Rosey

Today my topic is Johnny Roseboro. One of the things I often wished was that I had been able to see Campy play when he was at his peak. Even one year in LA would have been nice, but it was not to be. So for my formative years watching the game, our catcher most of the time was John Junior Roseboro.

He was born in Ashland, Ohio on May 13th, 1933. He enrolled at Central State University. He was signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent prior to the 1952 season and began his pro career with the Sheboygan Indians of the Wisconsin State League. He hit .365 to finish second in the batting race.

He missed the 1954 season due to military service. He also played for Great Falls, Pueblo, and Montreal before being called up to the Dodgers in July of 1957. He appeared in 35 games and hit .135.

With Campy’s tragic accident in the winter of 57 and the teams move to Los Angeles he was thrust into the starting role in 1958 and performed very well. He hit .271 and had 14 homers and 43 RBI’s. Defensively  he was outstanding and threw out 25 of 42 runners who attempted steals. For you percentage geeks, that is 60 %. Not bad at all. He was a reserve on the all-star team in 58.

In 59 he regressed at the plate some, but his defense and ability to throw out base runners remained elite. He did not however have a very good World Series at the plate. But LA won its first World Series, and they can never take that away.

In 1960 his hitting again regressed, but there were few options in the minors and his leadership of the pitching staff while catching was still excellent. His caught stealing percentage was consistently around 40 or better and his fielding percentage always near the top of the league. And he was durable.

In 1961 he rebounded with the bat and slugged 18 homers, hit .251 and drove in 59 runs. He would never hit double digit homers again for the next 9 seasons of his career. Although he would continually drive in close to 40 runs a year and hit a personal high of .287 in 64. But his defense and leadership never wavered.

Even though his postseason numbers were never that great, he did make contributions. He hit a 3 run homer off of Whitey Ford in game 1 of the 63 series that put LA and Koufax in the driver’s seat on their way to a 4 game sweep of the Bombers.

And in the 65 series he got a 2 run single in game 3 that helped win that game and keep the Twins from going up 3-0. 65 was a tumultuous year for everyone in LA with the Watts Riots. And then on August 22nd in San Francisco it all came to a head.

Those of us who were alive then were probably watching the game on KTTV as the Dodgers in those days only broadcast the away games against the Giants on local TV.

Wills led off the game with a bunt single and eventually scored on a double by Ron Fairly. Juan Marichal thought that was a cheap way to get a hit. So when Wills came up in the second, Marichal sent some chin music that sent him sprawling to the ground. When Mays came up in the second, Koufax, who refused to throw at anyone for fear of injuring them because of his velocity, ceremonially threw one over Willie’s head.

In the top of the 3rd, Marichal uncorked a fastball that Fairly had to dive to avoid. The pitch caused home plate ump Shag Crawford to warn both benches that any further retaliations would not be tolerated.

So when Marichal came up in the bottom of the 3rd he expected Koufax to retaliate, but instead Rosey whistled the return throw to the mound right past his ear. A common practice it seems. Whether it actually hit his ear or not is open to debate. But Marichal turned and confronted the catcher.

Roseboro stood up and clenched his fists and what happened afterwards ignited a 14 minute brawl. Marichal struck Rosey twice with his bat opening up a scalp wound that would require 14 stitches to close. Koufax and Mays played peacekeepers.

Marichal was ejected from the game and subsequently suspended for 10 days, ( 2 starts ) and fined 1750 dollars. He was also not allowed to travel with the Giants on their next trip to Dodger Stadium, a 2 game set the Giants won without Marichal. But his suspension most likely cost the Giants a shot at the pennant.

Forgotten is the fact that the incident seemed to unnerve the usually calm Koufax and he gave up a 3 run homer to Mays that eventually won the game. They tried to get Roseboro and Marichal to meet and bury the hatchet, but Roseboro declined.

Dodgers won the pennant in 65 and then again in 66. But Rosey was mostly sharing the duties with Jeff Torborg by then. He did catch 2 of Koufax’s no hitters.

Most were incensed that Joe Torre won the gold glove for catchers in 65. Most felt he got it because of his hitting. Tom Haller and Roseboro were much better defensively.

After the Dodgers dropped to 8th place in 67, Rosey was traded to the Twins along with Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller for Zoilo Versalles and Mudcat Grant. While Perry and Rosey stayed with the Twins for multiple years, Grant and Versalles would only spend 68 on the Dodgers.

Roseboro made the all-star team in 69 as a reserve. His final all-star team selection. Over his career Rosey won two gold gloves, but was at the top of the list of defensive catchers for most of the 60’s.

His career stats were a .249 BA, 1206 hits, 104 homers and 548 runs batted in. His career fielding percentage was .989. He caught 100 games in 11 of his 14 seasons. He later worked in both the Twins and the Dodgers organizations and owned a public relations firm in Beverly Hills. He made a few TV appearances and was in a movie called “Experiment in Terror ” that starred Glen Ford and Lee Remick. Big D and Wally Moon were also in the movie. He did a Mr. Ed episode with Leo Durocher.

He and Marichal made up in the 80’s and became friends. When Marichal was passed over his first two times on the HOF ballot, he personally appealed to the BBWAA to not hold the incident against him. Marichal was elected in 83 and thanked Rosey in his acceptance speech.

Roseboro died of heart disease on the 16th of August 2002 in LA at 69 years old. Marichal was an honorary pallbearer at his funeral. He said that Roseboro forgiving him was one of the best things that ever happened in his life. Well, if Rosey can do that, so can I.