Sometimes Minor Trades Can Have Major Consequences! The Dodgers Sign Sanford Braun! (Who??)

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Sometimes Minor Trades Can Have Major Consequences!

The Dodgers Sign Sanford Braun! (Who??)

“There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up. The first time was when I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball.” -Dodger scout Al Campanis

“Sandy only had two pitches. Both unhittable!”- Steve Stone

Sixty-four years ago this winter, December 13, 1954, a rather unremarkable trade was made between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles. The Dodgers traded away Billy Cox, their mainstay third baseman whose best years were behind him; and Preacher Roe, a fine pitcher who was also at the end of the road. In return, the Dodgers got two nameless minor league prospects. The Orioles kicked in fifty grand to sweeten the deal.

Nothing exceptional so far, except that the fifty grand would eventually come into play in a big way. The Dodgers had their eye on young southpaw out of the University of Cincinnati by way of Lafayette High School. Scout Bill Zinser spotted him and sent a glowing report to the front office. According to Zinser, the kid looked like a good prospect with a blazing fast ball and a decent curve, but he was known to have control problems. The report was filed away and apparently forgotten…

Before the Dodgers’ got around putting more eyes on him, the kid had a tryout with the Giants and also with the Pirates. Negative on both, even though during his Pirates’ tryout, the kid’s fastball broke the thumb of coach Sam Narron. Branch Rickey, then the GM of the Pirates, say at the time that this kid had the “greatest arm I’ve ever seen,” but for some reason the Pirates failed to offer him a contract.

Meanwhile, the kid was still available when Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about him from a local sporting goods store owner. After seeing him pitch, Campanis invited him to Ebbets Field for a tryout. With Dodgers’ manager Walter Alston and scouting director Fresco Thompson on-hand to watch, they were impressed with what they saw. They decided to sign him for a modest $6,000 salary and a $14,000 signing bonus, using some of that cash from the trade with the Orioles.

By the way, did I mention the name of this kid? He was born Sanford Braun. But later, after his mother remarried, he came to be known as Sandy Koufax…

Sandy Koufax’s story is really the tale of two pitchers. After starting his Dodger career in 1955, he struggled through six mediocre seasons, never topping 11 wins and once leading the league in wild pitches. And then something remarkable happened. Somehow the serious-minded, hard-throwing lefty with control issues found his touch. Some credit coach Norm Sherry with the turnaround, when he simply suggested Koufax take a little off his fastball. 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) with a 2.76 ERA, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts. His career strikeouts ranked 7th in history at his retirement. He and Nolan Ryan are the only two Hall-of-Fame pitchers with more strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax was the first pitcher to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched (6.79),  only 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.

Koufax’s run from 1961 to 1966 remains a period of brilliance unmatched in baseball history. 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. His 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.

And then, suddenly, the great run ended as quickly as it had begun. The pain from ongoing arthritis 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,” and named him one of the 30 players on the All-Century Team.

Sanford Braun, aka Sandy Koufax, was “One for the Ages!”

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: Thanks to my Twitter friend Mike for sending the great photo of Sandy Koufax on the cover of Life Magazine. Other photos from “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: Excerpts edited from the Sandy Koufax Wikipedia page.

Check out my two books, both now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback:  “Paul Pryor in His Own Words: The Life and TImes of a 20-Year Major League Umpire” and “Memorable World Series Moments.” All profits go to the Illinois Veterans Foundation