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Sanford Koufax
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Left Height: 6'2" Weight: 210
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 (#120): "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.
He threw four no-hitters including a perfect game on September 9, 1965. Despite a relatively short career, his 2,396 strikeouts at the time of his retirement ranked seventh all-time, second only to Warren Spahn's (#10) 2,583 among left-handers. One of the top Jewish athletes in American sports, Koufax's decision to not pitch in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series on Yom Kippur brought attention to the conflict between the sport and his personal religious beliefs.
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.
Building the Set
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| Christmas 1999 |
December 25, 1999 from Raleigh, NC - Card #192
I believe my Dad and I attended the Sports Card Show in Raleigh in early October 1999 together, purchasing eight cards I knew about and one card, this Koufax card, I didn't know about. My parents gave the Koufax card to me on Christmas morning in 1999 and at a price tag of $95, it was the fourth most expensive card we acquired for our set behind the cards of Mickey Mantle (#135), Hank Aaron (#31) and Ted Williams (#5). Given the great shape of the card, it seems we got the card for a good price 20 years ago.
The Card
Koufax's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Topps set, and this is his second Topps card. Of the 61 subjects to appear in the 1956 Topps set so far, Koufax is only the second player after Ed Roebuck (#58) to have a different photo used for his 1955 and 1956 cards. It may not be a coincidence that both Roebuck and Koufax played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the location of the Topps headquarters, which could have made it easier to track down photos of the Dodgers players.
While Topps credits Koufax with 58 strikeouts over 30 innings during his one season playing for the University of Cincinnati, his SABR biography has the total at 51 strikeouts over 31 innings. His SABR biography also gives the breakdown of his bonus baby salary as a $14,000 bonus and a salary of $6,000, for a total of $20,000.
The game referenced in the final panel came on August 27, 1955 against the Reds. While it was Koufax's second career start, it was his seventh career game with his other five appearances coming in relief. The Dodgers won the game 7-0 with Gus Bell (#162) accounting for four of Koufax's 14 strikeouts.
1956 Season
1956 was Koufax's second season in the Majors, and at only 20 years old he appeared in 16 games, making 10 starts. He finished the season with a 2-4 record and a 4.91 ERA, striking out 30 and walking 29 over 58 2/3 innings. His SABR biography notes that while Koufax was used sparingly in 1956, he did spend time listening to and learning from the veteran Sal Maglie who was purchased by the Dodgers from the Indians on May 15th. Maglie would sit in the bullpen and educate Koufax and his teammate Don Drysdale on the strategy of the game being played on the field. Manager Walter Alston (#8) included Koufax on the Dodgers' World Series roster, but the young pitcher didn't appear in the series.
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #123
First Topps Card: 1955 Topps #123
Last Topps Card: 1967 Topps #238 (Koufax appeared on 3 League Leader cards in the 1967 Topps set)
Most Recent Topps Card (post-career): 1990 Topps #665
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 125 different cards issued in 2019 per the Beckett database
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1955-1967, 1975, 1990
1,493 - Koufax non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/27/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
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Your 56T Koufax is a beaut. I'm hoping to cross a copy off of my wantlist sometime in 2020.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! If you're going to splurge on a card, this is a good one to do it on.
ReplyDelete