page_title: Sandy Koufax
section_title: Early years (1955–1960)
hierarchical_section_title: Sandy Koufax / Professional career / Early years (1955–1960)
caption_attribution_description: English: Title Portrait of the baseball player Sandy Koufax, ca.1950 Description Photographic portrait of the baseball player Sandy Koufax, ca.1950. Koufax poses in a left handed pitching position at the end of a throw. He faces the camera and looks past while standing on the mound and wearing a baseball mitt on his right hand and a lightly colored Los Angeles baseball uniform. The four tiers of an empty baseball stadium are visible in the background. Subject Koufax, Sandy; Los Angeles Dodgers Subject (adlf) sports facilities Subject (file heading) Recreation -- Baseball Subject (lcsh) Baseball Geographic subject (city or populated place) Los Angeles Geographic subject (county) Los Angeles Geographic subject (state) California Geographic subject (country) USA Coverage date circa 1950-06-01 Publisher (of the digital version) University of Southern California. Libraries Date created circa 1950-06-01 Type images Format (aacr2) 1 photograph&#160;: photoprint, b&amp;w&#160;; 26 x 21 cm. Format (aat) photographic prints photographs Contributing entity California Historical Society Accession number 42574 Call number CHS-42574 Microfiche number 1-90-327 Legacy record ID chs-m5247; USC-0-1-1-5355 Part of collection California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 Project USC Rights Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license -- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ -- Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Physical access Send requests to address or e-mail given Repository name USC Libraries Special Collections Repository address Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Repository email specol@usc.edu Filename CHS-42574 Archival file chs_Volume148/CHS-42574.tiff
context_page_description: Sanford Koufax is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched 12 seasons for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1966. Koufax, at age 36 in 1972, became the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He has been hailed as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.
  Koufax's career peaked with a run of six outstanding years from 1961 to 1966, before arthritis in his left elbow ended his career prematurely at age 30. He was an All-Star for six seasons and was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1963. He won three Cy Young Awards in 1963, 1965, and 1966, by unanimous votes, making him the first three-time Cy Young winner in baseball history and the only one to win three times when one overall award was given for all of Major League Baseball instead of one award for each league. Koufax also won the NL Triple Crown for pitchers those same three years by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.
  Koufax was the first major league pitcher to pitch four no-hitters and the eighth pitcher to pitch a perfect game in baseball history.
context_section_description: Because Koufax's signing bonus was greater than $4,000 ($38,000 today), he was known as a bonus baby. This forced the Dodgers to keep him on the major league roster for at least two years before he could be sent to the minors. To make room for him, the Dodgers optioned their future Hall of Fame manager, Tommy Lasorda, to the Montreal Royals of the International League. Lasorda would later joke that it took Koufax to keep him off the Dodger pitching staff.
  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. He then walked Hank Aaron on four pitches to load the bases, but struck out Bobby Thomson on a 3-2 fastball—an outcome Koufax later came to view as "probably the worst thing that could have happened to me," leading, as it did, to five seasons spent "trying to get out of trouble by throwing harder and harder and harder."
  Koufax's first start was on July 6. He lasted only ​4 ²⁄₃ innings, giving up eight walks. He did not start again for almost two months, but on August 27, Koufax threw a two-hit, 7–0 complete game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds for his first major league win. Koufax threw ​41 ²⁄₃ innings in 12 appearances that season, striking out 30 batters and walking 28. He had two wins in 1955, which were both shutouts.
  During the fall, he enrolled in the Columbia University School of General Studies, which offered night classes in architecture. The Dodgers won the 1955 World Series for the first title in franchise history, but Koufax did not appear in the series. After the final out of Game Seven, Koufax drove to Columbia to attend class.
  The year 1956 was not very different from 1955 for Koufax. Despite the blazing speed of his fastball, Koufax continued to struggle with his control. He saw little work, pitching only 58.7 innings with a 4.91 earned run average, 29 walks and 30 strikeouts. When Koufax allowed baserunners, he was rarely permitted to finish the inning. Teammate Joe Pignatano said that, as soon as Koufax threw a couple of balls in a row, Alston would signal for a replacement to start warming up in the bullpen. Jackie Robinson, in his final season, clashed with Alston on Koufax's usage. Robinson saw that Koufax was talented and had flashes of brilliance, and objected to Koufax being benched for weeks at a time.
  To prepare for the 1957 season, the Dodgers sent Koufax to Puerto Rico to play winter ball. On May 15, the restriction on sending Koufax down to the minors was lifted. Alston gave him a chance to justify his place on the major league roster by giving him the next day's start. Facing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Koufax struck out 13 while pitching his first complete game in almost two years. For the first time in his career, he was in the starting rotation, but only for two weeks. Despite winning three of his next five with a 2.90 earned run average, Koufax did not get another start for 45 days. In that start, he struck out 11 in seven innings, but got a no-decision. On September 29, Koufax became the last man to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers before their move to Los Angeles, by throwing an inning of relief in the final game of the season.
  Over the next three seasons, Koufax was in and out of the Dodger starting rotation due to injuries. In 1958, he began 7–3, but sprained his ankle in a collision at first base, finishing the season at 11–11 and leading the NL in wild pitches. In June 1959, Koufax set the record for a night game with 16 strikeouts. On August 31, 1959, he surpassed his career high with 18 strikeouts, setting the NL record and tying Bob Feller's major league record for strikeouts in one game.
  In 1959, the Dodgers won a close pennant race against the Braves and the Giants, then beat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. Koufax pitched two perfect relief innings in the Series opener, though they came after the Dodgers were already behind 11–0. Alston gave him
caption: Koufax
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