From the age of six, Marichal aspired to become a professional baseball player, but his mother discouraged this, instead urging him to get an education. At the time, there were no players from the Dominican Republic in the major leagues, and his goal was viewed to be unrealistic. At age 11, he briefly held a job cutting sugarcane for the J.W. Tatem Shipping conglomerate. In 1954, sixteen-year-old Marichal joined a summer league in Monte Cristi, playing for a team called Las Flores. Although he began as a shortstop, Marichal switched to pitching after taking inspiration from Bombo Ramos of the Dominican national team. He left high school after being recruited to play for the United Fruit Company team in 1956. Playing career Marichal threw five pitches – a slider, fastball, changeup, curve, and screwball – for strikes over the top, three-quarters, or sidearm. He disguised them with a delivery that allowed him to conceal the type of pitch until it was on its way, which included a high left leg kick that went nearly vertical (even more so than Warren Spahn's delivery). Marichal maintained it his entire career, the kick only slightly diminished near retirement. Marichal was discovered by Ramfis Trujillo, the son of late Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Ramfis was the primary sponsor of the Dominican Air Force Baseball Team (Aviación Dominicana), against which Marichal pitched a 2–1 victory in his native Monte Cristi. From the very moment the game ended, Marichal was a member of Aviación Dominicana team, enlisted to the Air Force right on the spot by Ramfis's orders. Marichal was promoted to the major leagues for the first time in July 1960. He entered the major leagues on July 19 as the second native pitcher to come from the Dominican Republic. He made an immediate impression: in his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, he struck out Rubén Amaro to begin the game and retired the first 19 batters, then took a no-hitter into the eighth inning only to surrender a two-out single to Clay Dalrymple. He ended up with a one-hit shutout, walking one and striking out 12. His game score of 96 was the highest for any pitcher in his major league debut. He started 10 more games that season, finishing at 6–2 with a 2.66 ERA. Injuries affected him in 1961, but he still made 27 starts and won 13 games for the