Koufax caps greatest season with NL MVP

From 1961-66, Sandy Koufax amassed enough awards and honors to fill the text on multiple Hall of Fame plaques.

But among those plaudits, there was – and remains – only one National League Most Valuable Player Award. It came on Oct. 30, 1963, when Koufax received the honor that symbolized the year that put him on the path to Cooperstown.

“It’s the greatest thrill and greatest honor I’ve ever had,” Koufax told United Press International. “I am extremely grateful for all the honors bestowed upon me. But I feel all of my Dodger teammates have an equal share in them.”

Koufax was nearly unhittable in 1963 – a year after he made only 26 starts due to a circulatory problem in his left hand. But he still led the NL in ERA that year with a 2.54 mark, setting the stage for a four-year run that would be unprecedented in baseball history.

Koufax struck out 10 batters in a complete game, 2-1 victory over the Cubs in the Dodgers’ second game of the year in 1963. Then after absorbing a 5-4 loss against Houston in his next start, Koufax won five straight and 15 of 17 overall while virtually carrying the Dodgers to the National League pennant.

He worked at least nine innings in 22 games, including two 12-inning outings. He reached double-digit figures in strikeouts 11 times on the way to 306 for the season – which was just the sixth 300-strikeout campaign to that point and the first since Bob Feller fanned 348 in 1946. He wound up as the unanimous winner of the Cy Young Award, which was presented to only one pitcher in baseball from 1956-66.

And though his postseason numbers had no bearing on the NL MVP voting – which was conducted before the World Series – his performance in the Fall Classic against the Yankees was the stuff of legend. He pitched complete games in both Game 1 and Game 4, striking out a total of 23 batters (setting a new single-game World Series mark with 15 in Game 1) and allowing just three earned runs as Los Angeles swept the series.

“I can see how he won 25 games,” Yankees stalwart Yogi Berra said of Koufax. “What I don’t understand is how he lost five.”

Koufax was named the World Series MVP following the sweep, and he repeated that honor in 1965 as the Dodgers again captured the title. He would win his second Cy Young Award that year and would win the award again in 1966. But in the NL MVP race, Koufax finished second in both 1965 and 1966, with Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, respectively, taking home top honors. The 1966 NL MVP race proved one of the tightest in history as Clemente outpointed Koufax 218-208 despite receiving one fewer first place vote (eight for Clemente compared to nine for Koufax) than the Dodgers’ left-hander.

When Koufax retired later in the fall, that close finish meant that Koufax’s 1963 MVP Award would be the only one of his career.

“I keep reminding myself,” Koufax told UPI after the 1963 NL MVP results were announced, “it’s harder to stay on top than it is to get there.”

Koufax was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 at the age of 36, becoming the youngest inductee in Hall of Fame history.

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum