August 22, 1965, 60 years ago: The ugliest moment in the nasty rivalry between the Dodgers and the Giants occurs at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. As bad as it was when it was the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants from 1889 to 1957, nothing like this ever happened then. Nor has it happened between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants since.
The key figures were Dodger catcher John Roseboro and Giant pitcher Juan Marichal. It was all the more shocking because both men were normally even-tempered and seemed to avoid controversy.
Roseboro was 32 years old, a native of Ashland, Ohio, had succeeded Roy Campanella as the Dodgers' starting catcher in 1958, their 1st season in Los Angeles. By this point, he had won a Gold Glove, made 5 All-Star Games, and helped the Dodgers win the 1959 and 1963 World Series.
But all was not well. A few days earlier, Watts, a neighborhood on the south side of Los Angeles, had broken out in a race riot. Roseboro lived a short distance from the worst of it, and was deeply troubled by it.
Marichal was 27, his age matching his uniform number. A native of the Dominican Republic, he had appeared in 4 All-Star Games, including being named the Most Valuable Payer in the Game played the previous month, had helped the Giants win the 1962 National League Pennant, and had pitched a no-hitter in 1963. Along with the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax and the St. Louis Cardinals' Bob Gibson, he was 1 of the 3 best pitchers in the game.
But all was not well. His country was locked in a civil war, which would be ended with the intervention of American troops and the scheduling of free elections. From his apartment in San Francisco, Marichal and his wife Alma were concerned for the safety of the family they had left behind.
So Roseboro at home, and Marichal abroad, had conflict weighing heavily on their minds as their teams took the field at Candlestick Park on August 22. At the start of the day's games, the Dodgers led the NL by half a game over the Milwaukee Braves, a game and a half over the Giants, and 2 1/2 over the Cincinnati Reds. It was a 4-way race, and still within striking distance, making it possibly a 6-team race, were the Philadelphia Phillies, 6 back; and the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8 1/2.
The opposing pitchers were Marichal and Koufax. The aces. And it was the rivalry in the NL, maybe in all of baseball. So a full house of 42,807 was on hand.
(The rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox had gone dormant in 1952, when the Sox' Ted Williams went into the Korean War, and it had not yet recovered. Even a brawl at Yankee Stadium in 1967 didn't really revive it. The revival would take a brawl at Fenway Park in 1973.)
The game began with Maury Willis, the Dodgers' speed-demon shortstop, bunting for a hit. Marichal thought bunting was a cheap way to get on base. When Wills came up in the 2nd inning, Marichal threw a knockdown pitch that sent Wills sprawling. Two at-bats earlier, Roseboro had singled home Wes Parker to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Willie Mays led off, and Koufax threw a pitch over Mays' head. Neither Marichal nor Koufax was known for intentionally throwing at batters, but the messages had been sent and received. Cap Peterson hit a home run to close the Giants to within 2-1. That should have been the end of it.
It wasn't. In the top of the 3rd, Ron Fairly came up, having doubled Wills home in the 1st. Marichal nearly hit Fairly, and he hit the deck. Home plate umpire Shag Crawford had seen enough: He warned both dugouts that any further retaliations would result in ejections. That should have been the end of it.
It wasn't. Marichal led off the bottom of the 3rd. He took Koufax' 1st 2 pitches. After the 2nd pitch, Roseboro threw the ball back, close to Marichal's head. Marichal claimed the pitch actually hit his ear. Roseboro later admitted it, saying it was retaliation from Marichal throwing at Wills, and that he had done it before.
Marichal, whose English was heavily accented but very good, turned around and yelled at Roseboro. Roseboro rose from his crouch and clenched the fist of his ungloved right hand.
When Marichal eventually told his side of the story, he said that he was afraid Roseboro was about to hit him. He raised his bat and hit Roseboro over the head. He swung repeatedly, hitting Roseboro at least twice on his no-longer-helmeted head, opening a 2-inch gash that left blood on his face, needing 14 stitches.
Both dugouts emptied. Each team's best player, Mays and Koufax, tried to act as peacemaker. It took 14 minutes before the game could be restarted. Marichal, naturally, was thrown out of the game. Bob Schroder was sent up to pinch-hit. Jeff Torborg replaced Roseboro as Dodger catcher. Koufax got Schroder and Tito Fuentes out. But he later admitted that he was unsettled by the incident, and he walked Jim Davenport and Willie McCovey, and Mays hit a home run, giving the Giants a 4-2 lead.
Ron Herbel replaced Marichal on the mound, and pitched into the 9th inning. He ran out of gas, and Giant manager Herman Franks had to bring in Masanori Murakami, who would be baseball's only Asian pitcher until 1994. He nailed down the save. Giants 4, Dodgers 3.
NL President Warren Giles find Marichal $1,750, then a League record. (It's equivalent to $17,800 today.) That doesn't seem like much, but he also suspended Marichal for 8 games -- which turned out to be 2 starts. Those starts turned out to be the 1st game of a doubleheader in Pittsburgh on August 26, which Herbel started, and the Giants lost to the Pirates, 8-0; and in New York on August 29, with Bobby Bolin starting, and the Giants beat the Mets, 8-3.
Now, there's no guarantee that Marichal would have won that game on August 26. The Pirates had 4 hitters batting at least .288, led by Roberto Clemente at .340. And they beat Gaylord Perry in the 2nd game of that doubleheader, 6-5.
But when the season ended, the Dodgers had won the Pennant by 2 games over the Giants. Had Marichal been available for both games, and won both? The Dodgers would have won the Pennant by 1 game. So, in the end, it didn't make a difference.
Or... did it? Giles also suspended Marichal for the remaining 2 games between the teams, at Dodger Stadium on September 6 and 7. But, no, that didn't make a difference, either, because he wouldn't have appeared in them, anyway: He won the last game before that, away to the Chicago Cubs; and the Giants won both of those games at Chavez Ravine.
The Giants went 26-16 after August 22, including a 14-game winning streak that put them in 1st place by 4 1/2 games. But a 3-7 run that began on September 21 doomed them. Marichal was 19-9 when the clubbing occurred; he went 3-4 the rest of the way (although he did also have a save). Maybe he was unduly affected by what he did, but it looks like his team was not.
The Dodgers won the World Series in 1965. Marichal didn't face the Dodgers again until a Spring Training game on April 3, 1966 -- and Roseboro hit a home run off him. The Dodgers won the Pennant again in 1966, but lost the World Series. Neither team reached the postseason again until the Giants won the NL Western Division in 1971.
In 1975, running out the string, Marichal was signed by the Dodgers. Los Angeles fans revolted -- but Roseboro, who retired after the 1970 season, spoke up on his behalf, saying he'd forgiven Marichal, and asked the Dodger fans to do the same. He pitched only 2 games for the Dodgers, and was released, retiring with a career record of 243-142. He was the all-time winningest Hispanic pitcher until surpassed by Dennis Martínez (245-193), and later by Bartolo Colón (247-188).
He became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, but didn't make it. Nor did he make it in the election of 1982. It was widely speculated that the main reason for members of the Baseball Writers Association of America not voting for him was his clubbing of Roseboro. Roseboro made a public statement supporting Marichal's election, and he was elected in 1983. This built a friendship that lasted until Roseboro's death in 2002. Marichal served as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral.
As of August 22, 2025, Marichal is still alive.
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