Dandy Sandy

[cslan4]

1 Sandy Koufax ,2 Warron Spahn, 3 Randy Johnson ,4 Whitey Ford ,5 C C Sabathia In opinion are the best lefts ,there are some more but I can't think of them right now.

[AmsterdamKutscheet]

@cslan4 How about Mike Cueller,who won more games in the major leagues than anyone from 1969 to 1975 (140 total wins and only 65 losses,Cy Young winner,world champion,and post season 5 different post seasons with record of 7-4 and hit a grand slam homerun in 1970 ALCS to win game against Minn Twins)?

[MJVESSIO]

ROJO JOHNSON WAS THE BEST!

[FrsBigeasy]

Sandy Koufax is the best pitcher since Walter Johnson & he was capable of throwing a no hitter every time he took the mound

[sciontcdude]

@FrsBigeasy but only for a few years...he had a great stretch for those few years but he dindt have a great career he was a flash in the pan ...i mean look at randy johnson from 99-03 who had a better era and won 4 straight nl cy youngs ...so its great he dominated for 4 years but cant call him hte greatest since alot of guys did nearly what sandy did bout throughout 20 years

[mgwilliams1000]

@sciontcdude Koufax pitched a straight vertical delivery. It most likley wrecked his arm. However, his curveball was awesome 12 to 6. Even Hank Aaron said it was "un-hittable" and called him the most dominating pitcher he ever faced in the box. Also, The mound was higher then. And, hitting averages in the 60's dropped dramatically. In 1968 only one American league hitter even made a 302 average. I'm not saying Koufax was better, but each decade of baseball was different.

[MMSMikey]

@mgwilliams1000 its funny you say that. Aaron hit something like .362 lifetime off of Koufax. When Koufax was asked about why Aaron hit him so well he said "he was a good hitter".

[mgwilliams1000]

@MMSMikey I think Aaron hit .362 off every pitcher.. HA. Still makes B. Bonds look pathetic as he was chasing down Hank's HR record. He was quoted saying Koufax was the best he faced.

[purleses]

Koufax was a German born Sanford Braun. When he was about 10 his mother re-married to a jew named Irving Koufax. Sandy wasn't jewish really.

[SteelyDug]

@purleses

Yeah, but Sandy was a practicing jew

[lindalevi]

@purleses -you've got to be kidding. His original father and his mother were both Jewish. And even if his father wasn't he'd be considered one thru his mother. Sound like an anti-Semitic comment to me.

[a2timmann]

If Koufax would have pitched over 20 years like Ryan did he would of had at least 15 no hitters.

[thewisemann]

The first major league game that I ever saw was in 1965. I was 7 years old. Sandy allowed only a couple of hits, but one was a home run and the Dodgers lost 1-0. Dandy Sandy!

[swr112261]

Koufax, in his 50's, was throwing for the heck of it at Dodgers training camp. He was clocked in the mid 80's! Could you imagine what he was like to hit against in his prime?

[Scoclamor]

@swr112261 Mantle after Bobby Richardson struck out for the third time in game one of the 1963 World Series: There's no use in me going up there.

[halbie71]

No B.S., I swear to God I saw him pitch his perfect game 9/9/1965. I was with my Dad & my Uncle Carl. We sat in the top deck at Dodger Stadium,. I was 12 years old at the time. That was the only time I saw him pitch(Besides TV).

[Scoclamor]

@halbie71 Here's how Vince Scully called it:

2-2 to Harvey Kuenn, one strike away. Sandy into his windup, here's the pitch.

SWUNG ON AND MISSED A PERFECT GAME!

[SteelyDug]

Yesterday, Sept 9th, was the 43rd anniversary of Sandy's perfect game versus the Cubs.

Cub pitcher, Bob Hendley only allowed 1 hit in the game and LOST....

Sandy was the greatest

[Scoclamor]

@SteelyDug The run scored in that game without an at bat being charged. Lou Johnson scored that run. Also in that game he hit a double that did not figure into the scoring.

5 days later Hendley faced Koufax again and beat him 2-1, allowing just 4 more hits!

[renandstim]

To bad Interleague Play started in 1995. If there was Interleague Play back then we could have seen the greatest pitcher who ever lived (Sandy Koufax) versus the greatesr hitter who ever lived.(Ted Williams) They didn't even play against each other in Spring Training beacuse the Dodgers were in Florida while the Red Sox played in Arizona.

[Chicago10281]

Interleague Play Was Started In 1997

[CarlDuke]

Ed Wynn the famous comedian was a big Dodgers fan and Koufax was his favorite player. When he passed away they found him in an easy chair with the radio still playing. He was listening to a Dodgers broadcast and Koufax had been pitching. When his son Keenan Wynn heard of this he said that his father had died a happy man.

[Charlie265]

Koufax retired at 30 from arthritis, he was a great pitcher and the youngest player ever inducted into the H O F.

[drsnk1]

I agree....these Koufax fans are like Kobe fans...they hate Nolan Ryan and Michael Jordan because they were the BEST

[cbat115]

tribute to the best pitcher  in the last half century

[SteelyDug]

Nolan Ryan Quote:"One Sunday between my junior and senior years in high school we went to see the Houston Colt .45's play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sandy Koufax was pitching, and I was a big Koufax fan. It was the first time I had ever seen Sandy pitch. I was truly amazed at how fast he was and how good a curveball he had. I think he was the most overpowering pitcher I had ever seen. I still believe to this day that had Koufax been healthy he would own every pitching record imaginable"

[SteelyDug]

Nolan Ryan Quote:"One Sunday between my junior and senior years in high school we went to see the Houston Colt .45's play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sandy Koufax was pitching, and I was a big Koufax fan. It was the first time I had ever seen Sandy pitch. I was truly amazed at how fast he was and how good a curveball he had. I think he was the most overpowering pitcher I had ever seen. I still believe to this day that had Koufax been healthy he would own every pitching record imaginable"

[THEDONKALEL]

ask Nolan Ryan Sandy is his hero

[SteelyDug]

Koufax was the best

[KooFoo32LA]

Read "A Lefty's Legacy" by Jane Leavy. You might learn something about the guy. They may say that ignorance is bliss, but it doesn't keep you from sounding foolish.

[kev6141]

The man had to retire in the prime of his career and is still one of if not THE best lefty there ever was

[Scoclamor]

@kev6141 You know, some of his earlier years weren't that bad: 11-11 on a Dodger team that won just 72 games in 1958. And they played at that awful ballpark for lefties. Still, that year he allowed just 7.487 hits per 9 innings and fanned 7.4 batters per 9 inning. What's wrong with that? The year before, in Brooklyn, he allowed just 7.2 hits against per 9 innings and averaged 10.5 Ks per 9 innings. In '59 he fanned 173 batters for third in the NL despite pitching just 153 1/3 innings.

[Scoclamor]

@kev6141 Then he pitched well in the World Series, lossing game 5 1-0. In '60 he was 8-13, but he fanned 197 batters in 175 innings and allowed just 6.8 hits against in 9 innings.

So he gradually got better...setting the tone for '61-'66 in which he was as good as any pitcher in baseball history!

[Homeplateumpire]

Where has the time gone???

[Homeplateumpire]

I saw Sandy Koufaxas a young boy.

[msinthrop]

That shot of him at 25 seconds into this clip should be a poster and a T-Shirt. That is one amazing shot!! Thanks for the memories of a true Baseball Hero. To bad we dont have that today!!

[Homeplateumpire]

You are so correct

[thewisemann]

This is great. This is fantastic. It has been over 40 years since Sandy pitched and I still think about those great days. Anyone who can put more Koufax material here, that would be great.