Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: Sandy Koufax (Page 2 of 5)

Remembering ’65: World Series Game 7 — Dodgers win it all

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Game 7 finalBy Jon Weisman

Koufax. Johnson. Championship.

This is the last tale from “Remembering ’65,” and the one you know the best.

Fifty years ago today, working on two days’ rest in Minnesota, backed by Sweet Lou Johnson’s fourth-inning home run, Sandy Koufax pitched a 2-0 shutout over the Twins to give the Dodgers the 1965 World Series title, their fourth in the past 11 seasons.

“Alston Leans to Left and Koufax Proves He’s Right,” read the headline in the Times, regarding Dodger manager Walter Alston’s decision to start Koufax over Don Drysdale. But that result was anything but a given as the game unfolded.

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Remembering ’65: World Series Game 6

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By Jon Weisman

In 1965, Sandy Koufax showed he could pitch on two days’ rest. Don Drysdale showed he could be his own run support.

In Game 6 of the 1965 World Series, Minnesota righty Mudcat Grant showed he could do both.

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Remembering ’65: World Series Game 5

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By Jon Weisman

Pretty much the only drama in Game 5 of the 1965 World Series was whether Sandy Koufax would throw another perfect game or no-hitter.

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Remembering ’65: World Series Game 2

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By Jon Weisman

Pummeled mercilessly in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series, the Dodgers could console themselves by handing Game 2 to Sandy Koufax, who had just completed one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history — a 2.04 ERA, a perfect game and a big-league record 382 strikeouts.

Koufax had clinched the National League pennant for the Dodgers with a complete game on two days’ rest, capping a stretch in which he threw 27 innings in only eight days, allowing one run and striking out 38.

The brilliant lefty, whose entire season had seemed in jeopardy back in April, had logged 335 2/3 innings overall, the most by any Major Leaguer in more than a decade and the fourth-highest total since World War II. Seemingly, however, he had gone from brittle to indefatigable, and with a full four days’ rest heading into his Game 2 start, on October 7, 1965, confidence was high.

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Remembering ’65: Koufax for the pennant, on two days’ rest

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By Jon Weisman

Having won nine straight games, coming from 4 1/2 games back 10 days earlier to tie the Giants for the National League lead on September 26, 1965, the Dodgers still had work to do.

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Remembering ’65: Tied!

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By Jon Weisman

“Breathing defiance in the face of the Giants’ seemingly insurmountable lead,” wrote Frank Finch in the September 24 edition of the Times, “the doughty Dodgers face the Cardinals tonight to open their final homestand of the gruelling, grinding National League campaign.”

Already, the Dodgers had made progress, trimming a 4 1/2-game deficit to two games. But their defiance was matched, and then some, by the Giants, according to UPI.

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Remembering ’65: Nearly abandoned, Dodgers win with abandon

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By Jon Weisman

When the 1965 Dodgers woke up the morning of September 16, they were a season-high 4 1/2 games out of first place with 16 left to play.

Their rivals to the north, the San Francisco Giants, had won 13 games in a row, asserting authority over the National League pennant race.

It had to be a desolate feeling for Los Angeles. Leading the NL for most of the season, the Dodgers were at serious risk of becoming an afterthought.

As if to underscore the moment, when they went out to play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field that afternoon, the announced attendance that day was barely enough for a hay wagon, let alone a bandwagon.

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Koufax’s perfect game, from the eyes of his catcher

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Today is the 50th anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game. In this piece for the September issue of Dodger Insider magazine, Cary Osborne listened to Koufax’s catcher, Jeff Torborg, tell the story from his point of view of the historic event. (Click the image below to enlarge.)

— Jon Weisman

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Remembering ’65: Lowly Mets send Dodgers reeling

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By Jon Weisman

Here’s a game, within a series, within a season, that would have driven Dodger fans on Twitter crazy.

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Remembering ’65: See-saw second half of August

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By Jon Weisman

When might you be having a charmed season? When you’re scoreless with two out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Sandy Koufax bats for himself and walks, and then Roberto Clemente — of all people — drops a fly ball to allow the game-winning run to score.

That’s what happened August 14, 1965 at Dodger Stadium to allow the Dodgers to win, 1-0.

“It was sinking all the way,” Jim Gilliam, who hit the ball at Clemente, told Frank Finch of the Times. “Clemente first had his glove up in front of his chest, but at the last moment had to shift it. That’s when he muffed the ball.”

Said Clemente: “I was groping for the ball. I lost it.”

Though there were still many skeptics about the ’65 Dodgers, one who saw their potential was Pirates third baseman Bob Bailey.

“They’re not just giving an 80% effort like some teams,” Bailey told Times columnist Sid Ziff. “They go all out. They go for the extra base, the squeeze bunt, the impossible catch. And, of course, they’ve got tremendous pitching.”

But rather using the Clemente game to launch like a rocket to the National League pennant, the Dodgers would have one of their bumpiest weeks of the year.

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Remembering ’65: Summer of spitballs?

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By Jon Weisman

Along with everything else in a hot pennant race 50 years ago, a spitball controversy revved up between the Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves.

“Drysdale may call ’em sinkers, but I got three wet ones in a row when he fanned me in the third,” Hank Aaron told Frank Finch of the Times after a 4-3 victory Milwaukee victory August 4.

Aaron’s comments might have been calculated at least in part to take the spotlight off Braves manager Bobby Bragan, who was in the midst of a spitball controversy of his own.

“How long is NL president Warren Giles going to allow Bobby Bragan to flout authority by publicizing the fact that he has his pitchers under orders to throw spitters?” Finch had asked in print two days earlier. “To be sure, every club has spitball pitchers, but they don’t advertise.”

For his part, Bragan remained sanguine about the whole thing.

“If a pitcher can control the spitters, he’s crazy not to throw it,” Bragan told Finch. “Sure, we’ve got a couple of guys who throw it real good. Dan Osinski told a writer that he’s been using one for seven years.”

If you want to call it praise, Bragan added that Drysdale “throws the best spitter in the game,” according to Finch.

Whatever the case, it didn’t help Drysdale in Milwaukee that August 4. Allowing homers to both Aaron and Gene Oliver, Drysdale pitched an eight-inning complete game but took the loss.

Here’s what else was happening with the Dodgers, who were 1 1/2 games ahead in the National League on August 1 and 1 1/2 games ahead in the National League on August 15.

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Remembering ’65: When Koufax hit

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By Jon Weisman

Sandy Koufax wasn’t much of a hitter in his career, but in July 1965, he arguably had the greatest clutch at-bat by a starting pitcher in Los Angeles Dodger history.

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Remembering ’65: After tense week for Dodgers, Koufax survives rough All-Star outing

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remembering-65-vertical-v1-grassBy Jon Weisman

Fifty years ago at the All-Star Game, Willie Mays (not Mike Trout) dominated from the plate, and Sandy Koufax (not Clayton Kershaw) had his struggles in his fifth consecutive All-Star year.

The difference: Koufax sneaked away with the victory.

As John Hall of the Times reported, when Koufax entered the game in the bottom of the sixth with the score tied, 5-5, his first seven pitches missed the strike zone. He needed to strike out Jimmie Hall with two on and two out to escape his only inning of work.

In the top of the seventh, Mays led off with a walk, went to third on a Hank Aaron single and scored the winning run on Ron Santo’s infield hit, all off “Sudden” Sam McDowell. That made Koufax the winning pitcher.

“Sandy looked a little sheepish when he was congratulated,” Hall wrote.

Koufax, however, was proud of one thing at the All-Star Break.

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Koufax voted into Greatest Living Player foursome, throws out first pitch

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IMG_1391Dodger legend Sandy Koufax joined Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench and Willie Mays in being introduced before tonight’s All-Star Game as MLB’s Greatest Living Players.

Koufax punctuated the honor by throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game to Bench.

— Jon Weisman

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Dodgers Franchise Four: Drysdale, Koufax, Robinson, Snider

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Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider were announced during tonight’s All-Star pregame as the winners of MLB’s Franchise Four balloting, which basically picks the equivalent of the franchise’s Mount Rushmore from its history of players.

Among those with Dodger ties, Mike Piazza was chosen for the New York Mets, Pedro Martinez for the Boston Red Sox, Frank Robinson for the Baltimore Orioles, Paul Konerko for the Chicago White Sox, Jim Thome for the Cleveland Indians, Rickey Henderson for the Oakland A’s, Adrian Beltre for the Texas Rangers, Luis Gonzalez for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Greg Maddux for the Atlanta Braves, Gary Sheffield for the Miami Marlins and Gary Carter for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.

— Jon Weisman

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