Sandy Koufax faced Luis Aparicio in his first and last World Series game!
Sandy was still working his way up the latter of the better pitchers on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959, but he was there as they faced the Chicago White Sox in the World Series that year. But game one was all Chicago.
The Sox, at home, raced out to an 11-0 lead by the end of the fourth. Clem Labine got Los Angeles out of there without any more damage, but then had to leave for a pinch hitter. Koufax came in to the game in the bottom of the fifth. With two down, up stepped Aparicio. Aparicio made contact with the ball, but was out on a liner to left. Sandy finished a 1-2-3 inning! Koufax also had a 1-2-3 sixth before departing for a pinch hitter. Chicago did not score again, but Los Angeles ended up being shutout!
Aparicio did better in game five. He went 2-3 off Koufax before Sandy was removed again for a pinch hitter. Sandy allowed just one run, but it proved to be one run too many. Chicago won the game 1-0. In game six, Los Angeles won 9-3 to win the Fall Classic, four games to two.
Sandy, in his last season in 1966, made it back to the World Series to face the Baltimore Orioles. Sandy was on the hill in game two to face an O's team that had Aparicio batting in the leadoff spot.
The game, at home for Los Angeles, turned out to be one-sided for Baltimore. You wouldn't have seen that coming with Koufax on the hill. Aparicio greeted him with a leadoff single. That made him 3-5 lifetime in the Fall Classic vs. Koufax. But he was stranded. Koufax got Luis in the top of the fourth, and the game was scoreless at this point.
But in the top of the fifth, the Dodgers imploded on themselves.
Boog Powell lead it off with a single to left. With one out, Paul Blair reached on Willie Davis' error in centre. When Andy Etchebarren reached on another Davis' error, things looked bad. For good measure, on the same play, Davis made a throwing error. Willie was having a bad day. His mistakes had Baltimore out in front of the immortal Koufax 2-0.
Koufax got his mound oppoent, Jim Palmer, on strikes. But here is where Luis Aparicio put another nail in Koufax's and the Dodgers' coffin. He doubled to left to knoch in Etchebarren. 3-0, Baltimore.
The Orioles scored another run of Koufax in the top of the sixth before Sandy was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the frame. As for Aparicio, he must have been sad to see Sandy go as he was retired in his next two trips to the plate. Baltimore didn't seem too concerned as they went on to win, 6-0. The great Koufax had pitched his last game.
The Orioles won the next two games by one run, and had a surprising sweep. Aparicio never made it back to the World Series, so this was it for him, too, on the big stage.
In so many of these World Series', you have the pitcher that changed the game. Then, in other World Series, you have batters that changed the game. Sandy Koufax took pitching to the next level with all those strikeouts. Luis Aparicio helped bring speed back to the game with all those steals. The 1959 White Sox were known as the Go-Go White Sox because of their speed. Koufax and Don Drysdale went out and won games single-handily for the Dodgers. In a contest between Koufax, the man tremendous speed on the pitches, and Luis Aparicio, the man with some daring speed on the basepaths, it seems fitting that they broke even against each other.
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. 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.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com
- Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
Sandy was still working his way up the latter of the better pitchers on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959, but he was there as they faced the Chicago White Sox in the World Series that year. But game one was all Chicago.
The Sox, at home, raced out to an 11-0 lead by the end of the fourth. Clem Labine got Los Angeles out of there without any more damage, but then had to leave for a pinch hitter. Koufax came in to the game in the bottom of the fifth. With two down, up stepped Aparicio. Aparicio made contact with the ball, but was out on a liner to left. Sandy finished a 1-2-3 inning! Koufax also had a 1-2-3 sixth before departing for a pinch hitter. Chicago did not score again, but Los Angeles ended up being shutout!
Aparicio did better in game five. He went 2-3 off Koufax before Sandy was removed again for a pinch hitter. Sandy allowed just one run, but it proved to be one run too many. Chicago won the game 1-0. In game six, Los Angeles won 9-3 to win the Fall Classic, four games to two.
Sandy, in his last season in 1966, made it back to the World Series to face the Baltimore Orioles. Sandy was on the hill in game two to face an O's team that had Aparicio batting in the leadoff spot.
The game, at home for Los Angeles, turned out to be one-sided for Baltimore. You wouldn't have seen that coming with Koufax on the hill. Aparicio greeted him with a leadoff single. That made him 3-5 lifetime in the Fall Classic vs. Koufax. But he was stranded. Koufax got Luis in the top of the fourth, and the game was scoreless at this point.
But in the top of the fifth, the Dodgers imploded on themselves.
Boog Powell lead it off with a single to left. With one out, Paul Blair reached on Willie Davis' error in centre. When Andy Etchebarren reached on another Davis' error, things looked bad. For good measure, on the same play, Davis made a throwing error. Willie was having a bad day. His mistakes had Baltimore out in front of the immortal Koufax 2-0.
Koufax got his mound oppoent, Jim Palmer, on strikes. But here is where Luis Aparicio put another nail in Koufax's and the Dodgers' coffin. He doubled to left to knoch in Etchebarren. 3-0, Baltimore.
The Orioles scored another run of Koufax in the top of the sixth before Sandy was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the frame. As for Aparicio, he must have been sad to see Sandy go as he was retired in his next two trips to the plate. Baltimore didn't seem too concerned as they went on to win, 6-0. The great Koufax had pitched his last game.
The Orioles won the next two games by one run, and had a surprising sweep. Aparicio never made it back to the World Series, so this was it for him, too, on the big stage.
In so many of these World Series', you have the pitcher that changed the game. Then, in other World Series, you have batters that changed the game. Sandy Koufax took pitching to the next level with all those strikeouts. Luis Aparicio helped bring speed back to the game with all those steals. The 1959 White Sox were known as the Go-Go White Sox because of their speed. Koufax and Don Drysdale went out and won games single-handily for the Dodgers. In a contest between Koufax, the man tremendous speed on the pitches, and Luis Aparicio, the man with some daring speed on the basepaths, it seems fitting that they broke even against each other.
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Fonseca,
Lew, director. 1959 World Series.
Performance by Vince Scully, Major League Baseball Productions, 1959. DVD
produced by A&E Home Video.
Neft,
David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. 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.
Retrosheet. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Seaver,
Tom, and Martin Appel. Great Moments in Baseball. New York, NY: Carol
Pub. Group, 1992. Print.
Snyder,
John S. World Series!: Great Moments and
Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. Print.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total
Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994.
Computer software. CD-ROM.
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