How many FlashReport readers are old and wise enough to remember The Marichal Incident in 1965?

     Janice and I  went to the Angels game last night and stayed all the way to the exciting but disappointing  9-8 loss to the Seattle Mariners.   Just about two weeks ago,  we also had the opportunity to attend the opening day ceremonies and game at Dodger Stadium vs. the San Francisco Giants.

     Though I have become an Angels fan, I was born in the Bay Area, and my dad and grandmother were both born in San Francisco.   I rooted for the Giants as a kid, followed intently the Giant/Dodger rivalry thru the 1960s, and didn’t really turn into an Angel fan until the 1979 season when they won their first division title. ( I lived in Anaheim for a while near the stadium and remember the days when Nolan Ryan could give up one hit and still be the losing pitcher in a 1-0 game!)

     Well, last night, when the opposing and rival Mariners took the field, the Angels fans didn’t boo.   And some of the crowd actually applauded when the Seattle players did something exceptional.  My wife, a National League-bred Midwestern Reds fan in infancy, noted that the Orange County crowd was much nicer to the rival Mariners than the Dodger fans were to the "hated" Giants just a week before.  She liked that.  And she asked if I had an explanation for why the Giants were so "hated" in Los Angeles.

     My response was not to take the easy route and say that the Orange County crowd was simply more civil than the Dodger stadium crowd.   Instead, I took the opportunity, Sapporo in hand, to enlighten Janice at length about "The Marichal Incident."

     Famed Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro will always be remembered as the player that Giants pitcher Juan Marichal clubbed over the head with a bat during a game between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on August 22, 1965.

     Earlier in the game, Marichal had come close to hitting Dodgers Maury Wills and Ron Fairly with brush back pitches. When Marichal came up to bat against Sandy Koufax in the bottom of the third inning, Koufax wouldn’t pitch a brush back.   (A classy guy.)   But the catcher, Johnny Roseboro, really wanted to.  Roseboro threw back Koufax’s pitches very close to Marichal’s nose.  After the second time he did it, the Giant’s Marichal simply turned, took his bat, and hit Roseboro twice over the head with his bat, opening a two-inch wound that sent blood flowing and that would require 14 stitches. The Giants and the Dodgers cleared their respective benches and began a 15-minute wrestling match on the field before Koufax, Giant’s captain Willie Mays and other peacemakers restored peace.

     Marichal was suspended for eight games, fined $1,750, and banned from Dodger Stadium for the rest of the season. This was a big deal!  The Giants later had a 14-game winning streak, but the Dodgers got even hotter to win both the pennant, and the World Series from the Twins.

     It is pretty much standard operating procedure to hear very loud boos for the Giants at Dodger stadium.   Can you blame the fans, knowing the history?  I once went to a Giants/Dodgers game there and a little leaguer sitting next to me booed like crazy every time Barry Bonds was up to bat.   After the third time, I asked the little fellow why he was booing Barry so hard.   He said "because he is a Giant, and he is so good!"

     One of these days I want to see a Giants/Dodgers game at AT and T Park in San Francisco and see how the crowd operates there.   But until then, I think I prefer the Angels Stadium crowd.  I’m not so sure that booing some of these great players (perhaps allowing for Bonds for people who don’t understand rules as they existed at the time) is such a good thing.  But I will say, The Marichal Incident helps explain the boos in Dodger Stadium for the Giants.  After all, who would want their catcher beaten on the head with a baseball bat!

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.