Sandy Koufax

Sandy Koufax
Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers - No. 32
Pitcher
Born: December 30th, 1935 Brooklyn ,  United States
Strikes: Right	Throws: Left
Debut in Major League Baseball
June 24,  1955  with the  Brooklyn Dodgers
Last MLB assignment
October 2,  1966  with the  Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics (until end of career)
Win - Loss	165-87
ERA	2.76
Strikeouts	2,396
Teams
Brooklyn Dodgers ( 1955 - 1957 ) Los Angeles Dodgers ( 1958 - 1966 )
Awards
6 × All-Star ( 1961 - 1966 ) 3 × World Series winners ( 1959 , 1965 , 1966 ) 3 × Triple Crown (1963, 1965, 1966) NL Most Valuable Player Award (1963) 3 × Cy Young Award (1963, 1965, 1966) 2 × Babe Ruth Award (1963, 1965) 2 × World Series MVP Award ( 1965 , 1965) Perfect Game on September 9, 1965 Major League Baseball All-Century Team
member of
Baseball Hall of Fame
Recorded	1972
Quota	87%
Last update: December 7th, 2008

Sanford "Sandy" Koufax , nicknamed The Left Arm of God , ([ koʊfæks ] * 30th December 1935 in Brooklyn , New York City as Sanford Brown ) is a former American baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB) on the Position of the pitcher . He played for the Dodgers throughout his active career, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles . Koufax is with three Cy Young Awards , three MLB Championships , three Triple Crowns , two Babe Ruth Award , a Most Valuable Player Award of the National League and six awards for All-Star one of the most successful pitchers of all time. He also threw four no-hitters , including one perfect game . In 1972 Koufax was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame .

Koufax caused a national sensation when he did not play for the first game of the World Series in 1965 because it took place on Yom Kippur and participation was incompatible with his Jewish faith. For parts of American Jewry, Koufax thus became a hero.

biography

Koufax grew up in Brooklyn, which was dominated by Jews and initially played basketball , baseball was more of a pastime. But when a baseball scout saw his fastball - for which he would later become famous - he was signed by the local Brooklyn Dodgers and given a professional contract worth $ 6,000 a month.

Koufax made his debut on June 24, 1955 at the age of 19 with the Dodgers in the MLB against the Milwaukee Braves . The Dodgers lost the game 2 to 8. His first six years were unnoticeable. Although his fastball was over 160 km / h (and thus consistently top of the league), he lacked control and the necessary throwing repertoire beyond the straight, fast ball. His Earned Run Average (ERA) was a steady 4 to 5, and he lost more games than he won . As a reserve player, he was part of the 1959 team that won the World Series . The ambitious, but until then often stubborn and unprofessional living Koufax was so frustrated at the end of the 1960 season that he seriously thought about the end of his career, but allowed himself to be persuaded to "another year".

From then on Koufax changed his professional attitude. In order to gain more endurance, he ran for hours and improved his throwing technique. In addition, he no longer threw his fastball with full force, but took back a little to gain more control over his throws. Koufax suddenly became one of the best pitchers in the MLB: He recorded 269 strikeouts , breaking a decade-old National League record and winning 18 of his 31 games. He threw his first no-hitter in 1962 and had a month that his ERA dropped to 1:23. Still, the Dodgers weren't ready to take part in the title race.

In 1963 Koufax made its final breakthrough. He threw a second no-hitter and won the Triple Crown for pitchers by taking the most wins (25, with only 5 losses), throwing the most strikeouts (306) and recording the lowest ERA (1.88). He also managed eight shutouts , that is, a complete game without opposing points . He led the Dodgers to the 1963 World Series and dominated the New York Yankees at will, throwing 14 strikeouts in Game 1, and Yankee catcher Yogi Berra was quoted as saying, “I see why he won 25 games. What I don't understand is how he lost 5. ”( I can see how he won 25 games. What I don't understand is how he lost five ). Koufax led the Dodgers to their second World Series win and ended up winning the Cy Young and Babe Ruth Awards. He was also honored with the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award .

In 1964 Koufax threw his third no-hitter and managed to get three strikeouts with the minimum number of nine throws in one inning - a rare feat to this day. Despite developing arm problems from joint degeneration, he won 19 games and lost only 5. The next year, Koufax took cortisone and capsaicin for chronic elbow pain (later diagnosed with arthritis ), but his performance remained excellent. He threw a perfect game in which he managed 14 strikeouts, a figure that was only set in 2012 by San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain . His Dodgers made it to the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins . There Koufax made history when he, as a Jew, refused to play in the first game because it fell on Yom Kippur . But Koufax dominated the rest of the series, led the Dodgers to the third championship and won a lot of sympathy for his decision: he was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year ; he received his second athlete of the year nomination from the Associated Press.

In 1966 Koufax's arm was so damaged that he decided to only throw on this one year. He finished this season in an impressive manner, winning 27 games and hitting a strong ERA of 1.73. The Dodgers reached the World Series , but despite Koufax's impeccable performance, they were beaten 4-0 by the Baltimore Orioles . Koufax hereby resigned at the age of just 30 years.

His number 32 is no longer awarded by the Dodgers, and in 1972 he was elected to the Hall of Fame with 87% of the vote in the 1st ballot. His playoff ERA of 0.95 is still absolutely world class.

Throwing technique

Koufax could throw a very fast fastball that was up to 160 km / h. He usually threw the fastball with a slight undercut, so that the ball rose treacherously and could hardly be calculated. Frequently used variants were a curveball , which turned away down a forkball , the "fluttering" in the air and a changeup , which he threw the ball deliberately slowly and thus provoked the batsmen to early swing.

From 1961 to 1966, Koufax was considered the pitcher with the best ball control. Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates said Koufaxs balls were hit as trying "soup with a fork to eat" ( Hitting against him is like eating soup with a fork ). Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays said, "I knew what he was going to throw, but still couldn't hit his balls." ( I knew every pitch he was going to throw and still I couldn't hit him. ). Finally, catcher Joe Roseboro said hitting Koufax was like "sitting on a shaky chair."

Private life

Koufax was born Sanford Braun in Brooklyn in 1935 to Jewish parents. They divorced when he was three years old. When his mother remarried, she took the name "Koufax" from her new husband. Koufax himself was married twice, but the second marriage also ended in divorce.

Web links

Commons : Sandy Koufax  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Sandy Koufax  - Quotes

• Player information and statistics from MLB  or  ESPN  or  baseball reference  or  fangraphs  or  baseball reference (minor league) (English)
• Sandy Koufax in the Baseball Hall of Fame (English)
• ESPN articles on Sandy Koufax (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Brooklyn Dodgers at Milwaukee Braves Box Score, June 24, 1955. In: Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference LLC, accessed February 26, 2020 .