July 2, 1963: Warren Spahn vs. Juan Marichal

Marichal (left) and Spahn after the game

July 2, 1963: Former Sports Illustrated writer Jim Kaplan, who has written many books on baseball, wrote a dual biography of the opposing pitchers in the game played at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on this day, focusing on this game. He titled his book The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century.

Spahn, 42 years old and a native of Buffalo, New York, was a lefthanded pitcher, and had been decorated for his service in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He had helped the Braves win National League Pennants in Boston in 1948, and in Milwaukee in 1957 and 1958, winning the 1957 World Series. He would finish his career with 363 wins, the most of any lefthanded pitcher ever, and the most of any pitcher of either hand in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era.

Marichal, 25 and from the Dominican Republic, was righthanded, but was already building a career that would make him the all-time winningest pitcher among Latin Americans, with 243. (He has since been surpassed by Dennis Martínez and Bartolo Colón.) He had helped the San Francisco Giants win the 1962 Pennant. He didn't seem to have much in common with Spahn, outside of talent. But each man was known for a windup with a very high leg-kick.

Marichal allowed a single to Frank Bolling in the 1st inning. Also, an error by 3rd baseman Harvey Kuenn allowed Del Crandall to reach 2nd base in the 2nd. In the 4th, he walked Norm Larker, and allowed singles to Mack Jones and Crandall, but Larker tried to score on Crandall's single, and Willie Mays threw him out at the plate.

He walked Lee Maye in the 5th, and Maye stole 2nd, but was stranded there. Denis Menke singled and stole 2nd in the 6th, but was stranded. In the 7th, Crandall led off the 7th with a single, but was caught stealing. Spahn took matters into his own hands, and doubled, but was stranded. Marichal walked Aaron in the 8th, but stranded him.

In the 2nd, Spahn allowed a single to Orlando Cepeda, who stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on a flyout. He allowed a single to Willie McCovey in the 4th. In the 7th, he allowed singles to Cepeda and Ed Bailey, but they couldn't score. The Giants had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th, when Felipe Alou singled with 2 outs, but Cepeda popped up. Both Spahn and Marichal had pitched shutouts, and it was on to extra innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, Ernie Bowman bunted his way onto 1st base, but Spahn stranded him. Neither pitcher allowed a baserunner in the 11th or the 12th. The pitchers had the opposite motivation: Spahn said he didn't want a kid to beat him, and Marichal said he didn't want an old man to beat him.

Frank Bolling singled with 2 out in the top of the 13th, but was stranded. Bowman led off the bottom of the 13th with a single, but Spahn picked him off 1st base. In the top of the 14th, Marichal walked Larker, but stranded him. Spahn ran into real trouble in the bottom of the 14th. Kuenn led off with a double. With 1st base open, Mays was intentionally walked -- his run meant nothing. Spahn got Willie McCovey to pop up, and Felipe Alou to fly out. Cepeda grounded to Menke at 3rd, but he made an error, loading the bases. But Spahn got Bailey to fly out.

Both pitchers went 1-2-3 in the 15th inning. With 2 outs in the top of the 16th, Menke singled, but Marichal got Larker to ground back to him. In the bottom of the 16th, Spahn got Kuenn to fly to center. Maybe he should have walked Mays intentionally again, because, at 12:31 AM on July 3, Mays hit a long home run to left field.

Giants 1, Braves 0. There's no record of how many pitches each man threw, but Marichal faced 59 batters, Spahn 56. Marichal had 10 strikeouts, Spahn only 2; however, Spahn walked only 1 batter, Marichal 4; Marichal allowed 8 hits, Spahn 9. For the game, Spahn had a WHIP -- Walks plus Hits, and that total divided by Innings Pitched -- of 0.652, while Marichal's was 0.750. Spahn's ERA for the game was 0.56, while Marichal's, of course, was 0.00.

The game lasted 4 hours and 10 minutes. It wasn't well-reported outside of the West Coast, because it ended at 2:30 AM Pacific Time, 5:30 Eastern Time. But as both men's reputations grew, so did that of the game.

It was 30 years to the day after New York Giants starter Carl Hubbell pitched 18 innings for a 1-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Cards starter Tex Carleton pitched 16 innings as well.

Spahn won 202 games during the 1950s, making him the winningest pitcher of the decade. Marichal won 191 games during the 1960s, more than any other pitcher, including Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Bob Gibson.

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July 2, 1963 was a Tuesday. Marvel Comics published X-Men #1 on this day. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. Al Downing allowed just 1 hit, a single to Cam Carreon in the 7th inning. He also walked 6 batters, but struck out 10. Hector Lopez hit a home run. Roger Maris went 1-for-3. Mickey Mantle was injured. Yogi Berra, in his last full season as a player, also did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 1-for-3 with a walk for the Cubs. Duke Snider did the same for the Mets.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics, 7-2 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. D.C. Stadium was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4 with a walk. Al Kaline went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and an RBI.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Colt .45s, 6-4 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Frank Robinson did not play for the Reds, but rookie Pete Rose did, and went 3-for-5. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Don Drysdale pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Curt Simmons. Stan Musial, in his final season, got a hit as a pinch-hitter.