Happy 84th Birthday to the Incomparable One

[1954 Phils]

December 30, 2019: Today is the 84th birthday to the arguably greatest left-handed pitcher ever, Sandy Koufax.

[BigRon]

How time flies. The first time I saw Koufax pitch in person was, I think, 1959 at Forbes Field. He was still an undeveloped work in progress at that point. Clearly a great arm but little evidence of what was to come.

[1954 Phils]

How time flies. The first time I saw Koufax pitch in person was, I think, 1959 at Forbes Field. He was still an undeveloped work in progress at that point. Clearly a great arm but little evidence of what was to come.

Sandy Koufax didn't even go directly to the minors after completing high school, but he went to the University of Cincinnati for 1 1/2 years. He also was a basketball star and at the point where he left for college, he thought that the NBA might be in his future instead of a career in MLB. He pitched for the U. Cincy Bearcats' 1954 team and then with rumors spreading about how hard he threw circulating around the majors, the Reds, Pirates, Yankees and the Dodgers became finalists in attempting to sign him. Finally around
New Years' Eve 1954/New Years' Day 1955 at about the time of his 19th birthday Sandy Koufax and his father finally approved the Dodgers offer to bring him directly to the major leagues for the 1955 season. Actually he got hurt in Spring Training at Dodgertown, Vero beach, FL and didn't make his MLB debut until June. He was a hard throwing, but very wild power arm, who was learning to throw a 12/6 over the top Curveball in his season at the University of Cincinnati at the time just before he turned pro and he could not have known the level of success that awaited him in the major leagues, especially in his last seven years as a Dodger, 1960-1966.