Sandy Koufax: Difference between revisions

Sandy Koufax
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 24, 1955, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1966, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB 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 (1961–1962, 1963–1966) 4× World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965) NL MVP (1963) 3× Cy Young Award (1963, 1965, 1966) 2× World Series MVP (1963, 1965) 3× Triple Crown (1963, 1965, 1966) 3× MLB wins leader (1963, 1965, 1966) 5× NL ERA leader (1962–1966) 4× MLB strikeout leader (1961, 1963, 1965, 1966) Pitched a perfect game on September 9, 1965 Pitched four no-hitters Los Angeles Dodgers No. 32 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team Major League Baseball All-Time Team
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1972
Vote	86.87% (first ballot)

Sanford Koufax (

Koufax was the first major league pitcher to throw four no-hitters and, in 1965, became the eighth pitcher and the first left-hander in the modern era (post-1900) to pitch a perfect game. He was named the World Series MVP in both 1963 and 1965, earning two wins in each Series and striking out 52 batters to lead the team to another pair of titles. He is also notable for being one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports; Koufax's decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur garnered national attention as a conflict between religion and society, and remains a notable event in U.S. Jewish history.^[8][9]

Upon his retirement, Koufax's career ERA of 2.76 trailed only

Koufax was born on December 30, 1935 to Evelyn (née Lichtenstein) and Jack Braun in Borough Park, Brooklyn.^[10][11] His parents divorced when he was three years old. His mother was remarried when he was nine, to Irving Koufax.^[12] 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.^[13]

Koufax attended Lafayette High School, where he was better known for basketball than for baseball. He started playing basketball for the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst local 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.^[11][14] 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's baseball team with his friend Fred Wilpon,^[15] he was spotted by Milt Laurie, a baseball coach who was the father of two Lafayette players. Laurie recognized that Koufax might be able to pitch, and recruited the 17-year-old to pitch for the Coney Island Sports League's Parkviews.^[16]

Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the freshman basketball team, a complete unknown to assistant coach Ed Jucker.^[12] He later earned a partial scholarship. In spring 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team, which was coached by Jucker at that time.^[17] In his only season, Koufax went 3–1 with a 2.81 ERA, 51 strikeouts and 30 walks in 32 innings.^[18][19] Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten.^[20]

After trying out with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds,^[21] Koufax did the same for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.^[22] During his Pirates tryout, his 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".^[23] The Pirates, however, failed to offer Koufax a contract until after he was already committed to the Dodgers.^[24] Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about Koufax from Jimmy Murphy, a part-time scout.^[25] 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 second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball."^[26] The Dodgers signed Koufax for a $6,000 ($68,000 today) salary, with a $14,000 ($159,000 today) signing bonus.^[27] Koufax planned to use the money as tuition to finish his university education, if his baseball career failed.^[28]

Professional career

Early years (1955–1960)

Because Koufax's signing bonus was greater than $4,000 ($45,000 today), he was known as a

Koufax's first start was on July 6.[31] He lasted only 4+2⁄3 innings, giving up eight walks.^[32] 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.^[32][33] Koufax threw 41+2⁄3 innings in 12 appearances that season, striking out 30 batters and walking 28. He had two wins in 1955, which were both shutouts.^[34] 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 7, Koufax drove to Columbia to attend class.^[35]

The year 1956 was not very different from 1955 for Koufax. Despite the blazing speed of his fastball, Koufax continued to struggle with his control.^[36] He saw little work, pitching only 58+2⁄3 innings with a 4.91 ERA, 29 walks and 30 strikeouts. When Koufax allowed baserunners, he was rarely permitted to finish the inning. Teammate Joe Pignatano said that 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 Koufax's usage. Robinson saw that Koufax was talented and had flashes of brilliance, and objected to him being benched for weeks at a time.^[37]

To prepare for him the

Koufax and fellow Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale served six months in the United States Army Reserve at Fort Dix in New Jersey after the end of the 1957 season and before spring training in 1958.^[40][41]

Over the next three seasons, Koufax was in and out of the 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 against the Giants, he set the NL single-game record and tied Bob Feller's modern major league record of 18,^[42] also scoring on Wally Moon's walk-off home run for a 5–2 win.

In

In early 1960, Koufax asked Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi to trade him because he was not getting enough playing time. On May 23, he pitched a 1–0, one-hit shutout in Pittsburgh, allowing only a second-inning single by pitcher Bennie Daniels. By the end of the year, after going 8–13, Koufax was thinking about quitting baseball to devote himself to an electronics business in which he had invested. After the last game of the season, he threw his gloves and spikes into the trash. Nobe Kawano, the clubhouse supervisor, retrieved the equipment in case Koufax returned to play the following year.^[44]

Domination (1961–1964)

1961 season

Koufax decided to try one more year to succeed in baseball, showing up for the 1961 season in better condition than he ever had before. 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."^[45] During spring training, Dodger scout Kenny Myers discovered a hitch in Koufax's windup, where he would rear back so far he would lose sight of the target.^[46] As a result, Koufax tightened up his mechanics, believing that not only would it help better his control but would also help him disguise his pitches better.^[47]

During a B-squad game against the Minnesota Twins in Orlando, Florida, Koufax was chosen by teammate Gil Hodges (acting as manager of the team) to pitch. As teammate Ed Palmquist had missed the flight, Hodges told Koufax he needed to pitch at least seven innings. Prior to the game, catcher Norm Sherry told Koufax: "If you get behind the hitters, don't try to throw so hard." Koufax had a tendancy to lost control of his temper and throw hard when he got into trouble. The strategy worked initially before Koufax temporarily reverted back to throwing hard and walked the bases loaded with no out in the fifth. Sherry reminded Koufax of their discussion, advising him to settle down and throw to his glove and to throw more breaking pitches. The advice worked; Koufax struck out the side and then went on to pitch seven no-hit innings.^[48]

Additionally, Dodgers statistician Allan Roth helped Koufax tweak his game in the early 1960s, particularly regarding the importance of first-pitch strikes and the benefits of off-speed pitches. Like Sherry, Roth also urged him to take a little speed of his pitches to improve his control.^[49]

As a result of all these improvements, 1961 became Koufax's breakout season. He posted an 18–13 record and led the league with 269 strikeouts, breaking Christy Mathewson's 58-year-old NL mark of 267.^[50] Selected as an All-Star for the first time, he appeared in both All-Star Games that year (two All-Star games were held for the years from 1959 to 1962).^[51] In the first game he faced only one batter, giving up a hit to Al Kaline in the ninth inning. In the second game, he pitched two scoreless innings.^[52]

1962 season

In 1962, the Dodgers moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum, which had a 250-foot (75 m) left-field line – an enormous disadvantage to lefthanded pitchers – 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 ERA at home from 4.29 to 1.75.^[53] On April 24, he tied his own record of 18 strikeouts in a 10–2 win over the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.^[54] On June 13, at Milwaukee County Stadium, Koufax hit his first career home run off future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn of Milwaukee Braves, providing the winning margin in a 2–1 victory.^[55]

On June 30, against the expansion New York Mets, he threw his first no-hitter. In the first inning of that game, he struck out all three batters on nine total pitches, becoming the sixth National League pitcher and the 11th pitcher in Major League history to throw an immaculate inning.^[56] His no-hitter, along with a 4–2 record, 73 strikeouts and a 1.23 ERA, earned him the Player of the Month Award for June.^[57][58] It would be the only time in his career he earned this distinction.^[59]

Koufax had a strong season despite an injured pitching hand. While batting in April, he had been jammed by a pitch from Earl Francis. A numbness developed in the index finger on his left hand, and the finger became cold and white. Koufax was pitching better than ever, 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.^[60]

The night before the playoffs began, manager Alston asked Koufax if he could start the next day. With an overworked pitching staff there was no one else, as Drysdale and Johnny Podres had pitched the prior two days, Koufax obliged; he later said, "I had nothing at all." He was knocked out in the second inning, after giving up home runs to future 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.^[61]

1963 season

In 1963 Major League Baseball expanded the strike zone.^[62] Compared to the previous season, walks in the NL fell 13 percent, strikeouts increased 6 percent, the league batting average fell from .261 to .245, and runs scored declined 15 percent.^[63] 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.^[4] The top pitchers of the era – future Hall of Famers Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn, and Koufax himself – significantly reduced the walks-given-up-to-batters-faced ratio for 1963 and subsequent years.^[64]

On May 11 Koufax no-hit the Giants 8–0, besting Marichal—himself a no-hit pitcher on June 15. Koufax carried a perfect game into the eighth inning against the powerful Giants lineup, including Mays and fellow future Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. Koufax was perfect until the eighth inning, when he walked Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch. He closed out the game after walking pinch-hitter McCovey on four pitches in the ninth.^[65][66][67]

From July 3 to July 16, he pitched 33 consecutive scoreless innings, pitching three shutouts to lower his ERA to 1.65. On July 20, he hit the second and last home run of his career, coincidentally again in Milwaukee, a three-run shot to propel the team to a 5–4 win; it was his only game with three

Koufax's 1964 season started with great expectations. On April 18, he struck out three batters on nine pitches in the third inning of a 3–0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the only NL pitcher to have two "immaculate innings".^[58] On April 22, however, "he felt something let go in his arm," resulting in three cortisone shots for a sore elbow and three missed starts.^[77]

On June 4, playing at

Kerlan and Koufax came up with a schedule which he would follow for the last two seasons of his career. Koufax initially agreed to stop throwing between starts but, as it had been a part of his routine for a long time, he soon resumed it. Instead, he stopped throwing sidearm pitches (which he often did against left-hand batters) and removed his rarely-used slider from his repertoire. Before each start, he would get a cortisone shot in his elbow and have capsaicin-based Capsolin ointment (nicknamed the "Atomic Balm" by players) rubbed over his shoulder and arm. Afterwards, he would soak his arm in a tub of ice. Koufax took Empirin with codeine for the pain every night and, occasionally during a game, and also took Butazolidin for the inflammation, a drug that was eventually taken off the market due to its horrible side-effects.^[82]

1965 season

Despite the constant pain in his pitching elbow, Koufax pitched a major league-leading 335+2⁄3 innings and 27 complete games, leading the Dodgers to another pennant. Koufax captured his second unanimous Cy Young Award and was runner-up in the National League MVP race, behind Willie Mays.

He won 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, topped only by Nolan Ryan's 383 in 1973 - though Ryan walked a lot more batters than Koufax did, 162 to Koufax's 71).^[83] He held batters to 5.79 hits per nine innings, and allowed the fewest baserunners per nine innings in any season ever: 7.83, breaking his own record (set two years earlier) of 7.96.^[4][84]

Perfection

On September 9, 1965, Koufax became the sixth pitcher of the modern era, and eighth overall, to throw a perfect game.^[85][86] The game was Koufax's fourth no-hitter,^[86] setting a major league record (since broken by Ryan in 1981),^[87] and the first by a left-hander in the modern era. He struck out 14 batters in the 1–0 win, the most recorded in a perfect game (since tied by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants in 2012).^[88]

The game also set a record for the fewest hits ever in a major league contest,

Koufax declined to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series as it clashed with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. His decision garnered national headlines, raising the conflict between professional pressures and personal religious beliefs to front-page news.^[8] Drysdale pitched the opener, but was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins.^[93]

In Game 2, Koufax pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one unearned), and the Twins won 5–1 to take 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 2–2, Koufax pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 5 for a 3–2 Dodgers lead as the Series returned to Metropolitan Stadium for Game 6, which the Twins won to force a seventh game. Starting Game 7 on just two days of rest, Koufax pitched through fatigue and arthritic pain. Despite giving up on his curveball early in the game after failing to throw strikes with it in the first two innings, and pitching the rest of the game relying almost entirely his fastball, Koufax threw a three-hit shutout to clinch the Series.^[4][94]

His performance earned him a second World Series MVP award, making him the first player to win the award twice. Koufax also won the Hickok Belt for a second time, also the first time anyone had won the belt more than once.^[72] That year, he was awarded the Sportsman of the Year award by Sports Illustrated and was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for a second time.

Holdout

Before the 1966 season began, Koufax and Drysdale met separately with general manager Buzzie Bavasi to negotiate their contracts for the upcoming year. After the meeting, the pitchers met for dinner, with Koufax complaining that Bavasi was using his teammate against him in the negotiations, taunting, "How come you want that much when Drysdale only wants this much?"^[95] Drysdale responded that Bavasi had done the same thing with him, in reverse. Drysdale's wife Ginger suggested that they negotiate together to get what they wanted. They demanded $1 million (equivalent to $9.4 million in 2023), divided equally over the next three years, or $167,000 (equivalent to $1.57 million in 2023) each for each of the next three seasons. Both players were represented by an entertainment lawyer, J. William Hayes, which was unusual in an era when players were not even represented by agents.^[96][97] At the time, Willie Mays was the highest paid player in the major leagues at $125,000 (equivalent to $1.17 million in 2023) per year, and multi-year contracts were extremely unusual.^[98]

Koufax and Drysdale did not report to spring training in February. Instead, 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 (equivalent to $1.03 million in 2023). They rejoined the team in the last week of spring training.^[99]

1966 season

In April 1966, Kerlan told Koufax it was time to retire and 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 with a third pitcher's Triple Crown, pitching 323 innings, posting a 27–9 record, and recording a 1.73 ERA. Since then, no left-hander has had more wins, nor a lower ERA; only Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton matched 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 for the second time that season,^[100]. On two days rest, Koufax pitched a 6–3 complete-game victory to clinch the pennant.^[101] He started 41 games (for the second year in a row); only two left-handers have started more games in any season over the ensuing years through 2021.^[102]

The Dodgers went on to face the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, and Game 2 marked Koufax's third start in eight days. He pitched well enough, allowing only one earned run, but three errors by Dodgers centerfielder Willie Davis in the fifth inning produced three unearned runs. He did not receive any run support either; Baltimore's 20-year-old future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer pitched a four-hit shutout, and the Orioles won 6–0.^[103]

Alston lifted Koufax at the end of the sixth ^[104][105] with the idea of getting him extra rest before a potential fifth game. Instead, the Dodgers were swept in four games, not scoring a single run in the last two games.^[106]

Less than six weeks after the series, on November 18, Koufax announced his retirement from baseball.^[107][108]

Career overall

In his 12-season major league 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 (6.79) and to strike out more than nine batters (9.28) per nine innings pitched.^[109] He also became the second 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 him, with a .271 on-base percentage and a .315 slugging average.^[110]

Due to a lack of run support, Koufax's postseason record over the course of four World Series is an unimpressive 4–3; his 0.95 ERA and two World Series MVPs, however, testify to how well he actually pitched. In his three World Series losses (all starts), spread over three different Series, Koufax gave up one earned run in each; the Dodgers scored only one run in support across the three games, getting shut out twice.^[4]

He remains, over half a century later, on the very short list of pitchers who retired with more career strikeouts than innings pitched. He was selected as an All-Star for six consecutive seasons^[2] and made seven out of eight possible All-Star Game appearances those seasons (he was not on the roster for the second All-Star Game in 1962).^[51] He pitched six innings in four All-Star games,^[111] including being the starting pitcher for three innings in the 1966 All-Star Game.^[112]

Koufax was the first pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards, an especially impressive feat because it was during the era when only one was given out for both major leagues. He is also the first pitcher to win the award by a unanimous vote—a distinction which he received twice more.^[4][113] Koufax and Juan Marichal are the only two pitchers to have more than one 25-win season in the post-World War II era, with each man recording three.^[114]

Career statistics

Pitching style

Koufax was a power-pitcher and threw with a pronounced straight-over-the-top arm action. This aided in his devastating curveball and 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 leg kick during his wind-up and long forward extension on his release point toward home plate.^[116]

Throughout his career, Koufax relied heavily on two pitches.^[117] His four-seam fastball gave batters the impression of rising as it approached them, due to backspin.^[118] It not only appeared to move very late but also might move on multiple planes. His overhand curveball, spun with the middle finger, dropped vertically 12 to 24 inches due to his arm action; sabermetrician Rob Neyer called it the best curve of all time.^[119] Koufax also occasionally threw a changeup and, in his final years, added a forkball to his repertoire.^[117]

At the beginning of his career Koufax fought a tendency to "tip" pitches to the opposing team through variations in his wind-up, which included the position in which he held his hands at the top of the wind-up. When throwing a fastball with baserunners, his hand position in the stretch would be higher than when he threw a curveball. Once alerted, he made an effort to better disguise his deliveries.^[120] Late in his career, perhaps because of his injured arm, his tendency to tip pitches became even more pronounced. Good hitters could often predict what pitch was coming, but were still unable to hit it due to his precise control and the effectiveness of his pitches.

Post-playing career

In 1967, soon after his retirement, Koufax signed a 10-year contract with NBC for $1 million (equivalent to $9.1 million in 2023) to be a broadcaster on the Saturday Game of the Week. He quit after six years, just prior to the start of the 1973 season.^[121][122]

The Dodgers hired Koufax to be a minor league pitching coach in 1979. He resigned in 1990, saying he was not earning his keep, but most observers blamed it on his uneasy relationship with manager Tommy Lasorda.^[123] Koufax returned to the Dodger organization in 2004 when the Dodgers were sold to Frank McCourt.^[89][124] The Dodgers again hired Koufax in 2013 as a special advisor to team chairman Mark Walter to work with the pitchers during spring training and consult during the season.^[125]

Legacy

Koufax at the 2014 Baseball Writers' Association of America dinner.

Koufax was elected to the

In 1999, The Sporting News placed Koufax at number 26 on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".^[128] He was also named that year as one of the 30 players on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.^[129]

Koufax was inducted into the

In 1976, sportswriter Harry Stein published an article called the "All-Time All-Star Argument Starter" in Esquire magazine, consisting of five ethnic baseball teams; Koufax was the left-handed pitcher on Stein's Jewish team.^[133] In April 2007, at age 71, he was the final player chosen in the inaugural Israel Baseball League draft, by the Modi'in Miracle. Former New York Mets player Art Shamsky, manager of the Miracle, said of the honorary pick, "His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league".^[134][135]

Koufax was voted as one of the four greatest living players by Major League Baseball fans, alongside Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Johnny Bench. Before the 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati, he threw the ceremonial first pitch to Bench from in front of the base of the mound.^[136]

On May 27, 2010, Koufax was included amongst the group of prominent Jewish Americans honored at the White House reception for Jewish American Heritage Month. During his welcoming remarks, in a reminiscence of Koufax's decision not to play on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, President Barack Obama remarked: "Sandy and I actually have something in common - we are both lefties. He can't pitch on Yom Kippur; I can't pitch."^[137][138] Obama directly acknowledged the high esteem in which Koufax is held: "This is a... pretty distinguished group," he said of the invited guests, which included members of the House and Senate, two justices of the Supreme Court, Olympic athletes, entrepreneurs, rabbinical scholars, "and Sandy Koufax." The mention of his name brought the biggest cheer at the event.^[137]

Personal life

Koufax has been described by Sports Illustrated writer John Rosengren as a

Author Larry Ruttman called Koufax "an icon" for Jewish people because of his pitching skill and what he called Koufax's "deep respect for his Judaism" as shown in 1965.^[141]

Koufax married Anne Widmark, the daughter of actor Richard Widmark, in 1969; they divorced in 1982. His second marriage, to personal trainer Kimberly Francis, lasted from 1985 to 1998. Neither marriage produced children.^[122] His third wife is Jane Dee Purucker Clarke whom he married in 2008. Koufax is the stepfather of Clarke's daughter from her prior marriage to artist John Clem Clarke.^[142]

Koufax serves as a member of the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro league baseball players through financial and medical difficulties.^[143]

See also

References

Notes

• ISBN 978-0-06-236056-4
  .
• ISBN 0-06-019533-9
  .
• Faber, Charles F. (2010). Major League Careers Cut Short: Leading Players Gone by 30. McFarland & Company.
  ISBN 978-0786462094
  .
• Gruver, Edward (2000). Koufax. Taylor Publishing Company.
  ISBN 0-87833-157-3
  .
• Horvitz, Peter S.; Horvitz, Joachim (2001). The Big Book of Jewish Baseball. S.P.I. Books.
  ISBN 1-56171-973-0
  .
• ISBN 0-345-35171-1
  .
• ISBN 978-1-62336-297-3
  .
• Koufax, Sandy; Linn, Ed (1966). Koufax. Viking Press.
• McNeil, William F. (2001). The Dodgers Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing Inc.
  ISBN 1-58261-316-8
  .
• ISBN 0-7432-6158-5
  .
• Pietrusza, David; Silverman, Matthew & Gershman, Michael, ed. (2000). Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Total/Sports Illustrated.
  ISBN 978-0-6812-0016-6
  .
• Ruttman, Larry. "Sandy Koufax: Pitcher Nonpareil and Perfect Gentleman". In American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball, University of Nebraska Press, 2013,
  ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5
• The Baseball Chronicle: Year-By-Year History of Major League Baseball. Publications International, Ltd. 2001.
  ISBN 978-0-7853-5803-9
  .
• "Sandy Koufax, Class of 1972". Baseball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008.
• "Sandy Koufax Biography". ESPN SportsCentury.
• "Sandy Koufax Career Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.

Further reading

• Koufax, Sandy & Linn, Ed. Koufax. Viking Press (1966)
• Leavy, Jane. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. HarperCollins (2002)
• Leahy, Michael. The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers. HarperCollins (2016)
• Olsen, Jack. "Koufax on Koufax". Sports Illustrated. December 20, 1965
• Verducci, Tom. "The Left Arm of God". Sports Illustrated. July 12, 1999.
• Coffey, Alex. "How Sandy Koufax unleashed Dave Stewart’s stare on the Baseball World". The Athletic. May 13, 2020

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sandy Koufax.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Sandy Koufax.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Retrosheet

Sandy Koufax at the Baseball Hall of Fame

• Sandy Koufax at the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR BioProject)
• Sandy Koufax at
  IMDb
• Sandy Koufax – BaseballBiography.com

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Don Drysdale	Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Starting pitcher 1964	Succeeded by Don Drysdale
Preceded by Earl Wilson Jack Kralick Ken Johnson Jim Maloney	No-hitter pitcher June 30, 1962 May 11, 1963 June 4, 1964 September 9, 1965	Succeeded by Bill Monbouquette Don Nottebart Jim Bunning Dave Morehead
Preceded by Bob Purkey	Major League Player of the Month June 1962	Succeeded by Frank Howard
Preceded by Jim Bunning	Perfect game pitcher September 9, 1965	Succeeded by Catfish Hunter