Sandy Koufax
MLB debut June 24, 1955 for the Brooklyn Dodgers Last MLB appearance October 2, 1966 for the Los Angeles Dodgers Career statistics Win–loss record 165–87 Earned run average 2.76 Strikeouts 2,396 Teams Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers (1955–1966) Career highlights and awards 7× All-Star (1961–1962, 1963–1966) 4× World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965) NL MVP (1963) 3× Cy Young Award (1963, 1965, 1966) 2× World Series MVP (1963, 1965) 3× Triple Crown (1963, 1965, 1966) Pitched four no-hitters Pitched a perfect game on September 9, 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers #32 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team Major League Baseball All-Time Team Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction 1972 Vote 86.87% (first ballot) Sanford "Sandy" Koufax (/ˈkoʊfæks/; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is a retired American baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1955 to 1966. He retired at the peak of his career, and in 1972 became the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, aged 36 years and 20 days. Koufax's career peaked with a run of six outstanding seasons from 1961 to 1966, before arthritis in his left elbow ended his career prematurely at age 30. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1963. He also won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Awards by unanimous votes, making him the first three-time Cy Young winner in baseball history and the only one to win three times when the award was for all of baseball, not just one league. In each of his Cy Young seasons, Koufax won the pitcher's triple crown by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average. Koufax's totals would also have led the American League in those seasons. Koufax was the first major leaguer to pitch four no-hitters (including the eighth perfect game in baseball history). Despite his comparatively short career, Koufax's 2,396 career strikeouts ranked 7th in history as of his retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martinez are the only four pitchers inducted into the Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax is also remembered as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports. His decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur garnered national attention as an example of conflict between professional pressures and personal beliefs.