Aug. 27, 1964 - Juan Marichal said tonight that his aching back felt worse than it did before he pitched against the Dodgers Tuesday night.
“If it doesn’t feel better, I’m not going to pitch,” Juan declared.
Giants manager Alvin Dark said Marichal will pitch against the Braves in Milwaukee Sunday.
“I’ve got to play the guys I feel will win games for me — without endangering their careers,” Dark said.
“I know Willie McCovey isn’t 100% because of his groin injury, but he’s playing tonight. Harvey Kuenn has a bad leg, but he’s playing tomorrow night.”
Marichal said nobody seemed to care how he felt.
“Only Doc Bowman came and asked me how I feel,” Juan said. “Nobody cares about me. If I don’t take care of myself, who’s gonna take care of me? I’d like to win 20 games. But I don’t see how I can this way. Alvin? He don’t care. He wants me to pitch, that’s all.”
“We’ve got 35 games left,” Dark said. “It’s a time of the year when all ballplayers have to be pushed a little bit, and I’m the fellow who has to do the pushing.”
Dark said Marichal pitched well against the Dodgers Tuesday night even though the Dodgers won, 3-1.
“Ballplayers do a lot of talking,” said Dark. “That doesn’t bother me. I don’t care what they say. All I’m concerned about is how they perform, what they do on the field.”
Chub Feeney, the Giant vice president who is along on the team’s current trip, said: “The way things are going, we’ve got enough of a problem winning tonight without worrying all the way ahead to whether Juan will feel all right Sunday. He may feel better Sunday.”
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