Mr. Berra Welcomes Mr. Marichal

It was quite an eventful day at my day job today as Hall of Famer Juan Marichal visited his friend and Cooperstown colleague Yogi Berra at Yogi’s Museum & Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey.

There are too many stories to recall, but the one I really enjoyed centered on the time that Juan and his Giants battled the great Warren Spahn and the Braves for 16 innings until none other than Willie Mays won the game for San Francisco with a homer.

Marichal, who is doing World Series color commentary on ESPN Deportes along with San Diego Padres play-by-play man Eduardo Ortega, also had rave reviews for two Yankees in particular–Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.

In my opinion, Marichal’s greatness has been overshadowed by the fact he pitched in the same era as the likes of Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. But make no mistake, he WAS great. In a 16-year career he was 243-142, compiled an impressive 2.89 ERA and won 20 or more games six times, including two years when he won 25 and 26.