As the All-Star break approached, the San Francisco Giants trailed the St. Louis Cardinals by 1.5 games in the National League pennant race. The Milwaukee Braves were treading water at .500, 6.5 games back. On this unassuming summer night, just over 15,000 fans filed into Candlestick Park, unaware they were about to witness one of the greatest pitching duels in baseball history.

On the mound for the Braves was 42-year-old Warren Spahn, already a legend, already a Hall of Famer in waiting, and about to be named to his 17th All-Star team. His counterpart was 25-year-old Juan Marichal, in just his third full season but about to earn his second All-Star nod. The two future Hall of Famers would face lineups stacked with future legends: Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews for Milwaukee; Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda for San Francisco.

Candlestick’s trademark swirling winds were blowing from left-center to right, ideal conditions for pitchers. Balls that might’ve cleared fences elsewhere were knocked down here. It was the beginning of an era of pitcher dominance, ushered in by an expanded strike zone that ran from the knees to the top of the shoulders.

Spahn and Marichal weren’t overpowering, but they were smart, efficient, and deceptive. They cruised through the early innings. In the fourth, Hank Aaron hit a deep drive to left that looked like number 756 off the bat, but the wind knocked it down. Later that inning, a two-out single gave Del Crandall a chance to score a run, but Mays threw a perfect strike to cut down Norm Larker at the plate, preserving the scoreless tie. Marichal would later say how comforting it was to have Mays behind him.

By the sixth, neither pitcher had completely dominated, but neither had blinked. Spahn had allowed just two hits with one strikeout; Marichal had yielded four hits while striking out four. Both pitchers escaped minor jams, aided by the park, the wind, and the occasional bounce. When McCovey blasted a ball down the right-field line in the bottom of the ninth, it sailed above the foul pole and was ruled foul, despite protests from the Giants. A Felipe Alou single followed, but San Francisco couldn’t score. After nine innings: still 0–0.

Still, neither pitcher came out.

This wasn’t shocking, Spahn had thrown over 80 extra innings in his career, including two 15+ inning outings in the early 1950s. Marichal once lost a 17-inning minor league game. As midnight approached and the wind persisted, both men kept going. Marichal, prideful, refused to let the 42-year-old Spahn outlast him. Between innings, he avoided water because it upset his stomach. Spahn, meanwhile, snuck cigarettes and chewed Beech-Nut gum to look like he was dipping tobacco.

In the 13th, Ernie Bowman reached base but was picked off by Spahn. In the 14th, Spahn issued his first walk in 31 innings—an intentional pass to Mays. With the bases loaded, Ed Bailey hit a line drive to center that was caught. Inning after inning passed, Spahn’s screwball baffling hitters, Marichal slicing through the lineup with precision. By the time the 16th began, it was 12:20 a.m. and the stadium curfew rule loomed: no inning could begin after 12:50.

In the top of the 16th, Marichal gave up a hit but retired Larker to escape again. He returned to the dugout, believing it would be his last frame. Mays, sensing the same, told Marichal: “I’ll win it for you.”

Spahn returned to the mound one last time. On the first pitch, he retired Kuenn with a screwball. Then Mays stepped in, hitless to that point, but always dangerous. Marichal had told him to hit one out. And he did. A hard line drive, 30 feet off the ground, soared down the left-field line. Unlike McCovey’s shot, this one left no doubt. It cleared the fence. Ballgame.

1–0. Giants.

The duel had lasted 4 hours and 10 minutes. Spahn threw 201 pitches across 15.1 innings, allowing nine hits, one walk (intentional), and one run. His game score: 97. Marichal? 227 pitches over 16 shutout innings, 10 strikeouts, four walks, eight hits. Game score: 112 - tied for the 21st highest ever, and the highest ever in a game that didn’t go into the deadball era.

It was the last time any MLB pitcher threw 16 innings, only Gaylord Perry would match that later, in a 21-inning game in 1967. With modern pitch counts, rotations, and relievers, we’re unlikely to ever see anything like it again.

Spahn, ever the professional, stayed in the locker room afterward, drinking beer with teammates, reflecting on his loss with grace. Marichal stood under a hot shower, letting the water pound his throwing arm. There was no icing, no recovery routine—just pride and fatigue. Mays, the hero, disappeared quietly, having saved a run in the fourth and won the game in the 16th.

For the fans who stuck it out, many received the Croix de Candlestick, an orange badge awarded to those who endured extra-inning night games in the cold. For Spahn, it was one of 363 wins in his career that slipped away. For Marichal, it was the greatest win of all.

On July 2nd, 1963, the pitcher with the most wins in the 1950s went head-to-head with the pitcher who would win the most in the 1960s. Five Hall of Famers were in the lineups. Two more were on the mound. No one knew it then, but they were watching the best regular-season pitching duel of all time.

Tris Speaker has the most hits all time in the month of July at 823. 75 more than Pete Rose who is in 2nd.