Free Republic

It was a brawl that forever defined one of sports' fiercest rivalries, with an ugliness that offered a new and frightening definition of sports violence. Yet, 50 years later, the most enduring memory of baseball's most famous fight is that it did not define the men. Monday marks the 13th anniversary of a far more powerful moment, one occurring at Roseboro's funeral, when, in a hall filled with old Dodgers, an old Giant suddenly walked to the lectern. It was Marichal, who wanted to say goodbye, and thank you.

PEDRO MARTINEZ CAUGHT AT COCKFIGHT PEDRO'S FOWL BALL February 7, 2008 -- A sickening video of New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and legendary Hall of Famer Juan Marichal laughing at a gruesome cockfight in the Dominican Republic was posted - and then quickly taken off - YouTube. Martinez and Marichal, among the best pitchers of all time, are seen grinning before releasing two roosters. Cockfighting is both legal and popular in the Dominican Republic. The pair took part as honorary "soltadores" - the word used to describe the person who throws the animal into the ring. The bird released...

John Roseboro, RIP: Forgiveness Incarnate by Jeff Kallman What should we call it when a decent baseball player, probably thrice as decent a man, is remembered best for a desperate sprawl to avoid having his head split further open, his ordinarily warm face pushed back into a contortion of cold agony? Call it disproportionate, call it unfair, and call it as distorted in the retelling as it was in its actual ignition and action."The thing I'm remembered for most is the Juan Marichal incident," wrote John Roseboro, to begin his 1978 autobiography. "It's too bad, because a ballplayer would like...