Quote:
Originally Posted by orioles93
Koufax has one of the greatest peaks of all time in the mlb for pitchers but Kershaw is the superior pitcher. Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers of all time and his stats support this. His postseason stats are underwhelming but that shouldnt completely overshadow his fantastic career. He still has time to turn his playoff stats around, hes only 31 years old. The scary thing about Kershaw is that he is evolving and still pitching well without his overpowering stuff anymore. He showed this year that he can still be dominant with a low 90s fastball which bodes well for the rest of his career.
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I really find it surprising that you believe Mr. Kershaw is superior to Sandy Koufax. Mind you, I hardly follow baseball at all anymore, so my knowledge of your man is zilch. Evan, I guess the point I wish to express is the fact that Sandy's career had such an overwhelming turning point. Prior to 1961, he had few moments of greatness, remembering the three-game stretch in 1959 when he struck out 18 Giants and had a pair of other good games. He was so erratic. The Dodgers were unusually patient with him, and Sandy himself was just about ready to call the game quits by the end of 1960. You probably know the story of Sandy listening to his catcher, Norm Sherry, prior to a spring training game in 1961 against the Twins, and what followed.
Long to short, Sandy Koufax's career is really parsed into 2 acts---pre '61 and 1961 to the end of his career. I shake my head in wonder at the numbers he put up in his last season, but Sandy seriously believed he would suffer permanent damage to his arm if he did not end his career immediately.
I'm sure Clayton Kershaw is terrific, but comparing his peak 6 years to Sandy's final 6 years is probably unwise. Post-season consideration will go to Mr. Koufax, hands down; Sandy's performances in 1963 and 1965 were legendary. Even his loss in 1966, amid the Orioles sweep, was mystifying, since the Dodger defense committed a World Series record 3 errors in one inning, resulting in 3 unearned runs. I believe Sandy was relieved in the 7th, after having given up but one earned run, for a game ERA of 1.50. The small ball Dodgers couldn't do much to help the cause, and Sandy took the loss.
However, I know you were comparing careers, not peak performance. Be that as it may, fans and collectors tend to remember Sandy Koufax's 6 straight years of peak performance, coupled with a superb post-season that absolutely shut down the Yankees and the Twins.
Happy collecting in all sincerity, bro.
--- Brian Powell