1966
Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers
dickperez.com
Goodbye to Sandy
This would be the last hurrah for Koufax whose twelve-year career included 40 shutouts and 2,390 strikeouts. In 1966, he finished the season 27-6, ERA 1.73, and 317 strikeouts despite his on going battle with extreme arthritis in his pitching arm. It marked the fourth straight year of total domination in almost all pitching categories. The Dodgers’ four-headed starting pitching of Koufax, Drysdale, Claude Osteen and rookie Don Sutton was too much for the Giants although they did hang around until the very end with Mays and Willie McCovey swinging their powerful bats while pitchers Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry kept opposing batters confused. Sandy made his final regular season start on the final day of the season on 2 days rest in a must-win or else game against the Phillies. He won and the Dodgers clinched the pennant. He made his final appearance in the second game of the World Series. He pitched brilliantly, but was victimized by center fielder Willie Davis’s three consecutive errors in the fifth inning
Among his many records, Koufax thew 323 consecutive innings without hitting a batter. Yogi Berra once said that it wasn’t Koufax’s amazing wins that amazed him as much as how did he lose the few games that he did. Arthritis brought on his early retirement at the age of 32.