single to lead off the third; Helms was then caught stealing, with the only other baserunner being a sixth-inning walk. From 1963 through 1969, Marichal had more than 20 victories in every season except 1967 and never posted an ERA higher than 2.76, which author James S. Hirsch calls one "of the finest pitching performances in history." He led the league in victories in 1963 and 1968, when he won 26 games. His 30 complete games paced the league, the most thrown by any pitcher in a season in the decade. In 1968, he also earned the highest position of his career in MVP voting, finishing fifth behind Bob Gibson, Pete Rose, Willie McCovey, and Curt Flood. He and Sandy Koufax were the only two major league pitchers in the post-war era (1946–present) to have more than one season of 25 or more wins, each having three. Marichal won more games during the 1960s (191) than any other major league pitcher, but did not receive any votes for the Cy Young Award until 1970, when baseball writers started voting for the top three pitchers in each league rather than one per league (or, until 1967, only the top pitcher in the major leagues). Marichal finished in the top 10 in ERA seven consecutive years, from 1963 to 1969, in which year he led the league. During his career, he also finished in the top 10 in strikeouts six times, top 10 in innings pitched eight times (leading the league twice), and top 10 in complete games 10 times, with a career total of 244. He led the league twice in shutouts, throwing 10 of them in 1965. Marichal exhibited exceptional control. He had 2,303 strikeouts with only 709 walks, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.25. This ranks among the top 20 pitchers of all time, ahead of such notables as Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Walter Johnson and Roger Clemens, who each have strikeout-to-walk ratios of less than 3:1. Over his career, Marichal led the league in the fewest walks per nine innings four times, and finished second three times – totaling eleven years in which he finished in the top 10, while also finishing in the top 10 for strikeouts six years. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched Marichal dueled Warren Spahn, the 42-year-old Milwaukee Braves future Hall of Fame pitcher, in a night contest on