For those of you that saw Sandy Koufax pitch.....

[DrJC]

I recently watched Ken Burns' series on Baseball and in particular the 60s and seeing how amazing Koufax was in his prime, which happened to be before my time. That must of been something to see him pitch in person and know you were most likely to witness an outstanding pitching performance.

Has any pitcher approached or inspired that type of feeling since?

Carlton in his prime? I remember the Gunner Bob Prince saying if you didn't get Carlton early, forget it.

Gibson? Seaver? Pedro? Ryan? Ryan was surely capable of a great pitching performance but it wasn't something I would state happened on a regular basis.

Guidry that one year? Arrietta? Kershaw?

Koufax was the best. I watched him pitch many times and saw a curveball and fastball that had no peers. Mickey Mantle was struck out in the World Series by Koufax with straight fastballs, as he lost his curve in that game. Mantle said he was "unhittable."

 

[LionJim]

This has been an immensely enjoyable thread.
Thanks to all.

Yes. It's been my experience for the last 18 years that every couple of months you'll find a thread on this board that just takes on a life of its own.

 

[Billieve]

Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton and Juan Marichal were awesome but for my money Bob Gibson was nasty phenomenal. Bob Veale (Pirates) and "Sudden" Sam McDowell (Indians) could bring the heater too. What's interesting was that there was a time when Ryan, Seaver and Calrton all pitched for the Mets at the SAME TIME. Rollie Fingers of the Oakland A's was the premier reliever.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Pedro 97-02 >> Koufax 61-66

Pedro slightly better WAR
Koufax slightly better FIP
Pedro much much better ERA +

I don't think you can compare statistics of players from different eras. The game is not the same in ten years, let alone 30 years. You have to look how much better the player was than his contemporaries.

Koufax and Pedro both won three Cy Young awards, but Koufax's Cy Young awards were unanimous and he won the Cy Young when it was for both leagues, not one each for the AL and NL. Koufax won the MVP in 1963, and Pedro was runner up once. Koufax was voted the best pitcher in all of baseball three times and the best player regardless of position once, while Pedro was voted the best pitcher in his league three times. You can't say for sure whether Pedro would have been voted best pitcher for combined MLB or not, so I guess this would be a push, but the fact that Koufax was league MVP gives him an edge.

Koufax won the NL tripple crown for pitching (wins, ERA, strikeouts), while Pedro won just once. So, Koufax was statistically superior than his contemporaries in the three fundamental pitching metrics for three seasons, while Pedro did this only once.

If you compare them both to their contemporaries, then Koufax is measurably better.

 

[SEPATOPTEN]

I recently watched Ken Burns' series on Baseball and in particular the 60s and seeing how amazing Koufax was in his prime, which happened to be before my time. That must of been something to see him pitch in person and know you were most likely to witness an outstanding pitching performance.

Has any pitcher approached or inspired that type of feeling since?

Carlton in his prime? I remember the Gunner Bob Prince saying if you didn't get Carlton early, forget it.

Gibson? Seaver? Pedro? Ryan? Ryan was surely capable of a great pitching performance but it wasn't something I would state happened on a regular basis.

Guidry that one year? Arrietta? Kershaw?

I think folks would say Bob Gibson would be a pitcher with the qualities you are speaking of. My brother said Sandy Koufax was absolutely unhittable for 5 years in the early sixties. I saw Gibson in the early seventies a little after his prime. Carlton in 72 might have had the greatest season a pitcher in the modern era has had. As great as Ryan was I never thought of him as a guy who would shut the door in a big game.