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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Jay, I think you're not appreciating what Koufax went through with Walt Alston as his manager in the early years. Alston pitched him very inconsistently, pushing him in and out of the rotation for no good reason. This was a recipe for disaster for a pitcher like Koufax who was trying to get into some kind of consistent groove. This is not just my opinion; most baseball historians support this theory as the reason for Koufax's difficult start to his career. Once he began to pitch consistently, he took off.

Also, it's not like Koufax's arguably slow start was such an aberration: Bob Gibson took many starts and innings pitched before he had a good season too. Maybe not as many as Sandy, but certainly within that range. And consider the fact that Koufax pitched a bit more than half the innings that Gibson did yet had 3 seasons with an ERA under 2 compared to 1 season for Gibson.