We’ve seen a renaissance in elite pitchers in Major League Baseball in the past several years that harkens back to previous eras like the 1960s when pitching ruled. Juan Marichal was one of the best pitchers of that era, winning more games than any other pitcher in that decade. He was one of the most intimidating pitchers of his time and is also remembered for his distinctive high leg kick.
Marichal’s stats through the 60s were incredible. Starting in 1963, when he went 25-8 with a 2.41 ERA, his next six years were 21-8/2.48, 22-13/2.13, 25-6/2.23, 14-10/2.76, 26-9/2.43 and 21-11/2.10. Yet even with those incredible numbers he didn’t win a Cy Young Award, which can partially be explained by the fact that until 1967 MLB only picked one winner, as opposed to one from each league. He also pitched in an era with Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Whitey Ford. He discusses this issue with Bob Costas in the interview clip above. Marichal was named to nine All-Star teams, however, and his All-Star Game record was 2–0 with a 0.50 ERA. He helped define an era when pitchers dominated the game.
Major League Baseball goes in waves. Hitters ruled over the past 20 years as countless records were broken, but with stiffer drug testing the era of the pitcher is back. Pitchers today may not be as intimidating as Marichal or Bob Gibson, but the stats of guys like Roy Halladay and Justin Verlander can rival the greats like Marichal, and MLB batting averages have fallen substantially.
This year has also been a year of no-hitters. Marichal got his no-no in 1963. Last week six Mariners pitchers, Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen, combined to throw a no-hitter. The umpire Brian Runge, also called the perfect game pitched earlier this year by the White Sox’s Philip Humber.
Still, there’s nobody today with the style and flare of Juan Marichal. He was a superb control pitcher, with 2,303 career strikeouts with only 709 walks, but it’s the leg kick and intimidation tactics that we all remember. From the Costas interview Marichal also seems to be a great guy who has a healthy perspective on his career.
Neither team played very well, and there were the usual controversial calls from the refs, but the 
I guess we can put a stop to those stories about whether Tiger can come back. Today’s win was vintage Tiger Woods, and now he has momentum heading into the US Open in a couple of weeks.
