The Dodgers, Juan Marichal and the Beanball

Sept. 21, 1969: Surfers are cleaning up their act, The Times says. Richard Nixon owns a surfboard? Jules Feiffer on the Miranda case. All the pseudo-surfers have become pseudo-hippies!

The Dodgers and Giants were fighting again and Juan Marichal was in the middle of it. Marichal, infamous for taking his bat to Dodger catcher John Roseboro, hit Willie Davis in July and this was the first time since that incident Davis and Marichal met. Nothing happened when Davis was hitting but Marichal was unhappy that a couple of pitches during one of his at-bats were too close. "The Dodgers, they are dummies if they think I threw at Davis,"  he told The Times' Ross Newhan. "Sure I am not perfect. Some people say I should have great control and should never hit a batter. Yes, but I am not a rifle. Even a great shooter will miss." Dodger Manager Walter Alston wasn't buying. "He is the sensitive one if he thinks he can throw at other people and not be thrown at in return," Alston said. "I can name you a dozen hitters who bear Marichal's scars. He stuck it in Willie Davis' ear and he did it on purpose." Makes me think twice about the designated hitter. --Keith Thursby