Putting It All Together
The Los Angeles Dodgers themselves entered the 1961 season as some writer’s picks to win the National League flag. But, of course, there was going to be a question mark as to how the team’s second best southpaw (behind Johnny Podres) faired.
Koufax, in spring training received some advice from Norm Sherry, where the lefty decided to slow stuff down. Did that ever pay off!
He lost his first start, anyway. Pittsburgh, the defending World Series Champions, beat him 6-3 (April 14th), and knocked him out in the 5th inning. Curiously, Koufax walked just 1 batter.
But his next start was complete game 6-hitter with just 3 walks and 11 strikeouts. The Dodgers were still cautious with Koufax, and all he had to show for the rest of the month was a short relief stint.
May would be different. And I’m sure by the end of the month, many a batter would say, “Mayday” when facing Koufax.
The early May days were not that good, though. A short start, and a relief outing where he failed to retire a batter, left his ERA at 4.91.
He won his next start, 4-2 over the Pirates, although it was hardly great. But again, the control was great, as despite surrendering 8 hits in 6 1/3 innings, he walked not a batter.
Next, he did walk 5, but gave up just 4 hits (8 2/3 innings) and fanned 11 batters, beating the Cubs, by the same score, 4-2. As he did against the Pirates, he allowed just 2 earned runs.
The Braves knocked him out early his next start, however, as Koufax walked 3 and gave up 7 hits in just four innings.
Three superb starts to end May, though, brought Koufax’s record to 6-2 on the season, and his ERA to 3.08.
All three were nine innings gems.
First, he beat the Giants, 3-2, allowing just four hits and two walks.
Then, he shutout the Cardinals, 1-0 on a masterful 3-hitter, defeating another pitcher whose stock was now on the rise, Bob Gibson (himself a 5-hitter on the day). Tommie Davis’ leadoff homerun to left center in the top of the 7th accounted for the only run of the game.
Finally, he finished off May by allowing St Louis 3 more hits, 5 walks and whiffing 13 in another 2-1 pitching duel win.
Koufax won his first June start, a 4-3 complete game nail biter over San Francisco. He wasn’t overly dominating, but 7 hits and 5 walks against lead to only 3 earned runs.
His next start was almost a carbon copy of his outing against the Giants. Here (June 7th), he allowed just 3 more earned runs and 7 hits for a 7-3 win. He struck out 7 batters (as he had against San Francisco), but there was a difference. Control. This time he walked only 2.
Sandy tossed his 6th straight complete game victory, pushing his record to 9-2, by beating the Phillies, 6-3. 3 earned runs against again, but only 2 walks and Sandy allowed but 5 hits. (The poor Philadelphia team would win only 47 games that year. But no one remembers that because of what happened to the Mets the next season: 40 wins!)
It all came to an end on June 16th, unfortunately. His outing wasn’t actually that bad. 6 1/3 innings and just 2 earned runs against the Braves. He gave up 8 hits, which is too many, and 5 walks, which is way to many. But all that, and he lost just 2-1. So with any offensive help he still could have pulled it out. He also struck 8 batters. He might have struck out more had those dangerous 3-4-5 hitters not been around:
Mathews 0 Ks (2-4)
Aaron, 0 Ks (But 0-4)
Adcock 1 K (1-3)
Sandy was undeterred. He would reach the double figure mark in wins with his best start of the season 4 days later on June 20th.
What a start it was! It was against the Chicago Cubs and Koufax resumed his complete game custom by allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks while fanning 14 batters. By the way, he pitched a shutout, his second on the season. This would push his ERA down to a season low 2.78.
Another short start (5 ER in a 3 inning KO!) and short relief work followed, as he ended the month on a downer. Bowing out in 7 2/3 innings, Koufax suffered a 4-2 loss to the Pirates. Even so, he allowed just 7 hits, 1 walk and struck out 11 batters.
He faced Milwaukee again to begin July. LA won it, 3-2 as the lefty went eight innings and surrendered just three hits. Koufax did, however, have some wild times on the mound. He walked six batters. It should be noted that two of them were intentional walks.
This time, though, he struck out Mathews twice (although he had two hits to push his batting average on the season to .318) and Aaron once, on his way to 7 overall for the game.
The eventual (somehow) pennant winning Reds routed Koufax off the mound in his next start to drop his record to 11-5. Lasting just 3 2/3 innings, Koufax was shelled for 7 hits and 3 walks, plus 4 earned runs.
July 9th, which was two days later, saw Sandy again hammered by Cincinnati in a relief appearance. The walks were seemingly back and now his ERA was really on the rise.
And the ERA climbed another 14 points to 3.46 because of his next start six days later. The Phillies sort of avenged their earlier loss to Koufax by beating him and the Dodgers soundly, 7-2. Koufax’s record dropped to 11-6. While he gave up more than a hit per inning (8 in 7.1 IP), he walked only one, however, Sandy surrendered 5 earned runs.
July 17th saw a perfect two inning relief work for Sandy, as he earned his first save on the season against the Pirates.
Back to being a starter on the 20th, his 9 inning, 7 hit, 1 walk performance against the Reds was rewarded by Los Angeles with his 12th win, for a new career high in that category.
The Phillies felt the full force of Koufax as he threw still another complete game, gave up just 6 hits, 1 walk and K’d 10 batters for his 13th win on July 25th.
His last start in July was a mixed bag. Facing the Pirates again, Sandy lasted just 6 innings and gave up 8 hits and 4 walks. Again, though, just 2 runs scored, and Koufax fanned 7. The Dodgers won this game, 5-4, but Koufax didn’t figure into the decision.
August came, and wildness came. But again, Koufax would weather the storm.
He didn’t make it past the 7th inning in his first 4 starts. And three of them resulted in losses for Sandy, his record now, 13-9.
It appeared that batters had finally caught up to him, at least this season. In 21 1/3 innings in those 4 starts, Koufax was hit hard (28 hits for a .304 OBA), was wild (9 walks), fanned less than 1 per inning (20) and even gave up 6 homeruns.
Now his season wasn’t looking so great. In addition to 13-9, his ERA was now still pretty high, 3.64. Even here though, he had walked just 69 batters in (so far) 187.2 innings.
He walked 5 more in his next appearance, a complete game 7-2 win over the Reds again. Cincinnati managed 5 hits.
Sandy walked another 5, but this time gave up but two hits and an unearned run in another complete game gem over Chicago. Koufax fanned twelve as he emerged the winner of a tight, 2-1 pitching duel.
He had to face the Braves again early in September. Not only that, his mound opponent was Warren Spahn.
With one down in the first inning, the Braves Frank Bolling reached on an infield error. Eddie Mathews follow with a single, sending Bolling to third.
Koufax had to be careful with Hank Aaron. Hammering Hank not only hit 34 homeruns, but also had 10 triples, lead the league with 39 doubles, knocked in 120 runners, and scored 115 runs. On top of that, he stole 21 bases. Maybe the lefty hurler was too careful. Aaron walked. Bases loaded. Sandy needed a double play.
Joe Adcock dropped a single to left, which gave him 2 of what would be 108 RBI on the season. It also moved Aaron to third. Koufax got Frank Thomas (himself 25 homeruns in just 124 games) to force out Adcock at second, but it scored Aaron. 3-0 Braves. Koufax would avert further damage by fanning Roy McMillian.
Koufax would settle down after that, as three times he retired the side in order. The only other run he gave up was a solo homerun by catcher Sammy White in the 7th inning. Koufax was removed for a pinch-hitter in bottom of the top of the eighth, and Roger Craig held the Braves scoreless in the bottom of the frame.
But none of the Dodgers could do anything with Spahn.
He faced just 34 batters (5 more than Koufax faced), and needed less than two hours, for a complete game shutout of LA.
Koufax for his part gave up just 2 earned runs, 7 hits and a walk. But now, with this loss, Koufax was in double digits in losses.
Sandy faced the Giants as a starter and a reliever and was blown off the mound both times despite striking out 10 in only 4.2 innings in his start. In his relief appearance, he struck out 5 in two innings. He didn’t figure in the decision for either time
The lowly Phillies then defeated him on the 12th of that month, scoring six times on Sandy in 1.1 innings. The only positive was another 4 strikeouts. Loss number 11 for Koufax.
But he picked up his 16th win 3 days later. More like the Sandy that everyone was getting accustomed to: 9 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts.
And the superb lefty followed that by picking up a win in relief, and then a real show of longevity!
It took him the full 9 innings, plus another 4. And he tossed 205 innings. But once again, the poor Cubs were treated to a pitching clinic by Sandy Koufax, who won his 18th and final game of the season.
The Cubes managed 7 hits, 3 walks and two (earned) runs, total. But Sandy fanned fifteen batters and emerged with a 3-2 win.
He was hit hard against the Cardinals in his next start as once again, he faced Gibson.
Koufax surrendered 4 hits and three walks before being removed for a pinch-hitter in the 4th. Gibson was hardly better, to be fair, as he surrendered 9 hits and 5 walks in just 6.1 innings. But Bob picked up his 12th win and handed Koufax his 12th loss.
Koufax’s last start of 1961 was a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia. He pitched much better than he did last time against the Phillies, though. He tossed another complete game (this time 8 innings), gave up 3 hits and 3 walks and K’d 7 more batters. Still, he could not stop the Phillies from leaving the field with a 2-1 win and Sandy with his 13th loss, the second straight season he had lost as many games.
In looking at Koufax’s 1961 season, what do we find?
As for his work, he appeared in 42 games and started a career high 35. He finished 15 games to top his previous high of 7. His total of 255.2 innings pitched was easily the most he had ever thrown in one season.
As for wins (18), Koufax tied another Dodger lefty, Johnny Podres (who lost just 5 games for a league high .783 winning percentage) for team lead in wins. (Drysdale was only 13-10).
His ERA is about 40 points less than it was the season before, down to 3.52. That might not seem eye popping, but the Dodgers have played their last season at Memorial Coliseum. Fellow Dodgers’ ERAs:
Podres 3.74
Drysdale 3.69
Stan Williams 3.91 (15-12)
Roger Craig 6.13
The Dodgers team ERA was 4.04. No one, aside from reliever Ron Perranoski, (Happy 75th Birthday) had an ERA below Sandy’s.
Aren’t we all glad were moving on out?
Not everyone. The Dodgers offence has been high octane. The Dodgers runners touched home plate 735 times in 1961, second in the league behind the Giants 773. There must be something in the air out west.
The Dodgers as a team finished with a record of 89-65 (The National League didn’t expand like the American League did and therefore, still played only 154 games). The season ended with Los Angeles second to the surprising (as mentioned earlier) Cincinnati Reds.
Back to The Left Arm Of God. Koufax’s 3.52 ERA is exactly 0.50 behind Spahn’s league leading 3.02. Koufax was good enough for 7th in that area.
His 18 wins are good. Are they great? Spahn has tied Cincy’s Joey Jay for tops in the NL with 21, so Koufax is in a three way tie for 4th with Podres, of course, and Lew Burdette. Another Red, Jim O’Toole, finished ’61 with 19 wins.
Now how about Koufax’s actual pitching? Let’s start with Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched (WHIP, as it’s known). For Sandy it’s another 4th place finish with 1.21. Once again the crafty Spahn has the trump card, 1.14.
As for actual hits against, Koufax is a little worse than he was a year ago. In 1960, he averaged just 6.8 hits against per 9 innings for second in that area. But this season, he takes that title anyway with a little more: 7.5 hits against per nine innings.
Opponents have hit just .222 on the season against Koufax. That not only tops the National League, but only four pitchers that season in the American League posted a lower number: Chuck Estrada, Milt Pappas, Camilo Pascual and Steve Barber.
Opponents On Base Percentage (OBP) for Koufax this year was only .296. That is second in the league behind Spahn, who had .291.
He only pitched two shutouts, just like in 1960, and that’s not enough for a top ten finish.
His walks have improved to the point where he has permitted less than 100 (96) for 3.4 per nine innings. This isn’t good enough for a top ten finish. However, it is a drop of 1.7 walks per 9 innings from 1960.
His strikeouts per nine inning are a little down from last year. In 1960 he averaged 10.1, to lead the league for the first time. This year, he was down a little, 9.5. But once again he leads the NL. His 269 total strikeouts are not only a personal high, but also tops in the majors.
Another negative is the 27 homeruns he has surrendered. But looking at the leaders, notice anything?
1. McCormick 33
2. Burdette 31
3. Drysdale 29
4. Buzhardt, Sadecki 28
6. Mahaffey, Podres, Koufax, Purkey 27
10. Hobbie 26
Got three Dodgers in there!
Another problem, and this is something that no one can explain, is Koufax’s wild pitches. He threw 12 this season compared to 9 last season, and it’s enough for second in the league. Here’s how it looks:
1. Short 14
2. Koufax 12
3. Baldschun 11
4. McBean, Farrell 10
6. Jay, Ellsworth, Mahaffey, Williams 9
10. Podres, McDaniel, Sadecki, Gibson 8
Got more Dodgers, still!
As for what happened to Koufax in the rest of his career? The rest, as they say, is history.
But for those unaware, here is all Sandy did in the next 5 seasons:
111-34 W-L for a .766 W%
1.95 Earned Run Average
100 Complete Games
33 Shutouts
1444 Strikeouts
3 Times Topping The NL in Strikeouts (including 382 in 1965)
3 Times Topping The NL in Shutouts
4 Times Leading The NL in Lowest WHIP
4 Times Leading The NL in Lowest H/9
4 Times Leading The NL in Highest K/9
5 Times Leading The NL in Earned Run Average (Three times it was below 2.00)
2 Times Leading The NL in Complete Games
4 No-Hitters (including a perfect game, September 9, 1965)
3 Cy Young Awards (Despite having to compete against AL hurlers for this award)
2 World Series Titles (1963, 1965)
References
61*, The Story Of Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle And One Magical Summer, by Ron Smith, copyright 2001.
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