How I obtained the recording.
Below is the backstory of this recording came to be.
I attended college at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. In the spring of 2006, I was fortunate to take an honors symposium co-talk by a history professor and the then provost, Richard Astro. The class was called the history and literature of baseball. Throughout the semester the professors brought in various speakers. One of the speakers was Sandy Koufax.
Years before I took the class, Astro was a professor at Drexel, where he now teaches. He had a passion for sportsa and began a program to work with professional baseball players on their college degrees. When he first got started he mailed letters to various club officials and players. One of the players who wrote back was Sandy Koufax. They have been friends ever since.
In the middle of the semester the university chartered a bus to a Mets spring training game. We were supposed to meet with GM Sandy Alderson but he backed out at the last minute. After the game we went to the coast and met with Koufax in the clubhouse of his condo.
I knew that Koufax was notorious for staying out of the spotlight and I really didn't know what to expect. Needless to say I was surprised by what I saw when he walked. He stood tall and tanned. His athletic body resembled a man many years younger.
For the next 70 minutes Koufax very candidly answered whatever questions we had to ask (except one). He has a very softspoken voice so your readers will probably need to turn up their speakers to hear him at times. When it was time to leave Koufax took photos and signed autographs with anyone who asked.
I left amazed by his story and humility about the many amazing feats he accomplished. He is a marvelous man.
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