When you think of the great pitchers of the 1960s and 1970s, the first names that probably come to mind are the likes of Sandy Koufax in the early to mid-1960s, Bob Gibson in the mid to late-1960s, Tom Seaver in the 1970s, etc. And while those pitchers were certainly legends of the game, two other consistently dominant hurlers from that era who may not have gotten the same fanfare were Juan Marichal and Jim Palmer (in fact, Marichal may be one of the most underrated pitchers in MLB history). Despite the stark contrasts between the two – Dominican-born vs. All-American, NL vs. AL, West Coast vs. East Coast, etc., there are also numerous similarities in their consistent brilliance over a decade plus each. Thus, let us compare Marichal and Palmer side-by-side and ask the question:
Who was better – Juan Marichal or Jim Palmer?
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