click for pic source and another good Koufax article
Posted on 10/03/2011 4:59:47 PM PDT by rhema
I remember that 68 series. Denny McClain had a sore arm but they gave him a cortisone shot and he won one of the World Series games.
I think Denny won 31 that year.
A couple of years later he was pitching for the Birmingham A’s. I saw him pitch against Asheville. They must have had orders to let him pitch as Asheville bombed him 12-0 and they left him in the whole game. A former pro player was with us that day and he said McClain still had a good fastball but that he was simply throwing them all right over the plate.
I remember that 68 series. Denny McClain had a sore arm but they gave him a cortisone shot and he won one of the World Series games.
I think Denny won 31 that year.
A couple of years later he was pitching for the Birmingham A’s. I saw him pitch against Asheville. They must have had orders to let him pitch as Asheville bombed him 12-0 and they left him in the whole game. A former pro player was with us that day and he said McClain still had a good fastball but that he was simply throwing them all right over the plate.
I know the feeling. I never got to see Koufax pitch in person but did watch many times on TV. I did however get to see Satchel Paige pitch in person when he came to the Miami Marlins AAA team back in the '50s. I will never forget his "hesitation" pitch. That of course is now illegal but it was a thing to behold. He could even at his advanced age at that time still surprise the hitter with a pretty good fast ball... when he felt like it. That was not often. :-) Those were the days for sure, never to return I fear.
Is that you, Tony?
Was it ever!
I went to see him square off with Atlanta's left-hander, Denny Lemaster (who only had two remarkable games....both against Koufax. Lost there, won here.)
I had to Google to make sure I got my facts right as I remembered them... and I am happy to say I did get it (mostly) right. It was a baseball lover's dream and.... if you were a Braves fan.... Heaven.
Both threw masterpieces (Koufax, - 3 hitter, Lemaster - 2 hitter) won by the Braves on a walk-off homer in the ninthth by my favorite player.... Eddie Matthews. Final 2-1.
Sold out....all due to Sandy.
Koufax had an amazing 5 year run..but his earlier years were so-so at best...I think the best pitcher I ever saw ( over 55 years watching baseball) for a career was Bob Gibson. Had he played on either coast..in a major media market..he’d be a god today.
Should have named him 32.
It doesn’t show in the pictures, becuased the uniforms of the day were loose fitting, but Koufax had huge upper body musculature..that’s where he got the armstrength for hius velocity..also, he had very long fingers....gave him a grip that caused that wicked curveball..
I think Sutton came up right at the end of the Koufax-Drysdale era. It was Claude Osteen who was the #3 starter, I think, for most of the ‘62-’66 years. And I think the Dodgers also had Larry and/or Norm Sherry. Perranoski in the bullpen. At least that’s what I remember from those years.
I have two autographed baseballs from an all-star game played in Mpls from that era - I forget what year. My brother-in-law had some connections for good seat, meet and great afterwards, etc.
Lots of great names from my childhood - although I was not a diehard fan. But Sandy Koufax, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Catfish Hunter, etc. are some of them.
click for pic source and another good Koufax article
Obituary: William Zinser loved work, sports
As a scout, he discovered Sandy Koufax
By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer
GROESBECK - When knee problems forced William J. Zinser to start walking with a cane this year, his family assumed he had stopped working. Because he was 81 years old, they thought he had retired from his job at the Shell station in Colerain Township.
That's why his son, Steve Zinser of Loveland, was surprised to get a call Thursday that his father had collapsed from a heart attack while helping a customer.
William Zinser, a longtime Groesbeck resident, died early Thursday morning from an apparent heart attack, doing one of the things he loved most - working.
Raised in Wyoming, he found his other passion while at Wyoming High School - as a star baseball and football player.
After graduating from Wyoming High School in 1940, Mr. Zinser served in the Army during World War II. Honorably discharged in 1945, he returned to Cincinnati and married his high school sweetheart, Mary Egbers.
He also started his longtime career at National Distillery in Carthage, where he worked until 1987, before he started working the counter at various Shell stations.
It was also after the war that he began acting as a regional scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Clubs and Cleveland Indians.
"He greatest success in sports as a scout came when he discovered Sandy Koufax pitching as a freshman at the University of Cincinnati and was instrumental in getting him signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954," his son said.
In 1958, he managed the amateur team in Glendale and led it to the AABC World Series championship of 1958 in Battle Creek, Mich.
He also served as past president of the Mid-American Conference of Basketball and Football Referees and the Ohio Valleys Officials Association.
"He always said, 'I can still throw the odd curveball.' I wish I could pitch a few with him now," his son said.
Gibson was great, but there was a pitcher in ‘67 and ‘68 who led the majors in ‘67 among all players with 25 games or more in slugging average, ahead of Frank Howard, Ron Santo, Orlando Cepada, Willie McCovey, Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, Harmon Killibrew, Dick Allen, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Carl Yasrtzemski. His team lost the pennant by one game that year.
In ‘68 the team won the World Series, the manager Manager of the Year, and the ace pitcher the Cy Young. The same pitcher led the majors among all pitchers with 25 games or more in ERA with 0.69 - 8 runs in 25 games. But not the Cy Young, as he had been traded to the National League and Gibson had his career best that year.
And the original post is incorrect in saying Koufax led the majors in ERA in 1962. Koufax led the National League, but this same pitcher led the American League and the Majors in ‘62 with 2.21 to Koufax’s 2.54. He only won 16 that year, but that was out of 22 starts. So no Cy Young votes ever for him.
And for his career, he had only 1.5 K per nine innings pitched, but 0.09 BB per nine innings pitched, for a career K/BB ratio of 16+. Hank Aguirre gets no respect.
Because Koufax was a bonus baby, the rules dictated that he had to be put directly on the Dodgers' roster (at age 19) for at least two years; he never spent any time in the minors. Gibson had the benefit of minor league experience before he made the majors at age 23.
Obviously, a Book of Koufax must be added to the Old Testament!!
I was and am a huge Koufax fan. I, however, would like to throw a couple of names in the mix. Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
I would pay anything to see any of them pitch again!!!!!
Pitchers always look like they're pulling themselves through the eye of a needle.
1962: Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres, Stan Williams, Sandy Koufax
1963: Drysdale, Koufax, Podres, Bob Miller
1964: Drysdale, Koufax, Phil Ortega, Joe Moeller
1965: Drysdale, Koufax, Claude Osteen, Podres
1966: Drysdale, Koufax, Osteen, Don Sutton
So Johnny Podres and Claude Osteen were the starters with the most GS during those years. Larry Sherry was in the bullpen for some of those years. Ron Perranoski was the main reliever during those years.
Glad to know my memory is not failing me.
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