Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbie
Question: What's it like trying to hit off of Sandy Koufax?
Answer: "Ever try drinking coffee with a fork?"
--- Willie Stargell
Besides believing Koufax was the best lefty ever (with Grove an extremely close 2nd  ), if I could choose to see only one pitcher, out of all those mentioned pitch a ballgame, Koufax would be the clear and easy choice. |
Yogi Berra, when informed that Koufax was 25-5 during the regular season in 1963: "How the hell did he lose five?"
Gene Mauch when asked if Koufax was the best lefty he ever saw: "The best righty too".
Hank Aaron: "You talk about the Gibsons the Drysdales and the Spahns. And as good as those guys were, Koufax was just a step ahead of them.
John Roseboro: "I think God came down and tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Boy, I'm gonna make you a pitcher.' God only made one of him."
Andy Etchebarren: "See, you need a certain amount of time for the eye to see what it sees and what it needs to tell the brain what it needs to be told, and then your hands gotta move. And that is all taking place in less than a second. With Koufax, your eyes couldn't tell your brain to react in time."
On Koufax's fastball seeming to rise and accelerate just before it got to the plate, umpire Doug Harvey: "I don't know why or how. In thirty-one years, I've never seen anybody else who could do that...Nobody's ball did what Koufax's ball did."
Stan Musial: "Rose up just before it got to the plate."
Carl Erskine: "It reaccelerated. It came again."
On Koufax's curve ball, Jim Wynn: "A mystic waterfall."
Orlando Cepeda: "It sounded like a little tornado. Bzzzzzzz. And it looked like a high fastball. Then it dropped ---BOOM---in front of you. So fast and noisy, it scared you."
These quotes are from Jane Leavy's book on Koufax.
I just don't buy the idea that his road record disqualified him from being considered great. The way some people are talking, it seems like it was a moral outrage that his E.R.A wasn't below 0.00 on the road.
In 1962, his season ended early. Yeah, his home E.R.A was significantly lower at at 1.75 compared to his road E.R.A at 3.53. But he only played half a season.
In 1963 the split was 1.38 at home and 2.31 away. 2.31 is an E.R.A most pitchers would kill for.
1964: 0.84 (astounding) to 2.93. With that 2.93 I guess they should have shipped him down to the minors.
1965: 1.38 to 2.72. Another horrible year.
1966: 1.52 to 1.96. His arthritic elbow was what probably got the away number down below 2.00. Let's face it, Koufax probably knew someone in management who let him hang on to his job.
Just to reiterate, there were other great lefties who you could make a case for as being the all-time best lefty. I'm just arguing against the idea that Koufax was just good. He was great. He was recognized as such by his peers, and his record speaks for itself.