Juan Marichal - the Dominican Dandy - Legends of the Mound

Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez (born October 20, 1937), nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1975, mostly with the San Francisco Giants. Known for his high leg kick, variety of pitches, arm angles and deliveries, pinpoint control, and durability, Marichal won 18 games to help the Giants reach the 1962 World Series, and went on to earn 191 victories in the 1960s, the most of any major league pitcher. He won over 20 games six times, on each occasion posting an earned run average (ERA) below 2.50 and striking out more than 200 batters, and became the first right-hander since Bob Feller to win 25 games three times; his 26 wins in 1968 remain a franchise record.

Marichal led the National League (NL) in wins, innings pitched, complete games and shutouts twice each. He 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. He pitched a no-hitter in June 1963, and two weeks later outdueled Warren Spahn for a 1–0 victory in 16 innings; Marichal also had three one-hitters–including one in his major league debut–and six two-hitters. One of the most outstanding performers in All-Star history, he was named to the team in nine seasons, recording an ERA of 0.50 in eight appearances and being named Most Valuable Player of the 1965 contest.

On August 22, 1965, Marichal was one of the principal figures in perhaps the most violent incident in major league history. While batting in a heated game against the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers, he struck catcher John Roseboro in the head with his bat after Roseboro had thrown the ball back to the mound, brushing past Marichal's face; the blow opened a gash in Roseboro's head that required stitches, and set off a huge brawl between the teams. Marichal was suspended and received a then-record fine, also paying a financial settlement, but the two players later reconciled, and eventually became close friends. Roseboro would later lobby to get Marichal elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame after he failed to get elected on his first two ballots due to this incident. Marichal would later become a pallbearer at Roseboro's funeral.

Marichal's 243 wins, 2.84 ERA, 244 complete games and 3,444 innings pitched with the Giants are San Francisco team records; his 2,281 strikeouts, 446 games started and 52 shutouts with the club place him behind only Christy Mathewson in franchise history. At the time of his retirement, he ranked sixth in National League history in strikeouts (2,282) and shutouts (52); his 244 complete games ranked ninth among NL pitchers active after 1920. Marichal was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983; he was the first Dominican player and the first foreign-born player ever elected.

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Bernard: Elegant and electric,
Juan Marichal was poetry

in motion on the mound.

With a high leg kick and pinpoint control,
he turned every game into theater.

The first Dominican-born Hall of
Famer, he dazzled the '60s with

flair, pride, and precision — leaving
batters guessing and fans spellbound.

They called him the Dominican
Dandy, and his legacy still

dances in the dirt of the diamond.

Now, here’s the track: Juan
Marichal — The Dominican Dandy, from

the album Legends of the mound.

He kicked the sky with every throw.

A high or green, a deadly
show to grace, assassin.

And black each pitch path, no way back.

He caught the zone with fire
and fly like for a tree.

Dare the Dominican Danny poison them

winds of.

Santo

Doming.

He made the baseball diamond ring.

No.

Like his

so vivid, he didn't shout, he let it
fly and made the close one eye against.

The same, the strike his, he spun
like legend, like star, and still.

How far, how far

the Dominican.

In baseball,

the bat,

he left the hill with no regret.

A master still with silhouette.

In shadows, cast by light and flame.

Bernard: Thanks for
listening to History Remixed.

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more baseball-inspired music on

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and all streaming platforms.

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the artist, History Remixed, for

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