|
Biography[]
Born on December 30, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York, Sandy Koufax (Sanford Koufax) played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodgers over the course of his 12 year career. Koufax broke into the bigs on June 24, 1955 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and put up a 4.91 ERA in 58.2 innings pitched in 1956, his rookie year.
Most people believe that Sandy Koufax's best season was 1965, when he posted a 2.04 ERA, won 26 games and struck out a record 382 batters. Others believe it was 1966, his final season, when---with no spring training, thanks to a highly-publicised joint contract holdout with Don Drysdale---Koufax went 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and 312 strikeouts.
Traumatic arthritis in his pitching elbow, which provoked a near-unconscionable medical regimen over his final two seasons, compelled Koufax's retirement after the 1966 season, making him one of the very few professional athletes who really did give it up at the top of his game.
Sandy Koufax was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972. He was the youngest player ever to be inducted in his first year of eligibility. He has spent the years since his retirement as a broadcaster, pitching coach, and very occasional memorabilia show presence, as well as involvement with the Baseball Assistance Team that helps retired players whose careers came before the big-money free agency era.
Statistics[]
Pitching Stats[]
Year | Team | G | GS | W | L | ERA | K | R | ER | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | IB | WP | HBP | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | BRO | N | 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3.02 | 30 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 41.2 | 33 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
1956 | BRO | N | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4.91 | 30 | 37 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58.2 | 66 | 10 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
1957 | BRO | N | 34 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 3.88 | 122 | 49 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 104.1 | 83 | 14 | 51 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
1958 | LA | N | 40 | 26 | 11 | 11 | 4.48 | 131 | 89 | 79 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 158.2 | 132 | 19 | 105 | 6 | 17 | 1 |
1959 | LA | N | 35 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 4.05 | 173 | 74 | 69 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 153.1 | 136 | 23 | 92 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
1960 | LA | N | 37 | 26 | 8 | 13 | 3.91 | 197 | 83 | 76 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 175 | 133 | 20 | 100 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
1961 | LA | N | 42 | 35 | 18 | 13 | 3.52 | 269 | 117 | 100 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 255.2 | 212 | 27 | 96 | 6 | 12 | 3 |
1962 | LA | N | 28 | 26 | 14 | 7 | 2.54 | 216 | 61 | 52 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 184.1 | 134 | 13 | 57 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
1963 | LA | N | 40 | 40 | 25 | 5 | 1.88 | 306 | 68 | 65 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 311 | 214 | 18 | 58 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
1964 | LA | N | 29 | 28 | 19 | 5 | 1.74 | 223 | 49 | 43 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 223 | 154 | 13 | 53 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
1965 | LA | N | 43 | 41 | 26 | 8 | 2.04 | 382 | 90 | 76 | 27 | 8 | 2 | 335.2 | 216 | 26 | 71 | 4 | 11 | 5 |
1966 | LA | N | 41 | 41 | 27 | 9 | 1.73 | 317 | 74 | 62 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 323 | 241 | 19 | 77 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Total | 397 | 314 | 165 | 87 | 2.76 | 2396 | 806 | 713 | 137 | 40 | 9 | 2324.1 | 1754 | 204 | 817 | 48 | 87 | 18 |
Fielding Stats[]
Year | Team | POS | G | GS | INN | PO | A | ERR | DP | TP | PB | SB | CS | PkO | AVG | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | BRO | N | P | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .875 |
1956 | BRO | N | P | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
1957 | BRO | N | P | 34 | 13 | 104.1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | .875 |
1958 | LA | N | P | 40 | 26 | 158.2 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .964 |
1959 | LA | N | P | 35 | 23 | 153.1 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .952 |
1960 | LA | N | P | 37 | 26 | 175 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1.000 |
1961 | LA | N | P | 42 | 35 | 255.2 | 7 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 0 | .943 |
1962 | LA | N | P | 28 | 26 | 184.1 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .905 |
1963 | LA | N | P | 40 | 40 | 311 | 4 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | .927 |
1964 | LA | N | P | 29 | 28 | 223 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | .931 |
1965 | LA | N | P | 43 | 41 | 335.2 | 10 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 |
1966 | LA | N | P | 41 | 41 | 323 | 7 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 1 | .974 |
Total | P | 397 | 299 | 2224 | 64 | 228 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 70 | 36 | 3 | .954 |
Batting Stats[]
Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SB | IBB | GDP | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | BRO | N | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1956 | BRO | N | 16 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .118 | .211 | .118 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1957 | BRO | N | 34 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1958 | LA | N | 40 | 49 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | .122 | .140 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1959 | LA | N | 35 | 54 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .111 | .143 | .167 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1960 | LA | N | 37 | 57 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | .123 | .167 | .123 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1961 | LA | N | 42 | 77 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .065 | .163 | .065 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 35 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1962 | LA | N | 28 | 69 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | .087 | .113 | .130 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
1963 | LA | N | 40 | 110 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 7 | .064 | .111 | .091 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 51 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
1964 | LA | N | 29 | 74 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | .095 | .141 | .095 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1965 | LA | N | 43 | 113 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 7 | .177 | .242 | .195 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 44 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
1966 | LA | N | 41 | 118 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 5 | .076 | .113 | .102 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 397 | 776 | 26 | 75 | 2 | 28 | .097 | .145 | .116 | 9 | 0 | 43 | 386 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Transactions[]
- Signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Brooklyn Dodgers on (December 14, 1954).
Trivia[]
See also[]
Template:Persondata