 By Jack O'Connell - Although arguments could be offered in the cases of such Hall of Famers as Nolan Ryan, Jim Bunning, Don Sutton and Phil Niekro, it is safe to say that another of their Cooperstown comrades, Juan Marichal, is the best pitcher who never won a Cy Young Award.
Before getting too far into this discussion, it should be pointed out that Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove and Bob Feller were among those who didn't win the Cy Young Award, either. And neither did Cy Young, for that matter. But the Baseball Writers' Association of America did not establish the award for pitching excellence until 1956, which was Feller's last year in the major leagues and long after the others had retired or deceased, so their shutouts are understandable.
For those whose careers occurred once the award was in place, Marichal seemed to have the most seasons deserving of Cy Young Award recognition without once winning the trophy. He was winningest pitcher of the pitching-rich 1960s with 191 victories and the inspiration for Dominican pitchers who followed him, from Dennis Martinez to Pedro Martinez.
Marichal, who was known as the "Dominican Dandy," the first from his native country elected to the Hall of Fame, was so bypassed in Cy Young Award elections that he barely got any attention at all, let alone winning. This had led to speculation that his national origin was a factor. No one can know for sure but the voters themselves, yet an analysis of the elections draws to two conclusions -- that the voting procedure for most of his time was different from that of today and that Marichal was clearly the victim of exceedingly bad luck.
Three times, Marichal was trumped in the election by Sandy Koufax amid the lefthander's extraordinary, five-year run from 1962-66. Another time, Marichal placed second to a buzz-saw season by Bob Gibson (it's hard to claim racism in that election), and in what may have been his finest all-around season was overshadowed by the poster boy of the 1969 Miracle Mets, Tom Seaver.
All those elections came at a time when voters were permitted to choose only one pitcher and most occurred when only one Cy Young Award was presented, not one in each league, which went into effect in 1967.
Marichal's poor luck even extended to his only World Series appearance, for the San Francisco Giants against the New York Yankees in 1962. He started Game 4 at Yankee Stadium and pitched four innings but had to be removed when he broke a finger on a bunt attempt while at bat in the fifth and was out for the remainder of the Series, which the Yankees won in seven games.
The high-kicking right-hander who threw a variety of effective pitches from an assortment of arm angles rebounded in fine form in 1963 and began a stretch of exceptional seasons that nevertheless failed to earn him some hardware. Marichal pitched a no-hitter against the Houston Colt .45s June 15 and 17 days later won a 1-0, 16-inning marathon at Candlestick Park against the Milwaukee Braves and Warren Spahn in which the future Hall of Famers each went the distance. Marichal came out on top when Willie Mays homered with one out in the 16th.
By season's end, Marichal had posted a 25-8 record with a 2.41 ERA, 18 complete games, five shutouts and 248 strikeouts in 321 2/3 innings. That's quite impressive. Now here are Koufax's numbers for the same year: 25-5, 1.88 ERA, 20 complete games, 11 shutouts, 306 strikeouts in 311 innings. Marichal didn't receive a single vote as all 20 ballots contained only one name -- Koufax.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the pennant, helping Koufax pull off a rare double of winning the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Awards in the same season. It had been done previously by Brooklyn's Don Newcombe in 1956 and subsequently by Gibson with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968, Vida Blue of the Oakland A's in 1971, Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981, Willie Hernandez of the Detroit Tigers in 1984, Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox in 1986 and Dennis Eckersley of Oakland in 1992.
Marichal was victimized by another Los Angeles pitcher in 1964, but it wasn't Koufax or his Dodgers partner, Don Drysdale. Dean Chance of the Angels, who then played home games at Dodger Stadium two years before moving to Anaheim, was 20-9 and topped the majors with a 1.65 ERA as 11 of his 15 compete games were shutouts. Marichal was 21-8 with a 2.48 ERA, 22 complete games and four shutouts.
Chance was not unanimous but won by receiving 17 votes. Despite his record, Marichal did not get a vote as two writers voted for the Chicago Cubs' Larry Jackson (24-11, 3.14 ERA) and one for Koufax (19-5, 1.74 ERA).
Marichal had another strong year in 1965 (22-13, 2.13 ERA, 24 complete games, 10 shutouts, 240 strikeouts) but once more was outdone by Koufax (26-8, 2.04 ERA, 27 complete games, 8 shutouts, 382 strikeouts). Marichal may have done in himself Aug. 22 that year with the infamous bat-swinging incident in a Giants-Dodgers brawl in which he struck opposing catcher John Roseboro in the head and opened a gash that required 14 stitches.
The photograph of Marichal wielding his bat ran on the front pages of many newspapers and created an image that would stay with him even after he and Roseboro had settled their differences and became close friends. Roseboro went so far as to campaign on Marichal's behalf after he failed to win election to the Hall of Fame in his first two years on the ballot before he finally earned the writers' nod in 1983.
"I was very sorry for using the bat," Marichal said in later years. "It was a terrible thing to do, and I tried to make up for it as much as I could, but I believe it was held against me for a long time."
Marichal preferred the image of himself he saw on the June 10, 1966 edition of Time magazine which showed nine photographs of his signature windup that he used to compile a 25-6 record with a 2.23 ERA. It still wasn't enough to outdo Koufax, who was 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and for the third time was a unanimous Cy Young Award winner.
If ever there was as year for Marichal to break his Cy-less spell, it was 1967. Koufax had been forced into early retirement due to an arthritic elbow, and the BBWAA decided to reward one pitcher in each league. But Marichal, hampered by a leg injury, was 14-10 with a 2.76 ERA in 26 starts and wasn't even the best pitcher on his staff.
Teammate Mike McCormick, who was 22-10 with a 2.85 ERA in 40 starts, took honors that year and remains the only Giants pitcher to have won the Cy Young Award.
The 1968 season was one of Marichal's finest (26-9, 2.43 ERA, 30 complete games, 5 shutouts, 218 strikeouts) but that year belonged to Gibson (22-9, 28 complete games, 13 shutouts, 268 strikeouts), whose 1.12 ERA broke Walter Johnson's record and makes people wonder how he ever lost nine games.
Marichal may have been even better in 1969 when his 2.10 ERA led the majors in a 21-11 season that featured 27 complete games, including 8 shutouts, and 205 strikeouts. But Seaver was 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA and 208 strikeouts for one of the greatest underdog champions in history.
Unlike Koufax and Gibson, Seaver was not unanimous. With expansion to 12 teams in each league, there were now 24 voters. The other vote went not to Marichal but to Phil Niekro (23-13, 2.56 ERA, 193 strikeouts).
In 1970, the BBWAA changed the voting to the system still in effect today whereby writers select up to three pitchers in order of preference with first place worth five points, second place three points and third place one point. Marichal wasn't in the running that year as a severe reaction to penicillin resulting in arthritis contributed to a 12-10 mark and 4.11 ERA.
Marichal's last good season was 1971 when he was 18-11 with a 2.94 ERA for a Giants team that won the National League West title, but the runaway winner was the Cubs' Fergie Jenkins, who was 24-13 with 30 complete games in 39 starts totaling 325 innings and a 2.77 ERA.
This time, Marichal would at least gain mention on a ballot as he received one third-place vote. A pitcher who had a .631 winning percentage based on a 243-142 record, who completed 54 percent of his starts, who walked only 709 batters in 3,507 1/3 innings and who is number one on the career list of fewest walks per nine innings managed to yield but a single point in Cy Young elections.
"Dandy" got the last laugh, though. He earned a spot in Cooperstown alongside Koufax, Gibson, Seaver and Jenkins as well as other Cy Young winners Drysdale, Fingers, Spahn, Eckersley, Early Wynn, Whitey Ford, Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Jim "Catfish" Hunter and Bruce Sutter and ahead of 32 Cy Young Award winners that were eligible for Hall consideration but failed to make the grade.
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