Power Pitcher
Sandy Koufax. Three-time Cy Young Award winner. Four no hitters including a perfect game. A modern legend acclaimed even by opposing teams' fans. A Jewish icon who refused to pitch on High Holy Days. An elusive, enigmatic hero who left the spotlight at the height of his powers."A certain magic still lingers in the name, stirring memories of the sixties supernova whose half-decade of dominance was so brilliant, yet so fleeting. Decades removed from his final game, Koufax's stats still jump from the pages of history like one of his fastballs." (Gruver, 1)In Koufax, the first book in more than thirty years on the inimitable Sandy Koufax, sportswriter Edward Gruver illuminates the astonishing story of the man many consider the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time. Between 1962 and 1966, he dominated the game as no pitcher before or since. His 382 strikeouts in '65 remain a National League record to this day. Koufax's hopping curve and blazing fastball, sometimes spotted with blood from his ailing hand, confounded hitters while slowly tearing his arm apart. He suffered agonizing arthritis, immersed his inflamed elbow in ice baths following games, and required specially tailored suits to accommodate his bowed left limb. Even
Was he the greatest pitcher of the pitching-rich sixties, a decade that included Whitey Ford and Warren Spahn, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal? Is he the greatest left-handed pitcher ever, better that Hall of Fame predecessors Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, and Carl Hubbell or successors Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson? Is he the greatest pitcher, period, better that Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller, Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux? There seems to be little argument that Koufax was indeed the best southpaw of the sixties, reaching his peak in 1963 just as the Cooperstown careers of Ford and Spahn were winding down. He methodically weaves the twist and turns of Koufax's not-so-fairy tale life, throughout his Series winning performance. The swelling in his pitching arm was no longer confined to his elbow; it now extended from wrist to shoulder. Ironically, as his index finger worsened, Koufax pitching improved. Rabbi Donald Goor of Las Angeles said, "what's important is not that a successful athlete was born with Jewish blood but whether they live by Jewish principles and traditions," as Koufax did when he took his famous stand in '65. when Koufax pressed the nail of his thumb into it, the impression remained, as if the finger was made of wax. Still, many including Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer still refer to Koufax as being "as good as anyone has ever seen. But if you asked a fan in the mid-sixties who the best pitcher was, you would only get one: Sandy Koufax. " (Tom Sever)Pitching Game Seven against the Twins in Minnesota on two days' rest was the kind on big game Sandy seemed to thrive on. His greatness in the game, helped pave the way for less Anti-Semitic attitudes in baseball, the same way hank Greenberg had done. Koufax breaks it down pitch-by-pitch recounting each of Koufax's "silent screams" as he let the ball fly against the Twins.
Common topics in this essay:
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Edward Gruver,
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National League,
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Acceptance Essays
