People, Locations, Episodes

John Roseboro, Baseball Player born

John Roseboro

On this date in 1933, John Roseboro, a Black baseball player, was born.

John Roseboro was in Ashland, OH.  He succeeded Roy Campanella as the Dodgers' full-time catcher in 1957. He caught some of the greatest pitchers in the national league for the next ten years and was a four-time All-Star. He was the starting catcher in 1959, 1963, 1965, and 1966 World Series, with the Dodgers winning the championship the first three times.

Roseboro will also be remembered as the player Juan Marichal was clubbed over the head with a bat on Aug. 22, 1965, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Marichal contended Roseboro returned a pitch close to his head while he was batting.  He hit Roseboro over the head twice, opening a 2-inch gash that sent blood to the catcher's face. The Giants and Dodgers, already heated rivals battling for the National League (NL) pennant, got into a brawl that lasted 14 minutes.

N.L. President Warren Giles suspended Marichal for eight games and fined him $1,750. He also kept Marichal from traveling to Los Angeles for the final Giants-Dodgers series of that season. Roseboro said he did nothing to provoke Marichal and sued him for $110,000 in damages. After years of bitterness, they became friends in the 1980s, getting together occasionally at old-timers' games or golf tournaments.

A left-handed hitter, Roseboro had a lifetime batting average of .249 in 14 seasons with the Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins, and Washington Senators. He also was a member of N.L. All-Star teams in 1958, 1961, and 1962. He developed medical problems, including heart trouble, prostate cancer and strokes. John Roseboro died on August 16, 2002 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

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