichal responded by lifting his bat and crashing it down on Roseboro’s head, opening a 2-inch wound that required 14 stitches. The benches emptied, with Willie Mays, a close friend of Roseboro’s, helping restore order.
Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13470591/what-juan-marichal-hit-john-roseboro-bat-today-world
Originally published: August 21, 2015. Last Updated: August 21, 2015.