Sandy Kofax

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Sandy Koufax
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Sandy Koufax


Pitcher
Born: December 30, 1935 (1935-12-30) (age 74)
Brooklyn, New York
Batted: Right Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 24, 1955 for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1966 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics
Win–Loss record 165–87
Earned run average 2.76
Strikeouts 2,396
Teams
Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers (1955–1966)

Career highlights and awards
7× All-Star selection (1961, 1961², 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)
4× World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965)
3× Cy Young Award winner (1963, 1965, 1966)
1963 NL MVP
2× World Series MVP (1963, 1965)
4× NL TSN Pitcher of the Year (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)
2× Babe Ruth Award (1963, 1965)
1966 Hutch Award
Pitched a perfect game on September 9, 1965
Los Angeles Dodgers #32 retired
Major League Baseball All-Century Team

Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction 1972
Vote 86.87% (first ballot)

Sanford "Sandy" Koufax (pronounced /ˈkoʊfæks/) (born Sanford Braun, on December 30, 1935) is an American left-handed former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1955 to 1966. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, the youngest former player to receive that honor.

Koufax's career peaked with a run of six outstanding seasons from 1961 to 1966, before arthritis ended his career at age 30. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1963. He also won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Awards by unanimous votes, all during the period when only one pitcher was chosen per season, making him the first 3-time Cy Young winner in baseball history. In each of his Cy Young seasons, Koufax won the pitcher's triple crown by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average. Koufax's totals would also have led the American League in those seasons.[1][2]

Koufax was the first major leaguer to pitch four no-hitters (including a perfect game). Despite his comparatively short career, Koufax's 2,396 career strikeouts ranked 7th in history as of his retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Retiring at the peak of his career, he became, at age 36 and 20 days, the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame.[3]

Koufax is also remembered as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports. His decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur garnered national attention as an example of conflict between social pressures and personal beliefs.[4]

Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Professional career
2.1 Early years (1955–60)
2.2 Domination (1961–64)
2.2.1 1961 season
2.2.2 1962 season
2.2.3 1963 season
2.2.4 1964 season
2.3 Playing in pain (1965–66)
2.3.1 1965 season
2.3.2 Perfection
2.3.3 Holdout
2.3.4 1966 season
2.4 Career overall
3 Pitching style
4 Post-playing career
5 Career statistics
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Early life
Koufax was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family, and raised in Borough Park.[5] His parents, Evelyn and Jack Braun, divorced when he was three years old; his mother remarried when he was nine, to Irving Koufax.[6] Shortly after his mother's remarriage, the family moved to the Long Island suburb of Rockville Centre. Before tenth grade, Koufax's family moved back to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.[7]

Koufax attended Brooklyn's Lafayette High School, where he was better known for basketball than for baseball. At the time, school sports were not available because New York's teachers were refusing to supervise extracurricular activities without monetary compensation. As an alternative, Koufax started playing basketball for a local Jewish Community Center team. Eventually, Lafayette had a basketball team; Koufax became team captain in his senior year, and ranked second in his division in scoring, with 165 points in 10 games.[5][8]

In 1951, at the age of 15, Koufax also joined a local youth baseball league known as the "Ice Cream League". He started out as a left-handed catcher, before moving to first base. While playing first base for Lafayette High School's baseball team, he was spotted by Milt Laurie, the father of two Lafayette teammates and a baseball coach. Laurie recognized that Koufax might be able to pitch, and recruited the 17-year old Koufax to pitch for the Coney Island Sports League's Parkviews.[9]

Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the freshman basketball team, a complete unknown to coach Ed Jucker.[6] In spring 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team.[10] That season, Koufax went 3–1 with 51 strikeouts and 30 walks, in 31 innings.[11] Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten.[12]

After trying out with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds,[13] Koufax did the same for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.[14] 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".[15] The Pirates, however, failed to offer Koufax a contract until after he was already committed to the Dodgers.[16]

Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about Koufax from a local sporting goods store owner. After seeing Koufax pitch for Lafayette, Campanis invited him to an Ebbets Field tryout. With Dodgers manager Walter Alston and scouting director Fresco Thompson watching, Campanis assumed the hitter's stance while Koufax started throwing. Campanis later said, "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 first time I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball."[17] The Dodgers signed Koufax for a $6,000 ($48,566 in current dollar terms) salary, with a $14,000 ($113,322 in current dollar terms) signing bonus. Koufax planned to use the signing bonus as tuition to finish his university education, if his baseball career failed.[18]

[edit] Professional career
[edit] Early years (1955–60)
File:Sandy Koufax (scan).jpg Because Koufax's signing bonus was greater than $4,000 ($32,378 in current dollar terms), he was known as a bonus baby. This forced the Dodgers to keep him on the major league roster for at least two years before he could be sent to the minors. To make room for him, the Dodgers optioned their future manager, Tommy Lasorda, to the Montreal Royals of the International League. Lasorda would later joke that it took Sandy Koufax to keep him off the Dodger pitching staff.[19]

Koufax made his major league debut on June 24 1955 against the Milwaukee Braves, with the Dodgers trailing 7–1 in the fifth inning. Johnny Logan, the first batter Koufax faced, hit a bloop single. Eddie Mathews bunted, but Koufax threw the ball into center field. Koufax walked Hank Aaron on four pitches to load the bases, then struck out Bobby Thomson on a full count.[20]

Koufax's first start was on July 6. He lasted only 4 ⅔ innings, giving up eight walks.[21] He did not start again for almost two months, but on August 27, Koufax threw a two-hit, 7–0 complete game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds for his first major league win.[22] Koufax made only 12 appearances in 1955, pitching 41.7 innings and walking almost as many men (28) as he struck out (30). His only other win in 1955 was also a shutout.[23]

During the fall, he enrolled in the Columbia University School of General Studies, which offered night classes in architecture. The Dodgers won the 1955 World Series for the first title in franchise history, but Koufax did not appear in the series. After the final out of Game Seven, Koufax drove to Columbia to attend class.[24]

1956 wasn't very different from 1955 for Koufax. Despite the blazing speed of his fastball, Koufax continued to struggle with control problems. He saw little work, pitching only 58.7 innings with a 4.91 ERA, walking 29 and striking out 30. He was rarely allowed to work out of a jam. As soon as Koufax threw a couple of balls in a row, Alston would signal for a replacement to start warming up in the bullpen. Jackie Robinson, in his final season, clashed with Alston on several different subjects, including Koufax. Robinson saw that Koufax was talented and had flashes of brilliance, and objected to Koufax being benched for weeks at a time.[25]

To prepare for the 1957 season, the Dodgers sent Koufax to Puerto Rico to play winter ball. On May 15, the restriction on sending Koufax down to the minors was lifted. Alston gave him a chance to justify his place on the major league roster by giving him the next day's start. Facing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Koufax struck out 13 while pitching his first complete game in almost two years. For the first time in his career, he was in the starting rotation, but only for two weeks. Despite winning three of his next five with a 2.90 ERA, Koufax didn't get another start for 45 days. In that start, he struck out 11 in seven innings, but got a no-decision. On September 29, Koufax became the last man ever to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers before their move to Los Angeles, by throwing an inning of relief in the final game of the season.[26]

Over the next three seasons, Koufax was in and out of the Dodger starting rotation due to injuries. In 1958, he began 7–3, but sprained his ankle in a collision at first base, finishing the season at 11–11 and leading the NL in wild pitches. In June 1959, Koufax set the record for a night game with 16 strikeouts. On August 31, 1959, he surpassed his career high with 18 strikeouts, setting the NL record and tying Bob Feller's major league record for strikeouts in one game.[27]

In 1959, the Dodgers won a close pennant race against the Braves and the Giants, then beat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. Koufax pitched two perfect relief innings in the Series opener, though they came after the Dodgers were already behind 11–0. Alston gave him the start in the fifth game, at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 92,706 fans. Koufax allowed only one run in seven innings, but lost the 1–0 game when Nellie Fox scored on a double play. Returning to Chicago, the Dodgers won the sixth game and the Series.[28]

In early 1960, Koufax asked Dodgers GM Buzzie Bavasi to trade him because he wasn't getting enough playing time. By the end of 1960, after going 8–13, Koufax was thinking about quitting baseball to devote himself to an electronics business that he'd invested in. After the last game of the season, he threw his gloves and spikes into the trash. Nobe Kawano, the clubhouse supervisor, retrieved the equipment to return to Koufax the following year (or to somebody else if Koufax did not return to play).[29]

[edit] Domination (1961–64)
[edit] 1961 season
Koufax decided to try one more year of baseball and showed up for the 1961 season in better condition than he had in previous years. Years later he recalled, "That winter was when I really started working out. I started running more. I decided I was really going to find out how good I can be."[30] During spring training, Dodger scout Kenny Myers discovered a hitch in Koufax's windup: he'd rear back so far that his vision was obstructed and he couldn't see the target.[31]

A day later, Koufax was pitching for the "B team" in Orlando. Teammate Ed Palmquist missed the flight, so Koufax was told he would need to pitch at least seven innings. In the first inning, Koufax walked the bases loaded on 12 straight pitches. Catcher Norm Sherry reminded Koufax to take something off the ball to get better control. The advice worked, as Koufax struck out the side, going on to pitch seven no-hit innings.[32]

It was the beginning of Koufax's breakout season. Posting an 18–13 record, Koufax led the league with 269 strikeouts, breaking Christy Mathewson's 58-year-old NL mark of 267.[33] Koufax made his first two All-Star Game appearances (two games were played at that time), pitching two scoreless innings.[34]

[edit] 1962 season
In 1962, the Dodgers moved from Los Angeles Coliseum, which had a 250-foot left field line, to pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. The new park had a large foul territory and a comparatively poor hitting background. Koufax was an immediate beneficiary of the change, lowering his home ERA from 4.29 to 1.75.[35] On June 30 against the expansion New York Mets, Koufax threw his first no-hitter. In the first inning of that game, Koufax struck out three batters on nine pitches to become the sixth National League pitcher and the 11th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish a nine-pitch/three-strikeout half-inning. With the no-hitter and a 1.23 ERA for June, he was named Player of the Month.[36][37]

Koufax had his strong season despite an injured pitching hand. While batting in April, Koufax had been jammed by a pitch from Earl Francis. A numbness developed in Koufax's index finger on his left hand, and the finger became cold and white. Koufax was pitching better than ever before, however, so he ignored the problem, hoping that the condition would clear up. By July, though, his entire hand was becoming numb and he was unable to complete some games. In a start in Cincinnati, his finger split open after one inning. A vascular specialist determined that Koufax had a crushed artery in his palm. Ten days of experimental medicine successfully reopened the artery. Koufax finally was able to pitch again in September, when the team was locked in a tight pennant race with the Giants. But after the long layoff, Koufax was ineffective in three appearances as the Giants caught the Dodgers at the end of the regular season, forcing a three-game playoff.[38]

The night before the National League playoffs began, Manager Walter Alston asked Koufax if he could start the first game the next day. With an overworked pitching staff, there was no one else, as Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres had pitched the prior two days. Koufax obliged. Koufax later said, "I had nothing at all." He was knocked out in the second inning, after giving up home runs to Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Jim Davenport. After winning the second game of the series, the Dodgers blew a 4–2 lead in the ninth inning of the deciding third game, losing the pennant.[39]

[edit] 1963 season
In 1963, Major League Baseball expanded the strike zone.[40] Compared to the previous season, National League walks fell 13 percent, strikeouts increased six percent, the league batting average fell from .261 to .245, and runs fell 15 percent.[41] Koufax, who had reduced his walks allowed per nine innings to 3.4 in 1961 and 2.8 in 1962, reduced his walk rate further to 1.7 in 1963, which ranked fifth in the league.[1] (The top pitchers of the era; Don Drsydale, Juan Marichal, Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn and above all Koufax, significantly reduced the 'walks given up' to 'batters faced' ratio for 1963 and subsequent years.[42])

On May 11, Koufax carried a perfect game into the eighth inning against the powerful Giants lineup, including future Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda. He walked Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch, but preserved the no-hitter by closing out the ninth.[43] As the Dodgers won the pennant, Koufax won the pitchers' Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (25), strikeouts (306) and ERA (1.88). Koufax threw 11 shutouts, a total that only Bob Gibson has surpassed since then. Koufax won the NL MVP Award, the Hickok Belt, and was the first-ever unanimous selection for the Cy Young Award.[44][45]

Facing the Yankees in the 1963 World Series, Koufax beat Whitey Ford 5 to 2 in Game 1 and struck out 15 batters, breaking Carl Erskine's decade-old record of 14. (Bob Gibson would break Koufax's record by striking out 17 Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series opener.) After seeing Koufax's Game 1 performance, Yogi Berra said, "I can see how he won 25 games. What I don't understand is how he lost five,"[46] to which Maury Wills responded, "He didn't. We lost them for him."[47] In Game 4, Koufax completed the Dodgers' series sweep with a 2–1 victory over Ford, clinching the Series MVP Award for his performance.[48]

[edit] 1964 season
Koufax's 1964 season started with great expectations. On April 18, Koufax struck out three batters on nine pitches in the third inning of a 3–0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the only National League pitcher to have two nine-strike/three-strikeout half-innings.[37] On April 22, however, he felt something "let go" in his arm. Koufax ended up getting three cortisone shots for his sore elbow, and missed three starts.

On June 4, playing at Connie Mack Stadium against the Phillies, Koufax walked Richie Allen on a very close full-count pitch in the fourth inning. Allen, who was thrown out trying to steal second, was the first and last Phillie to reach base that day. With his third no-hitter in three years, Koufax became only the second pitcher of the modern era (after Bob Feller) to pitch three no-hitters.[49]

Koufax jammed his pitching arm in August while diving back to second base to beat a pick-off throw. He managed to pitch and win two more games. However, the morning after his 19th win, a 13-K shutout, he could not straighten his arm. He was diagnosed by Dodgers' team physician Robert Kerlan with traumatic arthritis. With the Dodgers out of the pennant race, the book was closed on Koufax and his 19–5 record.[50]

[edit] Playing in pain (1965–66)
[edit] 1965 season

1965 brought more obstacles for Koufax. On March 31, the morning after pitching a complete spring training game, Koufax awoke to find that his entire left arm was black and blue from hemorrhaging. Koufax returned to Los Angeles to consult with Kerlan, who advised Koufax that he would be lucky to be able to pitch once a week. Kerlan also told Koufax that he would eventually lose full use of his arm. Koufax agreed not to throw at all between games—a resolution that lasted only one start. To get himself through the games he pitched in, Koufax resorted to Empirin with codeine for the pain, which he took every night and sometimes during the fifth inning. He also took Butazolidin for inflammation, applied capsaicin-based Capsolin ointment (called "atomic balm" by baseball players) before each game, and soaked his arm in a tub of ice afterwards.[51]

Despite the constant pain in his pitching elbow, Koufax pitched 335⅔ innings and led the Dodgers to another pennant. He finished the year by winning his second pitchers' Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (26), ERA (2.04) and strikeouts (382; the highest modern day total at the time. Nolan Ryan struck out 383 batters in 1973). Koufax captured his second unanimous Cy Young Award. Koufax held batters to 5.79 hits per nine innings, and allowed the fewest base runners per 9 innings in any season ever: 7.83, breaking his own record (set two years earlier) of 7.96. Koufax had 11-game winning streaks in both 1964 and 1965.[1][52]

Koufax garnered headlines by declining to pitch Game 1 of the World Series due to his observance of Yom Kippur. Don Drysdale pitched the opener, but was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins. In Game 2, Koufax pitched six innings, giving up two runs, but the Twins won the Game 5–1 and took an early 2–0 lead in the series. The Dodgers fought back in Games 3 and 4, with wins by Claude Osteen and Drysdale. With the Series tied at 2 to 2, Koufax pitched a complete game shutout in Game 5 for a 3–2 Dodgers lead as the Series returned to Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium for Game 6. The Twins won Game 6 to force a seventh game. Starting Game 7 on just two days of rest, Koufax pitched through fatigue and arthritic pain, and despite giving up on his curveball early in the game after failing to get it over for strikes in the first two innings and pitching the rest of the game relying almost entirely on fastballs, he threw a three-hit shutout to clinch the Series. The performance earned him his second World Series MVP award. Koufax also won the Hickok Belt a second time, the first (and only) time anyone had won the belt more than once. He was awarded Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.[1][45][53]

[edit] Perfection
Main article: Sandy Koufax's perfect game
On September 9, 1965, Koufax became the sixth pitcher of the modern era to throw a perfect game, the first by a left-hander since 1880. The game was Koufax's fourth no-hitter, setting a Major League record (subsequently broken by Nolan Ryan). Koufax struck out 14 batters, the most recorded in a perfect game. The game also featured a quality performance by the opposing pitcher, Bob Hendley of the Cubs. Hendley pitched a one-hitter and allowed only two batters to reach base. Both pitchers had no-hitters intact until the seventh inning.

In one of baseball's great statistical and score-keeping anomalies, this has been the only nine-inning major league game where both teams combined for one hit. The game's only run, scored by the Dodgers, was unearned.[54][55] The Dodger run was scored without a recorded at bat—Lou Johnson walked, reached second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third, and scored when the throw to get him out at third went wild.

[edit] Holdout
Before the 1966 season began, Koufax and Drysdale met separately with Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi to negotiate their contracts for the upcoming year. After Koufax's meeting, he met Drysdale for dinner and complained that Bavasi was using Drysdale against him in the negotiations, asking, "How come you want that much when Drysdale only wants this much?"[56] Drysdale responded that Bavasi did the same thing with him, using Koufax against him. Drysdale's first wife, Ginger Drysdale, suggested that they negotiate together to get what they wanted. They demanded $1 million ($6,703,704 in current dollar terms), divided equally over the next three years, or $167,000 ($1,119,519 in current dollar terms) each for the next three seasons. Both players were represented by an entertainment lawyer, J. William Hayes, which was unusual during an era when players were not represented by agents.[57][58] At the time, Willie Mays was Major League Baseball's highest paid player at $125,000 ($837,963 in current dollar terms) per year and multi-year contracts were very unusual.[59]

Koufax and Drysdale didn't report to spring training in February. Instead, they both signed to appear in the movie Warning Shot, starring David Janssen. Drysdale was to play a TV commentator and Koufax a detective. Meanwhile, the Dodgers waged a public relations battle against them. After four weeks, Koufax gave Drysdale the go-ahead to negotiate new deals for both of them. Koufax ended up getting $125,000 and Drysdale $110,000 ($737,407 in current dollar terms). They rejoined the team in the last week of spring training.[60]

[edit] 1966 season
In April 1966, Kerlan told Koufax it was time to retire, that his arm could not take another season. Koufax kept Kerlan's advice to himself and went out every fourth day to pitch. He ended up pitching 323 innings and had a 27–9 record with a 1.73 ERA. Since then, no left-hander has had more wins, nor a lower ERA, in a season (Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton did match the 27 win mark in 1972). In the final game of the regular season, the Dodgers had to beat the Phillies to win the pennant. In the second game of a doubleheader, Koufax faced Jim Bunning in the first ever match-up between perfect game winners. Koufax, on two days rest, pitched a complete game, 6–3 victory to clinch the pennant.[61] While he started 41 games (for the second year in a row), only two left-handers started as many games in any season over the ensuing years through 2009.

The Dodgers went on to face the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series. Game 2 marked Koufax's third start in eight days. Koufax pitched well enough—Baltimore first baseman Boog Powell told Koufax's biographer, Jane Leavy, "He might have been hurtin' but he was bringin'"—but three errors by Dodger center fielder Willie Davis in the fifth inning produced three unearned runs. Baltimore's Jim Palmer pitched a four-hitter and the Dodgers ended up losing the game 6–0. Alston lifted Koufax at the end of the sixth inning with the idea of getting him extra rest before pitching a potential fifth Series game. It never happened; the Dodgers were swept in four, not scoring a single run in the last three. After the World Series, Koufax announced his retirement due to his arthritic condition.[62]

[edit] Career overall
In his 12-season career, Koufax had a 165–87 record with a 2.76 ERA, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts. He was the first pitcher to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched in his career (6.79) and to strike out more than nine batters (9.28) per nine innings pitched in his career.[63] He also became the 2nd pitcher in baseball history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts, and the first to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts. In his last ten seasons, from 1957 to 1966, batters hit .203 against Koufax, with a .271 on base percentage and a .315 slugging average.[64]

Koufax's postseason record is impressive: a 4–3 won-lost record with a 0.95 earned run average, in four World Series. He is on the very short list of pitchers who retired with more career strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax was selected for seven consecutive All-Star games (twice in 1961 (the last season with two All-Star Games), then 1962 to 1966).

Koufax was the first pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards, as well as the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award by a unanimous vote. Each of Koufax's three Cy Young Awards were by unanimous vote.[1][65] Koufax and Juan Marichal are the only two pitchers in the post-war era (1946-date) to have more than one 25-win season, with each pitcher recording three.

Among NL pitchers with at least 2,000 innings pitched who have debuted since 1913, he has the highest career winning percentage (.655) and had the lowest career ERA (2.76) until surpassed by Tom Seaver, whose NL career mark is 2.73.[66]

[edit] Pitching style
Whereas many left-handed pitchers throw with a three-quarter or sidearm motion, Koufax threw with a pronounced over-the-top arm action. This may have increased his velocity, but reduced the lateral movement on his pitches, especially movement away from left-handed hitters. Most of his velocity came from his strong legs and back, combined with a high kicking wind-up and long forward stretch toward the plate. Throughout his career, Koufax relied mostly on two pitches: his four-seam fastball had a "rising" motion due to underspin, and not only appeared to move very late but also might move two or three distinct times; his overhand curveball, spun with the middle finger, dropped vertically 12 to 24 inches due to his arm action. He also occasionally threw a changeup and a forkball.[67]

"I knew every pitch he was going to throw and still I couldn't hit him."[68]

— Willie MaysAt the beginning of his career, Koufax worked with coaches to eliminate his tendency to "tip" pitches (i.e. reveal which pitch was coming due to variations in his wind-up). Late in his career, and especially as his arm problems continued, this variation—usually in the position he held his hands at the top of the wind-up—became even more pronounced. Good hitters could often predict what pitch was coming, but were still unable to hit it.

[edit] Post-playing career

Sandy Koufax's number 32 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1972

In 1967, he signed a ten-year contract with NBC for $1 million ($6,516,000 in current dollar terms) to be a broadcaster on the Saturday Game of the Week. Never feeling comfortable in front of the camera, he quit after six years, just prior to the start of the 1973 season.[69][70]

Koufax married Anne Widmark, daughter of movie star Richard Widmark, in 1969; the couple was divorced in the 1980s. He then remarried and divorced again in the 1990s.[70]

In his first year of eligibility in 1972, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, just weeks after his 36th birthday. His election made him the Hall's youngest member ever, five months younger than Lou Gehrig upon his induction in 1939.[3] On June 4 of that same year, Koufax's uniform number 32 was retired alongside those of Dodger greats Roy Campanella (39) and Jackie Robinson (42).[71]

The Dodgers hired Koufax to be a minor league pitching coach in 1979. He resigned in 1990, saying he wasn't earning his keep, but most observers blamed it on his uneasy relationship with manager Tommy Lasorda.[72] In 2003, Koufax discontinued his relationship with the Dodgers when the New York Post (which, like the Dodgers, had become part of Rupert Murdoch's business empire) published a story reporting rumors about his sexual orientation, and implying that Koufax was gay. Koufax returned to the Dodger organization in 2004 when the Dodgers were sold to Frank McCourt.[54][73]

In 1999, The Sporting News placed Koufax at number 26 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Baseball Players."[74] That same year, he was named as one of the 30 players on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Although he rarely makes public appearances, he went to Turner Field in Atlanta for the introduction ceremony before Game 2 of the World Series.[75] Koufax threw out a ceremonial first pitch at opening day 2008 at Dodger Stadium, to help commemorate the Dodgers 50th Anniversary in Los Angeles.

Koufax was the final player chosen in the inaugural Israel Baseball League draft in April 2007. Koufax, 71, was picked by the Modi'in Miracle. "His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league," said Art Shamsky, who managed the Miracle. "It's been 41 years between starts for him. If he's rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team." Koufax declined to join the Miracle.[76][77]

On May 14, 2007, Upper Deck Authenticated signed Koufax to an exclusive autograph and memorabilia agreement.[78]

[edit] Career statistics
Sandy Koufax Pitching statistics[1] W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO
165 87 2.76 397 314 137 40 9 2324.33 1754 713 204 817 2396

[edit] See also
List of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues
Bonus rule
Triple Crown
List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
List of Major League Baseball wins champions
List of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning MLB game
Pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches
Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Pitchers who have thrown a perfect game
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
Los Angeles Dodgers all-time roster
List of select Jewish baseball players
[edit] Notes
1.^ a b c d e f "Sandy Koufax Statistics". www.baseball-reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koufasa01.shtml. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
2.^ "1963 Major League Leaders". http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/ML_1963_t.shtml. Retrieved February 17, 2007. "1965 Major League Leaders". http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/ML_1965_t.shtml. Retrieved February 17, 2007. "1966 Major League Leaders". http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/ML_1966_t.shtml. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
3.^ a b "Retired Numbers – Kirby Puckett". minnesota.twins.mlb.com. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/history/puckett.jsp. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
4.^ Solomvits, Sandor. "Yom Kippur and Sandy Koufax". JewishSports.com. http://www.jewishsports.com/reflections/koufax_yom.htm. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
5.^ a b Brody, Seymour. "Koufax Biography". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Koufax.html. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
6.^ a b "Koufax Biography". www.hickoksports.com. http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/koufaxsandy.shtml. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
7.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 19–22.
8.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 22–28; Leavy, pp. 37–40.
9.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 32–39.
10.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 43–44.
11.^ Koufax and Linn, p. 46.
12.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 44–45.
13.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 46–48.
14.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 56–57.
15.^ Leavy, p. 54
16.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 70–74.
17.^ Leavy, p. 55
18.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 65–66.
19.^ Koufax and Linn, pp. 42, 75–94.