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Sanford Koufax
Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitcher
Born: December 30, 1935, Brooklyn, NY
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent, December 14, 1954
Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1955-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966
Hall of Fame Induction: 1972
On Sandy Koufax's biography page on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website, the first quote about the all-time great lefty comes from former Phillies great Richie Ashburn: "Either he throws the fastest ball I've ever seen, or I'm going blind."
In a 12-year career shortened by arthritis in his left arm and Koufax's desire to retire at the top of his game, the Hall of Famer won the N.L. Cy Young Award in 1963, 1965 and in his final season, 1966. He also won N.L. MVP honors in 1963, a season in which he went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, 20 complete games, 11 shutouts and led the league with 306 strikeouts. Koufax was a six-time All-Star and helped the Dodgers to three World Series titles in 1959, 1963 and 1965.
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| October 14, 1965 - World Series Game 7 |
Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972, his first year of eligibility, Koufax became the youngest player enshrined at the age of 36. His #32 was retired by the Dodgers that same year. Following his playing days, Koufax continued to work for the Dodgers as a minor league coach, a pitching instructor and an overall goodwill ambassador for the game.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set
October 17, 2022 from Tomball, TX - Card #594
I'm composing this post on a cloudy day in mid-November, appreciating that for the first time since March, I'm about to be completely caught up with posting cards we've added to our 1965 Topps set. We had added 102 cards at The Philly Show in early March, and creating posts for each of those cards had taken me until mid-October. There were eight more cards added piecemeal between April and September, reducing the number of cards needed for our complete set down to five.
In early October, with the Phillies improbably in the postseason and about to go on a month-long journey that would culminate with a trip to the World Series, I received an e-mail announcing a sale in the online store for The Battersbox, located in Tomball, Texas. I had had my eye on this Koufax card for quite some time, and I had assumed this would be the second to last card added to our set, with just the Mickey Mantle (#350) card remaining. Riding the high of the good vibes brought on by the Phillies, and realizing it had been over a month since I had added any vintage cards, I happily added this card to my cart along with two cards to be added to my not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.
1965 Season
In his penultimate season, at the age of just 29, Koufax enjoyed one of his three best seasons to go along with his Cy Young/MVP winning season of 1963 and his final season of 1966. Koufax was 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA in 43 appearances, leading the league in wins, ERA, complete games (27), innings pitched (335 2/3) and strikeouts (382). He won his second of three Cy Young awards and finished second in the MVP voting behind Willie Mays.
Building the Set
October 17, 2022 from Tomball, TX - Card #594
I'm composing this post on a cloudy day in mid-November, appreciating that for the first time since March, I'm about to be completely caught up with posting cards we've added to our 1965 Topps set. We had added 102 cards at The Philly Show in early March, and creating posts for each of those cards had taken me until mid-October. There were eight more cards added piecemeal between April and September, reducing the number of cards needed for our complete set down to five.
I had intended for this Koufax card to be a Christmas present to myself from my family. But impatience won here, and rather than see this card sit by itself on my project table for the next month, it's entering the collection and its spot in the set's binder a little over a month sooner. In early December, Doug and I will attend the next Philly Show, and I'll be laser focused on the final four cards needed - Mantle, the Tony Perez rookie card (#581), Orlando Cepeda (#360) and the surprise of the quartet, Gordy Coleman (#289).
The Card / Dodgers Team Set
All of Koufax's Topps flagship cards are iconic, including this one. This is his second appearance in the set, as he shares a 1964 National League ERA Leaders card (#8) with Don Drysdale (#260). The card has been reproduced a few times, first within the 1990 Topps set (see below) as part of the Turn Back the Clock subset.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set
All of Koufax's Topps flagship cards are iconic, including this one. This is his second appearance in the set, as he shares a 1964 National League ERA Leaders card (#8) with Don Drysdale (#260). The card has been reproduced a few times, first within the 1990 Topps set (see below) as part of the Turn Back the Clock subset.
1965 Season
In his penultimate season, at the age of just 29, Koufax enjoyed one of his three best seasons to go along with his Cy Young/MVP winning season of 1963 and his final season of 1966. Koufax was 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA in 43 appearances, leading the league in wins, ERA, complete games (27), innings pitched (335 2/3) and strikeouts (382). He won his second of three Cy Young awards and finished second in the MVP voting behind Willie Mays.
His 382 strikeouts blew past the modern-era record of 349, held by Rube Waddell since 1904, and Koufax's mark would be broken in 1973 by Nolan Ryan (383). As mentioned above, Koufax threw a perfect game on September 9th against the Cubs, striking out 14 batters. It was the eighth perfect game in major league history, and Koufax's fourth no-hitter. He famously declined to pitch Game 1 of the World Series in order to observe the Jewish religious holiday of Yom Kippur. Pitching in Games 2, 5 and 7, Koufax threw two complete game shutouts as his Dodgers won the Series, and Koufax would take World Series MVP honors.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #123
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1955-1967, 1975, 1990
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2022 Panini Diamond Kings #71
1,735 - Koufax non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #123
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1955-1967, 1975, 1990
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2022 Panini Diamond Kings #71
1,735 - Koufax non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
