Sandy Koufax 1965
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[edit] Summary
I was one of the luckiest fans in baseball that year of 1965. I was back on a R&R form Vietnam and got to see most of the whole season and watching Sandy pitch from the beginning to the end was peotry in motion. I don't think there has been a pitcher that dominated so completely in any season as Koufax did in 1965. Shutouts were the normal event when he pitched and Dodger Stadium was so full of fans and press that it made it hard to get in and out after the games. You could see the looks on the faces of the opposing players when they went into the box that what the hell am I going to do. His curve ball would come in at 90plus and drop over the plate like off a table and his fastball was without a doubt on top of them so fast that they couldn't decide what to do either swing or let it go. And the strikeout records he set speak for it all. Eddie Mathews from the Braves said that he felt like closing his eyes and just swinging praying that the bat hit the ball. Mickey Mantle said during the world series in 1963 that in the first game that Koufax pitched he struckout 15 Yankees, he was standing at the plate after watching him pitch to Tony K and the first pitch came in at about his eyes so he let it go but that it just dropped off a table and over the plate. His fastball was on him so fast that before he could start his swing he heard the catchers' mitt go pop.
Denny McClain, Bob Gibson and others have had very dominating seasons but for 5 years Sandy Koufax pitched at a level that still to this day hasn't been equaled. When Hank Aaron was asked about stepping into the batters box against Sandy Koufax one of the sports writers had remarked about Drysdales' pitching close and his habit of headhunting, well, Aaron said that if Sandy Koufax starts pitching inside for heads like Drysdale then maybe it is time to retire.
[edit] Season Highlights and Memorable Games
[edit] Statistics
41 GS, 335.7 IP, 26-8 record, 27 CG, 8 Shutouts, 382-71 SO/BB, 2.04 ERA, .85 WHIP.
