Sandy Koufax retired the first twelve batters he faced in the Fall Classic. It may have been a pre-prime Sandy, but the lefty was really bringing it.
Well, why shouldn't he not have had it? Did he not strike out 18 Giants on August 31, 1959 to tie a record set by Bob Feller? Had he not fanned 16 batters earlier in the season on June 22nd? Had he not fanned 173 batters in only 153 1/3 innings of work that season? Lot of promise being shown here!
But the World Series is on centre stage. And you have to be ready. Certainly, Koufax's 1959 Dodgers were not ready for the Chicago White Sox in game one. There, in Chicago, it was 11-0 White Sox by the bottom of the fourth.
But it would be Sandy was on the mound as the next inning began.
He stated off by getting Jim Rivera out on a fly to Jimmy position in right field. Then, he fanned Early Wynn, his mound adversary. Sandy closed out the inning by getting Luis Aparicio out on a liner to left.
The next inning was even easier for Koufax. Nellie Fox got it to the outfield. But the next two batters, Jim Landis and Ted Kluszewksi, could not even get the ball out of the infield. Sandy's day was over, as the White Sox were 0-6 against him. But, far more importantly, Chicago won this game in a rout, 11-0.
Sandy didn't see any more action until game five. This time, he was the Dodgers' starter. And he came out smoking. Los Angeles was at home, having won the next three games. They were looking to close this thing out!
Not even missing the strike zone, Aparicio started the game by going down on three pitches. On the last of these, Luis never got the bat off the shoulder! Then, Nellie Fox popped out to Maury Wills at short. When Jim Landis became Sandy's second K of the inning, it was apparent that Koufax had it on this day. He had not missed the plate yet at this point.
In the top of the second inning, it was more of the same. Sherman Lollar grounded out to Jim Gilliam at third. Ted Kluszewski could only get it to short left. When Al Smith was retired, and again it was a fly ball to left, the inning was over. Sandy Koufax had started his World Series portion of his career by retiring twelve straight batters.
Bubba Phillips snapped the streak in the top of the third by stroking a single. Chicago, to their credit, got another hit that inning but were unable to score. They did, however, manage to beat Koufax, 1-0 to send it back to the Windy City for game six. There, it was Los Angeles winning it all, 9-3.
Koufax did not pitch in game six, so his World Series contributions were two innings in game one and seven innings in game five. However, by getting the first twelve batters to face him, notice had certainly been served to look out for this talented but wild lefty. For when he had control, he was a man to fear. And when he found it for good in 1961, we saw six seasons of almost unparralled pitching greatness!
The kind your seeing now from Kershaw!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
“baseball_otr : Free Download & Streaming.” Internet Archive. Old Time Radio / Internet Archive/ Major League Baseball,.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>
Well, why shouldn't he not have had it? Did he not strike out 18 Giants on August 31, 1959 to tie a record set by Bob Feller? Had he not fanned 16 batters earlier in the season on June 22nd? Had he not fanned 173 batters in only 153 1/3 innings of work that season? Lot of promise being shown here!
But the World Series is on centre stage. And you have to be ready. Certainly, Koufax's 1959 Dodgers were not ready for the Chicago White Sox in game one. There, in Chicago, it was 11-0 White Sox by the bottom of the fourth.
But it would be Sandy was on the mound as the next inning began.
He stated off by getting Jim Rivera out on a fly to Jimmy position in right field. Then, he fanned Early Wynn, his mound adversary. Sandy closed out the inning by getting Luis Aparicio out on a liner to left.
The next inning was even easier for Koufax. Nellie Fox got it to the outfield. But the next two batters, Jim Landis and Ted Kluszewksi, could not even get the ball out of the infield. Sandy's day was over, as the White Sox were 0-6 against him. But, far more importantly, Chicago won this game in a rout, 11-0.
Sandy didn't see any more action until game five. This time, he was the Dodgers' starter. And he came out smoking. Los Angeles was at home, having won the next three games. They were looking to close this thing out!
Not even missing the strike zone, Aparicio started the game by going down on three pitches. On the last of these, Luis never got the bat off the shoulder! Then, Nellie Fox popped out to Maury Wills at short. When Jim Landis became Sandy's second K of the inning, it was apparent that Koufax had it on this day. He had not missed the plate yet at this point.
In the top of the second inning, it was more of the same. Sherman Lollar grounded out to Jim Gilliam at third. Ted Kluszewski could only get it to short left. When Al Smith was retired, and again it was a fly ball to left, the inning was over. Sandy Koufax had started his World Series portion of his career by retiring twelve straight batters.
Bubba Phillips snapped the streak in the top of the third by stroking a single. Chicago, to their credit, got another hit that inning but were unable to score. They did, however, manage to beat Koufax, 1-0 to send it back to the Windy City for game six. There, it was Los Angeles winning it all, 9-3.
Koufax did not pitch in game six, so his World Series contributions were two innings in game one and seven innings in game five. However, by getting the first twelve batters to face him, notice had certainly been served to look out for this talented but wild lefty. For when he had control, he was a man to fear. And when he found it for good in 1961, we saw six seasons of almost unparralled pitching greatness!
The kind your seeing now from Kershaw!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
“baseball_otr : Free Download & Streaming.” Internet Archive. Old Time Radio / Internet Archive/ Major League Baseball,
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>
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