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Sandy Koufax's Statue Unveiled This Weekend

Parkland Fan

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Jul 25, 2001
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Sandy had a short but incredible career. He now spends his summers in the Lehigh Valley, and I have gotten to know him through our interest in golf. Nice guy but very private.

Willie Stargell said hitting against him was like trying to drink coffee through a fork.

I found a nice video on Sandy.

 
His last game, Game 2 in the 1966 World Series where the Dodgers made six errors, was also the first time both starting pitchers in a World Series game were adopted. Jim Palmer started for the Orioles and he was adopted. Sandy Koufax's mother divorced his biological Dad and married a guy named Koufax, who adopted him.
 
His last game, Game 2 in the 1966 World Series where the Dodgers made six errors, was also the first time both starting pitchers in a World Series game were adopted. Jim Palmer started for the Orioles and he was adopted. Sandy Koufax's mother divorced his biological Dad and married a guy named Koufax, who adopted him.
Amazing trivia!!!
I remember that series for a different reason. I am a Dodger fan and I started my freshman year at PSU in September 1966. The Dodgers were in a pennant race with the Pirates, and I had to put up with a dorm full of Pirate fans, not to mention Bob Prince on the radio. They gave it back to when the Orioles swept.
 
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Sandy had a short but incredible career. He now spends his summers in the Lehigh Valley, and I have gotten to know him through our interest in golf. Nice guy but very private.

Willie Stargell said hitting against him was like trying to drink coffee through a fork.

I found a nice video on Sandy.

I bumped into him (literally) in the Bethlehem Twp. ShopRite a couple years ago. I said to myself, I wonder if anybody has ever told that guy he looks just like Sandy Koufax. Then some other guy notices me looking at him and confirms my suspicions.
 
Hope Sandy Kaufax didn't offend anyone with anything he might have said, or was rumored to have said, or his statue won't last long............ :oops:
 
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I went with my dad to the last game of his scoreless streak. I still have the program somewhere in my house.

edit, I looked for the program and found old pictures with dates. it was Don Drysdale scoreless streak. getting old!
 
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Greatest pitcher of all time, IMHO. And I'm not biased at all. (Ignore that avatar photo.) :cool:
Totally agree. The run he had from 1961 through 1966 was just off the charts. His health forced him to retire at 31 - just wonder the records he would have set if he could have stayed healthy. He was the youngest player ever elected to the HOF at 36 - just incredible.
 
Hope Sandy didn't offend anyone with anything he might have said, or was rumored to have said, or his statue won't last long............ :oops:
I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps he farted by the wrong person and the statue will need to come down. I mean the Flyers took down Kate Smith's statue. Just disgraceful.
 
Greatest pitcher of all time, IMHO. And I'm not biased at all. (Ignore that avatar photo.) :cool:
I think you have a lot of people that agree with you. I've been following MLB since the late 1950s (a youngster) and that run Koufax had in the early-to-mid 60s was the greatest ever - by any pitcher - and it's not even debatable. Too bad he had to retire at such a young age.
 
Greg,

What are your referring to?
The recent removal of statues of anyone that did anything or stands for anything that offends in any way the ideals of the radical zealot minority in this country that disproportionately cry and seem to get their way .....
 
There have been many of great pitchers in baseball; Koufax is one of them. Along with Don Drysdale they were the most fearsome tandem since Spahn & Sain (and pray for a day of rain).
 
My very first baseball game was at Connie Mack Stadium. And Koufax was pitching. Ca. 1965, as I recall. Wish I had the ticket stub/program still. While I do have programs from Connie Mack, they were from later games. Koufax won, but "Dr. Strangeglove" hit a 3 run dinger off him. We were right behnd the Dodgers dugout--my dad had the company tickets.
 
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My very first baseball game was at Connie Mack Stadium. And Koufax was pitching. Ca. 1965, as I recall. Wish I had the ticket stub/program still. While I do have programs from Connie Mack, they were from later games. Koufax won, but "Dr. Strangeglove" hit a 3 run dinger off him. We were right behnd the Dodgers dugout--my dad had the company tickets.
I remember seeing Dr. Strangeglove, aka Dick Stuart, a few times. He had some good offensive seasons, but he was terrible in the field. I believe he played most of his career with the Pirates.
 
One amazing stat about Koufax was 40 of his 165 wins were shutouts, a shutout rate of 24.2% for every win. Walter Johnson, who many historians consider the best pitcher in MLB history had a shutout rate of 26.4% (110 SHO out of 417 wins). Johnson's prime years were played during the "dead ball period" in baseball but it still is an unbelievable accomplishment.
 
But
One amazing stat about Koufax was 40 of his 165 wins were shutouts, a shutout rate of 24.2% for every win. Walter Johnson, who many historians consider the best pitcher in MLB history had a shutout rate of 26.4% (110 SHO out of 417 wins). Johnson's prime years were played during the "dead ball period" in baseball but it still is an unbelievable accomplishment.
But keep in mind, the mind-boggling thing about Koufax's accomplishments is that he was forced to retire at the age of 31 because of his health - he missed his "prime" years.
 
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