In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, let’s celebrate the life and career of MLB great Juan Marichal.
While Juan Marichal is inarguably one of the great pitchers in MLB history, his name doesn’t always appear in the top echelon with hurlers like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax. Even though Marichal threw a no-hitter, was a 10-time All-Star, and an ERA leader, he never won a Cy Young Award as the top pitcher in the National League.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Marichal learned the game of baseball from his older brother, Gonzalo, who also taught him how to field and bat. Every weekend, Marichal played the sport with Gonzalo and friends using wassama tree branches as bats, and creating gloves out of canvas tarps. Marichal knew the Alou brothers—Felipe, Jesus, and Matty—who later played with Marichal on the San Francisco Giants teams of the 1960s.
Marichal made his MLB debut in 1960, the second native Dominican to play in the league (Ozzie Virgil, Sr., NY Giants, was the first). Marichal went 6-2 that year with a 2.66 ERA. In 1962, he led the Giants to the NL pennant and to the World Series against the New York Yankees. He pitched briefly during the World Series loss against the Yankees, but an injury sidelined him for the remainder of the Series.
Marichal’s breakout season came in 1963, when he won 25 games. He had 248 strikeouts with a 2.41 ERA, and pitched a no-hitter against the Houston Colt .45s. Marichal continued to win 20 or more wins throughout the remainder of the 1960s.
Marishal pictured in 1965 (photo, SI)
Marichal also led the league twice in complete games, shutouts, innings, and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched). He led the league in winning percentage in 1966 with .806. He was also the ERA leader in 1969 with a 2.10 ERA.
Marichal continued to play for the San Francisco Giants until 1973. Then he played one season with the Boston Red Sox (1974) and a final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1975).
Overall, Marichal finished his career with over 3,507 innings pitched. He had 243 wins, threw 244 complete games, had 2,303 strikeouts, and a 2.89 ERA. Incredible numbers by any scale.
In 1983, Marichal was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first Dominican player and the first foreign-born player ever elected. Marichal delivered most of his remarks in Spanish and acknowledged all the Dominican people in the audience.
Later in life, Marichal became a Spanish radio broadcaster and an analyst for ESPN Deportes. He also served as a Dominican Republic cabinet minister, holding the position of Minister of Sports and Physical Education. Personally, he got great satisfaction from watching his son-in-law, Jose Rijo, lead the Cincinnati Reds to the 1990 World Series sweep against the Oakland Athletics.
Marichal will turn 88 years old on October 20th, and it’s clear what his life force is. In his autobiography, “Before I die, I will be happy if people say of me that I did something good for other people… I want to be remembered more for helping people than for what I did in baseball.”
