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Kenny ColeI find it almost impossible to believe that there can even be a debate about Koufax. Aside from the fact that he is, by all accounts, a wonderful person, great basketball player and role model for all persons of the Jewish faith due to his refusal to pitch on Yom Kippur, he was the best pitcher of the 60's, period. He was voted athlete of the 60's for good reason. He had no offense behind him during his 5 year "supernova" period, yet almost always won the 1-0 or 2-1 games, pitching against the Gibsons and Marichals. He won 3 Cy Youngs during that brief "supernova" period when they only gave out one. You ask ANY hitter during that period who the most dominant pitcher was and the answer is just about uniformly Koufax.
I may not be that bright, but it seems to me that if Mays, Aaron, Robinson and every other hitter of that era who faced him say he was the best, and if every pitcher who he pitched against grudingly admits that he was the best pitcher they ever faced, he probably deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. His numbers in 5 years were better than everyone else's in 10. That doesn't even take into account the fact that he retired at 30. It isn't even a close call.
Kirby Puckett played just about as long as Koufax and never dominated any category like Koufax did. Not once, not ever. By any comparison, he suffers. If we want to talk about someone who statistically doesn't deserve to be elected, especially on the first ballot, Puckett's the guy. He can't even be called a supernova, because, while he was a very good ballplayer, he never burned nearly as bright as Koufax.