The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century

The incredible performances of Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn on July 2, 1963, would forever link their names together in baseball history, and this dual biography of these athletes weaves that 1963 contest throughout the narrative in a book that is sure to be a home run with baseball fans everywhere. Even before their epic pitching duel, Marichal and Spahn already had a lot in common. Future Hall of Famers with high-kicking deliveries, they were shaped into winners by character-building experiences in the military. Spahn had been baseball's most winning pitcher in the 1950s, and Marichal would be equally dominant in the 1960s. The Braves' Spahn and the Giants' Marichal began their duel in San Francisco's cold and windy Candlestick Park. Four hours later, the two pitching legends were deadlocked in a scoreless tie when Willie Mays hit a walk-off home run to end the greatest game ever pitched. In between, Marichal and Spahn each threw more than 200 pitches and went 16 innings without relief. Considering today's culture of pitch counts and coddled arms, it proved to be a legendary night that won't be repeated ever again.

Jim Kaplan is the author of 19 books, including 13 on baseball as well as Historic America: New England, Lefty Grove: American Original, and Golden Years of Baseball. After three years of covering sports for the Minneapolis Star, he spent 16 years at Sports Illustrated then turned to freelance writing. He divides his time between Northampton and Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Greg Spahn is the only child of Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn and this is his first book. He lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.