The Los Angeles Dodgers hosted their annual Old-Timers Day at Dodger Stadium, with many of the organization’s legends in attendance. Chief among them were Sandy Koufax and Don Newcombe
It was a night of celebration, as the 1981 World Series Tri-MVPs Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager were honored and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. While Koufax didn’t participate in the Old-Timers Game he certainly drew plenty of attention.
Hours after current and former players stopped to speak with the famed lefty, Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully shared the story of his first time seeing Koufax.
At the time a young broadcaster still looking to make his way with the organization, Scully explained he wasn’t convinced Koufax would amount to much after watching his tryout:
In his 12 seasons with the Dodgers, Koufax went 165-87 with a 2.76 ERA. He was named an All-star six times, including his MVP season in 1963 when he went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA and 11 shutouts while striking out 306 in 311 innings.
He struck out a career-high 382 batters in 1965 and won a career-high 27 games in 1966, which was final year.
