The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball's Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption

by John Rosengren

Overview

One Sunday afternoon in August 1965, on a day when baseball’s most storied rivals, the Giants and Dodgers, vied for the pennant, the national pastime reflected the tensions in society and nearly sullied two men forever. Juan Marichal, a Dominican anxious about his family’s safety during the civil war back home, and John Roseboro, a black man living in South Central L.A. shaken by the Watts riots a week earlier, attacked one another in a moment immortalized by an iconic photo:  Marichal’s bat poised to strike Roseboro’s head.
     The violent moment–uncharacteristic of either man–linked the two forever and haunted both. Much like John Feinstein’s The Punch, The Fight of Their Lives examines the incident in its context and aftermath, only in this story the two men eventually reconcile and become friends, making theirs an unforgettable tale of forgiveness and redemption.
     The book also explores American culture and the racial prejudices against blacks and Latinos both men faced and surmounted. As two of the premiere ballplayers of their generation, they realized they had more to unite them than keep them apart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493007202
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/18/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

John Rosengren is the award-winning author of seven previous books. His most recent is the definitive biography of Hank Greenberg, Hall of Fame baseball player and America’s first Jewish superstar--Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes. Prior to that, he wrote Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid: The Year That Changed Baseball Forever, which chronicles the 1973 MLB season. It was a finalist for the 2008 CASEY Award, given to the best baseball book of the year, and received honorable mention for Outstanding Book of 2008 from the American Society of Journalists & Authors. His other books include Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win and a collaboration with Esera Tuaolo, Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL. A freelance journalist since 1981, Rosengren’s articles have appeared in more than 100 publications, including AARP, Cycle Sport, The History Channel Magazine, Men’s Journal, MLB Insiders Club Magazine, Penthouse, Reader’s Digest, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, Tennis, and Utne Reader. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, the American Society of Journalists & Authors and president of the ASJA’s Upper Midwest chapter. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the University of Minnesota’s journalism school. Rosengren lives with his wife and their two children in Minneapolis.

Table of Contents

Prologue: A Moment of Madness ix

Chapter 1 El Rey de Ponche 1

Chapter 2 My Own Little Bailiwick 19

Chapter 3 The Pride of the Dominican 37

Chapter 4 Filling Campy's Shoes 65

Chapter 5 Summer of Fury 81

Chapter 6 Bloody Sunday 107

Chapter 7 This Ain't Over 121

Chapter 8 That's Not How the Story Goes 143

Chapter 9 Johnny, I Need Your Help 169

Chapter 10 The Man behind the Mask 191

Acknowledgments 211

Sources 213

Bibliography 253

Index 265

About the Author 278

Editorial Reviews

Rosengren’s research brings to life one of the most graphic brawls on the baseball diamond. It is an important contribution, not only to baseball history, but to the history of race relations in the United States and Latin America.

NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture

Rosengren’s research brings to life one of the most graphic brawls on the baseball diamond. It is an important contribution, not only to baseball history, but to the history of race relations in the United States and Latin America.

NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture

For baseball fans of a certain age, it’s the ugliest thing they’ve ever seen in a game… Rosengren details not only the fight, but the role of race in 1965 America, how the two eventually made up, became friends and even signed photos of the fight together.”      —New York Post “must-read books” “When I heard the news that two baseball idols, admired by thousands of fans, gave the example of forgiving a past incident with a simple handshake, it gave me great satisfaction. John Rosengren’s excellent account of the story made me appreciate their act of kindness even more.”      —Tony Pérez, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame    “John Rosengren has spun a masterpiece with the skill of Juan Marichal’s pitching and John Roseboro’s catching.”      —Jim Kaplan, author of The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn,and the Pitching Duel of the Century “John Rosengren does a terrific job illuminating the people and times behind one of the ugliest incidents in baseball history. The friendship and forgiveness between Juan Marichal and John Roseboro is a powerful story well told.”      —Tom Verducci, senior writer for Sports Illustrated “This is a story about passion and pride. It’s a story about two men who came from very different backgrounds but shared a common bond. It is also a story about forgiveness with a theme that shows it’s never too late to make amends. John Rosengren extraordinarily depicts how two men long since retired taught the world a valuable lesson—that it is okay to forgive.”      —Andre Dawson, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame “With the perspective of a sociologist and narrative mastery of a deft storyteller, John Rosengren tells the intertwined stories of two men on a collision course seemingly since they were born. Rosengren builds to the bloody Sunday that shocked the baseball world, and then, in its haunting aftermath, tells how the two principals eventually faced down their guilt to forgive each other. This is fascinating reading on multiple levels—as baseball story, as case study in American socio-cultural history, and as subtle commentary on the inherent frailty, occasional ugliness, and ultimate grace of the human condition.”      —Josh Pahigian, author of several baseball books, including The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip and 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out “In an explosive decade, against the backdrop of baseball’s fiercest rivalry, amid the pressure of a pennant race, Juan Marichal and John Roseboro forged a moment that stood still forever—The Fight of Their Lives. John Rosengren tells how it improbably led from hostility via regret and guilt to healing and finally love. An incredible odyssey, beautifully told.”        —Curt Smith, author of Voices of The Game and The Voice: Mel Allen’s Untold Story “Author John Rosengren did baseball, Marichal and Roseboro a great service by re-opening this horrific episode and shedding light on the entire story. He presents us almost a fairy tale—two good people brought together in a significant conflict which got resolved over the years and everyone lived happily ever after…. This is a beautiful story of forgiveness, told factually, yet sympathetically, with a very emotional ending.”      —Spitball magazine

From the Publisher