Sandy Koufax

Savannah

I had the good fortune of seeing Mr Koufax pitch live and in per son a number of times--he was absolutely unreal

You make a great point about the size of his
hands and his finger length. Too many people forget this factor when they wonder why can't I throw a pitch like he does-- plain and simple your hands a different size not to mention many other aspects.

Had Koufax not had the arthritic elbow who knows how great he could have become.

Question: was the arthritic elbow just something he was prone to or was it a result of how he threw his devastating curveball ?

What ever he was one of the greatest and he still spends time im spring training with teams working with their young pitchers

When it comes to discussing Mr. Koufax I'll never forget the first (of many)times I saw him pitch at Wrigley. Back in those days the Cubs weren't drawing 40K fans per. It was easy to sneak down into the boxes by the 4th or 5th inning. When Sandy let loose with his fastball you could easily HEAR it. It was next to impossible to see it but man, did it whizz! Best pitcher I ever saw.

TRhit
I know that he left the game because of his elbow, but was it indeed an arthritic condition or something else; i.e. tendon, ligament, etc? I read Leavy's book on Koufax which was good, although, it really didn't go deep into his injury or what problems it has caused him after he retired , if any.

From: http://www.baseballhistorian.com/html/sandy_koufax.htm

Sandy Koufax
Lefthanded Pitcher; Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodgers 1955-1965

Sandy Koufax dominated the pitching mound for five consecutive seasons with his explosive fastball and sharp breaking curveball. From 1962 thru 1966, Koufax won five consecutive ERA Titles and compilied an unheard of record of 111-34, a winning pct of .766. He was picked for six straight All-Star games. Koufax led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts for three consecutive seasons. In 1963, he hurled 11 shutouts and had a record of 25-5, pct of .833, he seemed unbeatable in the mid-1960.

Sandy Koufax dominated the World Series games with his curve as he struckout 15 New York Yankees in game one. He came back to win game four with a 2-1 victory and helped the Dodgers sweep the Yankees in four games. In 1965, he won his second Cy Young Award, as he went 26-8 and set the major league record by stricking out 382 would be hitters, ( Nolan Ryan broke this awesome record by fanning 383 in one season ). Koufax also pitched his fourth career no-hitter and had 8 shutouts.

Koufax pitched his first seven years in the majors without much fanfare and his record of 54 wins and 53 loses bears this fact out. He credited Dodgers catcher, Norn Sherry and others with changing his pitching delivery, which improved his control, and he changed his grip on his curveball to make it break away from the hitters. An arm injury forced Koufax to retire early. Many sports writers rate Koufax as the best pitcher of all time - for a five year period.

Sandy Koufax career highlights include a 165-87, a pct of .655. He started 314 games and completed 137. Koufax struck out over a batter an inning with 2396 K's in 2324 innings. He threw 40 shutouts and had a career ERA of 2.76.
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As a Giants fan since 1958 starting at old Seal Stadium and before Candlestick Park got to see Koufax pitch many times. Best lefty I ever saw.

I remember a story about Sandy, perhaps it was told by Willie Mays during an interview {cannot recall}. The story goes that Willie said he knew exactly what pitch Sandy was going to throw but it didn't matter because he couldn't hit it anyway. As a young boy I got to watch Sandy pitch. I will never forget that sinking curveball. His numbers speak for themselves.

Never saw him pitch but was smart enough, thirty years ago, to pick up a 1955 Topps Koufax at a card show in Detroit.....still have the card. A real keepsake!!

I remember an interview with Tommy Lasorda. The Dodgers were taking BP before a World Series game with the Yankees, 77 or 78. Koufax is throwing BP. The heart of the Dodger lineup couldn't get a ball out of the cage, Cey,Garvey, Smith. They had to ask Koufax to quit. This was 10 years after he had retired.

My question. Was Koufax's elbow problem a result of his talent making the ball move at such high speed? The joints in the human arm are not meant for that motion at that torque. Sooner or later something has to give.

I had the opportunity to chat with
Tommy Lasorda during the 13th Annual MASA Dinner held in in Baltimore. (We were
talking in the Baltimore-Marriot bar ......shhhhh)

Tommmy, I asked......I have two questions:

1. Who threw the ball harder, Drysdale or Koufax?

2. How hard did Koufax throw the ball?

I did reply and mention to Tommy that
Frank Robinson did not have the same opinion.

The funniest part of the conversation was
when Lasorda wanted me to relay a message.
Tommy says, Bear, when you see Robinson,
tell him that Tommy says that he has no idea what he is talking about!

Sure Tommy.

Happy Holidays

cheers
Bear

Pic or Tommy at MASA Banquet

quote:

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Originally posted by Bear:
I had the opportunity to chat with
Tommy Lasorda during the 13th Annual MASA Dinner held in in Baltimore. (We were
talking in the Baltimore-Marriot bar ......shhhhh)

Tommmy, I asked......I have two questions:

1. Who threw the ball harder, Drysdale or Koufax?

2. How hard did Koufax throw the ball?

I did reply and mention to Tommy that
Frank Robinson did not have the same opinion.

The funniest part of the conversation was
when Lasorda wanted me to relay a message.
Tommy says, Bear, when you see Robinson,
tell him that Tommy says that he has no idea what he is talking about!

Sure Tommy.

Happy Holidays

cheers
Bear

http://http:/www/miketoomeybaseball.com/staff.htm

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????? What did he answer??????