The Left Arm of God
That was the way some of Sandy Koufax’s opponents referred to the L.A. Dodger great during his prime seasons in the early 60s. In her New York Times bestselling biography Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy (2002), Jane Leavy attempts to document just how much of a struggle it was for Koufax first to harness his prodigious talent and make himself the most dominant pitcher of his era, and then to hang on to his abilities as he fought injuries to his overworked left elbow. This book will certainly appeal to baseball fans in particular and sports fans in general; but most of it will be of interest to general readers who will learn the high price that elite athletes pay to keep themselves at the top of their game.
Leavy develops five major themes in the course of her story: how near a miss it was for Koufax to have never become a pro ballplayer at all; how difficult it was for him to achieve and continue success; how important his role was in blazing the trail for professional athletes to earn the king’s ransoms that are so commonplace today; his significance for the pride and self-respect of the Jewish community; and his lifelong struggle to fight the picture of him as a snob and a recluse.
Leavy adopts an unusual structure for her presentation. In front of the Table of Contents is a reproduction of a completed scorecard for the game between the Cubs and the Dodgers on September 9th, 1965. That was the night Koufax pitched not only his then record breaking fourth career no-hitter, but a perfect game. What made this game truly remarkable was that Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley was also pitching the game of his life, finishing with a one-hitter and conceding one unearned run. The September date is important because major league clubs can increase their playing rosters after September 1st by bringing players up from the minor leagues to see how their prospects fare against big league competition. It was a throwing error by a rookie catcher that allowed the only Dodger run to score.
Leavy tracked down and interviewed five dozen people who were involved in that game – players, coaches, executives, umpires, reporters, broadcasters, spectators and even fans who listened to Vin Scully’s account on the radio - to get a sense of how people were reacting inning by inning on the field, in the dugouts, in the stands and listening at home. (Leavy talked to over four hundred people for the book as a whole. Koufax wasn’t one of them, but he did give her suggestions about people she should talk to for answers to different questions.)
She weaves the story of the perfect game into the story of Koufax’s career, alternating innings with seasons. While Koufax was with the Dodgers for 12 seasons, he barely played at all his first two years, appearing in 28 games and pitching 100 innings combined. As he was a player who had received over $6,000 dollars as a signing bonus, the Dodgers were obliged to keep Koufax on the big league roster. But manager Walt Alston had very little confidence in the hard throwing but erratic nineteen year old and seldom used him in pennant race seasons. The Dodgers went to the World Series in both of his first two years; Koufax was on the Dodgers’ Series roster both times and never faced a Yankee batter in fourteen games. It was only when the Milwaukee Braves began to dominate the National League that the Dodger lefty got to play on a regular basis.
If I have a beef about this book, it is that Leavy oversells the idea that Koufax is just a regular guy. She argues that he is a shy man who doesn’t like to be the center of publicity. He agrees that someone who throws a three hit shutout and strikes out twelve should receive accolades from the press and the public; but those praises belong to the man who did these things last Tuesday, not 53 years ago. So he still finds it weird that total strangers should approach him like they have been BFF with him since the third grade. That said, she repeats this point several times. It gives the impression that she felt an obligation to include stories from as many of her interview subjects as possible.
In addition to her career as a sports and feature writer for the Washington Post, Leavy has also written for, among others, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the Village Voice. Many of her essays have been anthologized in collections of sports writing and other topics. Leavy has also authored a biography of Mickey Mantle (The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood) and the comic novel Squeeze Play, about the travails of a woman trying to hack it as a sports reporter. Recently she has published a biography of Babe Ruth, The Big Fella. It should prove to be quite a contrast to the Koufax story, since Ruth embraced the limelight and loved being the object of the public’s adulation.
Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy is now available at the Lennoxville Library. Readers are reminded to visit our book sale on the sidewalk outside the Library as part of this Saturday’s Lennoxville Street Festival between 10am and 3pm.