August 22 in Sports History: Baseball's ugliest brawl

Posted on Tue Aug 22, 2006 at 01:31:16 PM EST in MLB
More on: sports history, SF Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, MLB (all tags)

In 1965: The ugliest brawl in baseball history took place at Candlestick Park in a game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Upset that Dodgers’ pitcher Sandy Koufax would not retaliate against Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal for hitting two Dodgers, catcher John Roseboro took matters into his own hands. When Marichal stepped to the plate, Roseboro threw the ball back to Koufax by barely missing Marichal’s head. Marichal said something, and a 14-minute melee ensued when Marichal hit Roseboro on the head with the bat. Roseboro needed 14 stitches to close the wound. Marichal, one of the best pitchers of the sixties, was suspended eight games and fined a then-record $1750. The brawl also cost him election into the Hall of Fame on his first two ballots. Check out this story for more.

In 2000: At Coors Field, Colorado Rockies’ catcher Brett Mayne became just the third position player in history to win a game on the mound. Having already used an NL record 10 pitchers, the Rockies sent Mayne to the mound, and he worked a scoreless 11th inning. He got the win when the Rockies scored in the bottom of the inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6. Also, in San Diego, Derek “Operation Shutdown” Bell of the Mets mopped up on the mound in a 16-1 loss to the Padres. He didn’t fare as well, giving up three hits, three walks and four earned runs. (baseballlibrary.com)

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