Along with the article on Lincecum and Cain, the latest SI also has a piece in "The Vault", recounting the incident involving Juan Marichal and John Roseboro. As has frequently been the case where this story is concerned, the article (reprinted from 1965) is a ridiculously slanted account of what actually took place.

"...Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, swinging his bat like a headsman's ax, had opened a two-inch gash and raised a swelling the size of a slice of cantaloupe on the left side of Roseboro's head..."

"I've never seen one human being attack another with a club," said mild-mannered Wally Moon, who offered to take on Orlando Cepeda in the 60-man melee that followed the clubbing."

"I thought it had knocked Roseboro's eye out," said Dodgers manager Walter Alston. "There was nothing but blood where his left eye should have been. A man might as well have a gun as use a bat like that."

I found a better article in The Seattle Times, of all places. It's an AP story from 1990, written by Steve Wilstein, who actually appears to have done some research, and even manages to give background and history leading up to the incident.

A few facts:

1) According to Tom Haller, Maury Wills instigated the bad blood between the two teams during the Friday night game, by intentionally hitting Haller in the mask on the follow-through of his swing during an at bat. Wills was actually awarded first base as a result of his act, due to "catcher's interference".

2) When Matty Alou attempted to retaliate (again, during the Friday night game) by tapping Roseboro on his glove during a subsequent at bat, the umpire ignored it. But Roseboro began threatening the Giants, growling, "The next guy who does that gets it in the head".

3) On Sunday, Marichal threw a pitch near Wills' head.

4) During Marichal's subsequent at bat, with Sandy Koufax choosing not to retaliate, Roseboro began firing his return throws to Koufax next to Marichal's ear. When one throw came especially close to Marichal's head (possibly even nicking him on the ear), Marichal turned around and asked Roseboro to stop.

5) At this point, Roseboro came out of his crouch, yanked off his mask, and began advancing on Marichal in menacing fashion. Marichal (even according to the SI piece) began backing away, while holding the bat up in a gesture of self-defense.

6) As Roseboro continued to advance, and Marichal continued to retreat, Marichal felt that Roseboro was about to swing his mask at him. So he raised his bat and hit him twice, before being restrained.

7) Roseboro suffered a 2-inch wound to the scalp, which bled profusely and required 14 stitches to close.

A few thoughts of my own:

1) If you've seen the famous Neil Liefer photos of the incident, or even footage, you'll see that Marichal was not "swinging his bat like a headsman's ax". Had he swung the bat with that kind of force, Roseboro undoubtedly would've suffered much more traumatic injuries than he did. He certainly would've suffered a larger wound and a concussion, if not a fractured skull.

2) Oh, poor, sweet, mild-mannered Wally Moon! I felt a tear form in the corner of my eye as I read of Moon's tender innocence lost. How brave of him to offer to take on big, mean, ethnically menacing Orlando Cepeda!!

3) Not mentioned anywhere is the fact that there aren't many wounds that bleed like a scalp wound. A 2-inch wound to the scalp is not something anyone would hope for, but relatively speaking, it's not a major injury. Roseboro did not suffer even a concussion. Contrary to what Walter Alston said, both of Roseboro's eyes remained firmly ensconced in their respective sockets.

4) What Marichal did was wrong, and horrifying, and largely inexcusable. It's right that he was punished. But there definitely was an element of self-defense to what Marichal did, and Roseboro also should've been punished (to a lesser degree) for his part in what took place. It was Roseboro who was throwing the baseball at Marichal's head, and it was Roseboro who advanced on Marichal wearing full catcher's gear and wielding a mask. I think Marichal's options at that point were to:

• Run--this was never going to happen in the macho world of pro sports
• Fight Roseboro--an unfair fight, with Roseboro fully protected and wielding a mask
• Drop the bat and continue backing away until his teammates came to his defense--this probably would've been the best option
• Use the bat like a pole to keep Roseboro at bay
• Hit Roseboro with the bat

5) It's understandable that people on the scene were shaken up--particularly Roseboro's teammates. But that's no excuse for the writer of the SI piece transfering their one-sided hysteria to print.

I found another account, by a Dodger fan, which gives a brief and fairly even-handed summary. The fan's account of another incident from 1987, involving Mike Marshall and Scott Garrelts, is also worth reading. It actually reads more like a Giants fan's account.

I also found the beginnings of what looked like longer studies on the incident. But they were archived and not accessible without paying a premium. Some of you may have access to more complete accounts of what actually took place.