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Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez (born October 20, 1937 in Laguna Verde, Dominican Republic) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball known for his high leg kick, dominating stuff and intimidation tactics, which included aiming pitches directly at the opposing batters' helmets. Marichal played for the San Francisco Giants for most of his career and he also played for the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers for the final two seasons of his career.

Biography

Marichal's delivery was renowned for one of the fullest windups in modern baseball, with a high kick of his left leg that went nearly vertical. Marichal maintained this delivery his entire career, and photographs taken near his retirement show the vertical kick only slightly diminished. The windup was the key to his delivery in that he was consistently able to conceal the type of pitch until it was on its way. Marichal was discovered by Ramfis Trujillo, the son of late Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Ramfis was the primary sponsor of the Dominican Air Force Baseball Team (Aviacion Dominicana), which Marichal pitched a 2-1 victory game in his native Monte Cristi. From the very moment the game ended, Marichal was a member of Aviacion Dominicana team, enlisted to the Air Force right on the spot by Ramfis' orders.

Marichal entered the major leagues in 1960 with the San Francisco Giants, for whom he made an immediate impression. In his debut, on July 19, 1960, he threw a one-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, walking one and striking out 12. He started 10 more games that seasons, finishing at 6-2 with a 2.66 ERA. He improved his victory totals to 13 and 18 over the following two seasons, respectively, before finally cracking the 20-victory plateau in 1963, when he went 25-8 with 248 strikeouts and a 2.41 ERA. Marichal enjoyed similar success through the 1969 season, posting more than 20 victories in every season except 1967, and never posting an ERA higher than 2.76. He led the league in victories in 1963 and 1968 when he won 26 games. He and Sandy Koufax were the only two Major League pitchers in the post-war era (1946-present) to have more than one season of 25 or more wins. Each pitcher had three such seasons in their careers.

Marichal finished in the top 10 in ERA seven consecutive years, starting in 1963 and culminating in 1969, in which year he led the league. During his career he also finished in the top 10 in strikeouts six times, top 10 in innings pitched eight times (leading the league twice), and top 10 in complete games 10 times. He led the league twice in shutouts, throwing 10 of them in 1965.

Read more at Wikipedia.org