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Sandy Koufax Photo Gallery
Sandy Koufax
Don Sutton with Tommy Lasorda and Sandy Koufax
Whitey Ford with Sandy Koufax
Sandy sets World Series strike out record, 1963
Jim Kaat with Sandy Koufax in the 1965 World Series
Three greats, Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson
A young Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax threw a no-hitter at Shibe Park on June 4, 1964
Sandy Koufax with Carl Erskine, October 2, 1963 (Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax yields a hit to Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium. St. Louis, Missouri 9/17/1963 (Image # 1049 )
Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Willie Davis
Don Drysdale, Pete Richert, Stan Williams, Sandy Koufax, Johnny Podres
Sandy hoolding up four no-hitter balls.
Sandy Koufax at the time of the Johnny Roseboro incident
Sandy Koufax and Willie Davis
Sandy Koufax and Wally Moon during the 1959 World Series
Teammates mob Sandy adter the Perfect Game
Sandy with Dodger teammate and fellow Hall-of-Famer, Don Drysdale
Box score from Sandy's Perfect Game,, Seept. 9, 1965
Jeff Torborg caught Sandy's Perfect Game.
Don with Sandy Koufax
A young Sandy Koufax with the Brooklyn Dodgers
Sandy Koufax
Sandy after recording 14 KO's (Getty Images)
Sandy Koufax with his mother and father
Sandy Koufax and Jim Palmer
Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale with Tommy Lasorda and Duke Snider
Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax, 1965 after the final out of his Perfect Game
Sandy signing balls
Stan Musial with Sandy Koufax and Warren Spahn
Sandy Koufax later in life
Newpapers the next day.
Don Newcombe with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax Wins His Second Cy Young Award 59 Years Ago Today!
“There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up: The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball. -Dodger scout Al Campanis
“Sandy only had two pitches…both unhittable!”- Steve Stone
Today is the anniversary of a significant date in the career of Sandy Koufax. Fifty-nine years ago today, November 3, 1965, Sandy won his second of three Cy Young Awards, capturing all twenty of the writers’ votes. And it’s no wonder why: He was coming off a 26-8 season, with a 2.04 ERA and 382 strikeouts.
Sandy’s Early Development
Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the freshman basketball team. In spring, 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team, going went 3–1 with 51 strikeouts and 30 walks, in 31 innings. Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten [see photos of Sandy’s scouting report below].
After trying out with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, Koufax did the same for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. During his Pirates tryout, Koufax’s fastball broke the thumb of Sam Narron, the team’s bullpen coach. Branch Rickey, then the general manager of the Pirates, told his scout Clyde Sukeforth that Koufax had the “greatest arm he had ever seen.” However, the Pirates at the time failed to offer Koufax a contract.
Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about Koufax from a local sporting goods store owner. After seeing Koufax pitch, Campanis invited him to an Ebbets Field tryout with Manager Walt Alston in attendance. The Dodgers were impressed and signed Koufax for a $6,000 salary, with a $14,000 signing bonus.
Sandy’s Great Career…Incredible Stats!
Sandy Koufax’s story is really the tale of two pitchers. He started his career in 1955 and struggled through six mediocre seasons, never topping 11 wins and once leading the league in wild pitches. And then something inexplicable happened: Somehow the fire-balling lefty found his touch. Some say the turnaround occurred when Coach Norm Sherry suggested he take a little velocity off his fastball. The advice helped him evolve from just a hard thrower into a truly great pitcher. Whatever the reason, for the next six seasons he was as close to unhittable as a pitcher can be.
In his 12-season career, the seven-time All-Star had a 165–87 record (.654 winning percentage) with a 2.76 ERA, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts. Koufax’s career strikeouts ranked seventh in history at retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Sandy and Nolan Ryan are the only two pitchers inducted into the Hall of Fame with more strikeouts than innings pitched. He was the first pitcher to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched (6.79). He also became the second pitcher in history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts, and the first to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts. Over his last ten seasons, from 1957 to 1966, batters hit an anemic .203 against him, with an incredibly low .271 on-base-percentage and a .315 slugging average.
Koufax’s amazing run from 1961 to 1966 remains a period of brilliance almost unmatched in baseball history. During this time Koufax won five straight ERA titles; four strikeout crowns; three Cy Young awards; a National League MVP Award; three seasons with 25-plus wins; and four no-hitters, the last in 1965 being a perfect game against the Cubs.
Koufax’s postseason record is also impressive: a 4–3 won-lost record with a 0.95 earned run average in four World Series, leading the Dodgers to World Series championships in 1963 and 1965. Koufax was selected for seven consecutive All-Star games.
It All Comes to an End…
And then, suddenly, the great run ended as quickly as it had begun. The pain from ongoing arthritis – pain he had managed for several years with ice, guts, and shots – was too much. At age 30, seemingly at the top of his game, Sandy Koufax was done. In 1972, he became the youngest man ever elected to the Hall of Fame. In 1999, The Sporting News placed Koufax at number 26 on its list of “Baseball’s 100 Greatest Players.” That same year he was named as one of the 30 players on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: Classic Baseball, the Photographs of Walter Iooss, Jr.” The Brooklyn Dodgers Photographs of Barney Stein; “The George Brace Baseball Photograph Collection;” and Public Domain.
Biographical Information: Background information from the Sandy Koufax Wikipedia page. Stats from Baseball Reference.com
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Gary Livacari
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