Sandy Koufax Biography

Fast Facts

• Set a major league record for strikeouts in two games in 1959 with 31
• Was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, the youngest player to receive the honor
• Was awarded a basketball scholarship to the University of Cincinnati
• A scout saw him throw for his college baseball team and was impressed enough that the Brooklyn Dodgers offered him a contract containing a bonus which required him to report to the team for two years
• Originally struggled with control as he had a limited background in baseball, but by 1958, his raw talent saw him regularly throwing for the Dodgers
• Originally planned to be an architect
• An MLB player best known for his time as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers
• Was one of the most dominating left-handed pitchers in the MLB
• Though he renounced his ties to the Dodgers in an article in the New York Post, he later returned to the team as a spring training instructor in 2013 after a change in management
• After retirement, he began serving as a pitching instructor for the Dodgers