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Birth
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Life of Sandy Koufax
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Child Hood
Koufax was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family, and raised in Borough Park.His parents, Evelyn (née Lichtenstein) and Jack Braun, divorced when he was three years old; his mother was remarried when he was nine, to Irving Koufax.Shortly after his mother's remarriage, the family moved to the Long Island suburb of Rockville Centre. Before tenth grade, Koufax's family moved back to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn -
Beginning of his Pitching Career
Teenage LifeWhile playing first base for Lafayette High School's baseball team with teammate and friend Fred Wilpon,he was spotted by Milt Laurie, the father of two Lafayette teammates and a baseball coach. Laurie recognized that Koufax might be able to pitch, and recruited the 17-year old Koufax to pitch for the Coney Island Sports League's Parkviews. -
Attending University
Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the freshman basketball team, a complete unknown to coach Ed Jucker. He later earned a partial scholarship. In spring 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team.That season, Koufax went 3–1 with 51 strikeouts and 30 walks, in 31 innings.Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten. -
MLB Debut
MLB Debut Koufax made his major league debut on June 24 1955 against the Milwaukee Braves, with the Dodgers trailing 7–1 in the fifth inning. Johnny Logan, the first batter Koufax faced, hit a bloop single. Eddie Mathews bunted, and Koufax threw the ball into center field. Koufax walked Hank Aaron on four pitches to load the bases, then struck out Bobby Thomson on a full count. -
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Pro Career
Unfortunately his career was cut short because of an arthritic condition -
1956 Season
Season StatsThe year 1956 wasn't very different from 1955 for Koufax. Despite the blazing speed of his fastball, Koufax continued to struggle with control problems. He saw little work, pitching only 58.7 innings with a 4.91 ERA, walking 29 and striking out 30. (Lefty's Legacy) -
Beginning of Greatness
Season StatsIt was the beginning of Koufax's breakout season. Posting an 18–13 record, Koufax led the league with 269 strikeouts, breaking Christy Mathewson's 58-year-old NL mark of 267. Koufax made his first two All-Star Game appearances, pitching 2 scoreless innings
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First No Hitter
Box ScoreOn June 30, 1962, Sandy Koufax strikes out 13 batters and walks five to lead the Brooklyn Dodgers to victory over the New York Mets 5-0 with his first career no-hitter. -
2nd No Hitter
Box ScoreThe Dodgers easily defeat the Giants 8-0 as Sandy Koufax almost throws a perfect game retiring the first 22 batters but finished the game allowing no runs and no hits recording his 2nd of four career no hitters -
3rd No Hitter
Box ScoreThe most dominant pitcher of the sixties was struggling prior to this date and came into this, his third career no-hit game, with a disappointing 5-4 record. Pitching in Connie Mack Stadium against a first place club was the spark he needed as he mowed down this club and won fourteen of his next fifteen decisions. -
Perfect Game
Box ScoreSandy Koufax and the Dodgers defeated the Cubs 1-0 even though only recording one hit, Koufax struck out Harvey Kuenn to end the game, who was also the final out of his 2nd no hitter 2 years prior. -
Final Season
Final StatsDue to overuse "The Left Arm of God" had deveoped arthritis and had deteriorated significantly and after posting a 27-9 record and an outstanding 1.73 era. It was sad to see him leave the game while still being as dominant as he was. -
Hall of Fame Election
InductionKoufax was elected to the hall of fame in the winter of 1972, he and Nolan Ryan are the only pitchers in the Hall of Fame boosting more career strikeouts than innings pitched -
Biography Published
Author Jane Leavy publishes biography about Sandy Koufax and the life he lived -
White House Recognition
White HouseOn May 27, 2010, Koufax was included among a group of prominent Jewish Americans at the first White House reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month.
