A Brief History
On August 22, 1965, San Francisco Giants pitcher, Juan Marichal, was batting against the LA Dodgers when he took exception to the chit chat from Dodgers catcher John Roseboro. Instead of merely replying, Marichal clobbered Roseboro over the head with the bat.
Digging Deeper
This act of violence sparked a 14 minute long fight between the irate teams, an incident called the “Battle of Candlestick” after the ball park. Marichal was treated harshly, at least for that time, with an eight game suspension and a fine of $1,750, which was the National League record fine at that time!
Roseboro was not happy, and sued Marichal for $110,000, but settled for $7,500. Oddly enough, the two combatants later became good friends. Marichal won 243 games and posted a career ERA of 2.89, ending up in the Hall of Fame. Roseboro, born in Ashland, Ohio, was a six time All Star and three time World Series Champ.
Note: In 1965, major league baseball salaries averaged only $14,341. The highest paid player that year was Willie Mays of the Giants, pulling down $105,000!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What is the worst sports assault you have seen?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Marichal, Juan. Juan Marichal: My Journey from the Dominican Republic to Cooperstown. MVP Books, 2011.
Rosengren, John. The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption. Lyons Press, 2014.
The featured image in this article, a frame from amateur footage of the brawl taken from the stands, is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart as well as a detailed definition of “publication” for public art.
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