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Sandy Koufax is a former pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, Koufax was the first three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, each time unanimously and the only pitcher to do so when a single award was given for both the leagues, and was also named the National League Most Valuable Player in 1963. Retiring at the age of 30 due to arthritis in his pitching elbow, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1972 at the age of 36, the youngest player ever elected.
Koufax won the Major League Triple Crown three times, leading the Dodgers to a pennant in each of those years. He was the first major league pitcher to throw four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965. He was named the World Series MVP twice, the first player to do so, leading the weak-hitting Dodgers to titles in 1963 and 1965. At the time of his retirement, Koufax's career earned run average of 2.76 trailed only Whitey Ford among pitchers with at least 2,000 innings pitched since 1925; his .655 winning percentage ranked third among both left-handers and modern NL pitchers. Despite his comparatively short career, his 2,396 career strikeouts ranked seventh in major league history at the time, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers; his 40 shutouts were tied for ninth in modern NL history. He was the first pitcher in history to average more than nine strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and the first to allow fewer than seven hits per nine innings pitched.
In 1999, Koufax was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. His number 32 was retired by the Dodgers in 1972 and he was honored with a statue outside the centerfield plaza of Dodger Stadium in 2022. That same year, Koufax became the first player to mark the 50th anniversary of his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Career stats and highlights:
7× All-Star (1961–1962, 1963–1966)
4× World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965)
NL MVP (1963)
3× Cy Young Award (1963, 1965, 1966)
2× World Series MVP (1963, 1965)
3× Triple Crown (1963, 1965, 1966)
3× MLB wins leader (1963, 1965, 1966)
5× NL ERA leader (1962–1966)
4× MLB strikeout leader (1961, 1963, 1965, 1966)
Pitched a perfect game on September 9, 1965
Pitched four no-hitters
Los Angeles Dodgers No. 32 retired
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Major League Baseball All-Time Team
National Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1972)