Sandy Koufax
Southpaw Sandy Koufax earned a place among baseball's greatest pitchers with a dominating performance between 1962 and 1966. During that span, he won 111 games and lost 34, led the league in ERA each season (averaging under two earned runs per game), paced the NL in strikeouts (1963, 1965, and 1966) and shutouts (three times), and pitched four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965. At the height of his career, traumatic arthritis in his elbow threatened permanent disability and hastened his retirement after the 1966 season.
Quotes From Koufax
"I think more than anything, I probably remember the last two innings simply because I probably had better stuff, better control those last two innings than I ever had. I went out there and struck out the last six hitters. I don't have any great memory of it that that and the fact that we had to win." &$151 on his perfect game
Played For
Brooklyn Dodgers (1955-1957)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1958-1966)
All-Time Rankings
Sandy Koufax ranks #9 among the Top 50 all-time at SP. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1965
The left-hander went 26-8, with a 2.04 ERA, eight shutouts, and 27 complete games. Koufax set a major league record with 382 strikeouts.
Factoids
Sandy Koufax posted records of 26-8 and 27-9 in his final two seasons. Therefore, he was 18 games over .500 each season. Since 1950, no other pitcher has put together back-to-back seasons of as many as 16 games over .500, let alone their last two seasons in the game.
In 1965, Sandy Koufax pitched 323 innings and did not hit one batter. That is a big league record.
Koufax threw four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965... August 27, 1955: Dodger bonus baby Koufax fans 14 Redlegs in a 7-0 win, as the two-team total of 23 strikeouts ties a record... June 22, 1959: Koufax fans 16 Phillies, to set a new record for a night game, and wins 6-2... August 31, 1959: Koufax breaks Dizzy Dean's NL mark and ties Bob Feller's major-league record of 18 strikeouts in a game against the Giants as 82,974 fans watch. He also totals 31 Ks for two consecutive games to set a new ML mark. September 6, 1959: Koufax runs his streak to 41 strikeouts in three games, for another ML record... September 15, 1961: With 10 strikeouts in an 11-2 win against the Braves, Koufax has 243 strikeouts, most ever for a NL lefty... September 27, 1961: Koufax fans seven Phils in the course of a 2-1 win to set a NL record for strikeouts in a season with 269. This surpasses Christy Mathewson's 267 in 1903, which was accomplished in 367 innings pitched, as opposed to Koufax's remarkable 255. April 24, 1962: Koufax ties the modern ML record he shares with Feller by fanning 18 Cubs in nine innings... October 2, 1963: In the World Series opener, Koufax fans the first five Yankee batters he faces en route to a WS record 15... April 18, 1964: Koufax fans the side on nine pitches in the 3rd inning, becoming the first pitcher to do it twice... October 2, 1965: Koufax's 2-1 win against the Braves clinches the NL pennant for the Dodgers. With 13 strikeouts, Koufax ups his modern ML single season record to 382... September 29, 1966: Koufax pitches a four-hitter, beats the Cards 2-1, and becomes the first ML pitcher to achieve a third 300-strikeout season since Amos Rusie in 1890-92.
Pitchers Who Struck Out the Side on Nine Pitches in the First Inning
Sandy Koufax, June 30, 1962
Pedro Martinez, May 18, 2002
Rick Helling, June 20, 2006
Source: Trent McCotter
Where He Played
Starting pitcher
Born
Sanford Koufax was born on December 30, 1935, in Brooklyn, NY.
Batted: Right
Threw: Left
Primary Position: P
Primary Team: LAN
Major League Debut
June 24, 1955
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1955
Brooks Robinson
Roberto Clemente
Ken Boyer
Rocky Colavito
Clete Boyer
Elston Howard
Sandy Koufax
Jim Bunning
Bill Virdon
Uniform Numbers
#32 (1955-1966)
Similar Players
Ron Guidry
Related Players
Don Drysdale
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 1972 |
BBWAA |
344 |
86.9% |
|
No-Hitter
6/30/1962: For LA (N) vs. NYM (N), 5-0 at LA. 9 innings pitched.
5/11/1963: For LA (N) vs. SF (N), 1-0 at LA. 9 innings pitched.
6/4/1964: For LA (N) vs. PHI (N), 3-0 at PHI. 9 innings pitched.
9/9/1965: For LA (N) vs. CHI (N), 1-0 at LA. 9 innings pitched.
Post-Season Appearances
1959 World Series
1963 World Series
1965 World Series
1966 World Series
Post-Season Notes
Koufax pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout in Game Seven of the '65 World Series against the Twins.
Awards and Honors
1963 ML Cy Young
1963 NL MVP
1963 NL Triple Crown
1963 ML WS MVP
1965 ML Cy Young
1965 NL Triple Crown
1965 ML WS MVP
1966 ML Cy Young
1966 NL Triple Crown
Feats
Koufax threw four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965... August 27, 1955: Dodger bonus baby Koufax fans 14 Redlegs in a 7-0 win, as the two-team total of 23 strikeouts ties a record... June 22, 1959: Koufax fans 16 Phillies, to set a new record for a night game, and wins 6-2... August 31, 1959: Koufax breaks Dizzy Dean's NL mark and ties Bob Feller's major-league record of 18 strikeouts in a game against the Giants as 82,974 fans watch. He also totals 31 Ks for two consecutive games to set a new ML mark. September 6, 1959: Koufax runs his streak to 41 strikeouts in three games, for another ML record... September 15, 1961: With 10 strikeouts in an 11-2 win against the Braves, Koufax has 243 strikeouts, most ever for a NL lefty... September 27, 1961: Koufax fans seven Phils in the course of a 2-1 win to set a NL record for strikeouts in a season with 269. This surpasses Christy Mathewson's 267 in 1903, which was accomplished in 367 innings pitched, as opposed to Koufax's remarkable 255. April 24, 1962: Koufax ties the modern ML record he shares with Feller by fanning 18 Cubs in nine innings... October 2, 1963: In the World Series opener, Koufax fans the first five Yankee batters he faces en route to a WS record 15... April 18, 1964: Koufax fans the side on nine pitches in the 3rd inning, becoming the first pitcher to do it twice... October 2, 1965: Koufax's 2-1 win against the Braves clinches the NL pennant for the Dodgers. With 13 strikeouts, Koufax ups his modern ML single season record to 382... September 29, 1966: Koufax pitches a four-hitter, beats the Cards 2-1, and becomes the first ML pitcher to achieve a third 300-strikeout season since Amos Rusie in 1890-1892.
Milestones
Some experts have speculated that had Koufax not been forced to retire due to arm ptoblems, he would have topped 300 victories and 4,500 strikeouts.
Notes
According to research done by SABR member Bill Deane, Koufax had a 1.37 career ERA at Dodger Stadium. His ERA in other parks (including L.A. Coliseum and Ebbets Field) was 3.38.
All-Star Selections
1961 NL
1962 NL
1963 NL
1964 NL
1965 NL
1966 NL
Replaced
Sal Maglie
Replaced By
Bill Singer
Best Strength as a Player
Fastball and curve.
Largest Weakness as a Player
Early in his career he had a lot of difficulty with his control. According to Lou Brock: "Koufax couldn't field bunts well or hold runners on base too well. Trouble was, nobody got on base too often."
Learn More about Sandy Koufax
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