Best lefty off all time? My vote is Koufax!

[riggs336]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Ralph Kiner said Ewell Blackwell was the toughest pitcher he ever faced, does anyone believe that Blackwell was an all-time great?

No because stats are facts, not opinions.

Peewee Reese also named Blackwell as the toughest he faced. Evidently he wasn't called "The Whip" for nothing.
I'm a huge fan of both Spahn and Koufax, but put me in the Lefty Grove column.

[cammb]

I don’t think pee wee Reese ever faced Koufax

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by cammb

I don’t think pee wee Reese ever faced Koufax

Here's a nice anecdote from Jane Leavy's book, where she quotes something Pee Wee Reese wrote near the end of his life:

'To be honest about it, I thought the guy would never be a great pitcher. But he sure proved me wrong. When I retired and I was announcing the CBS Game of the Week, I came up to him while he was warming up. And he was really making the catcher's mitt pop. So I went up and asked him, teasing him, "Where in the hell did you learn how to pitch like that? You can't be that damn good."

'He said, "Grab a bat and get your ass up there at the plate." So I did. Here I am standing with a bat in my hand in my street clothes and I never saw anybody throw that hard in my life, and I've faced some of the greatest in the game. He had pinpoint control. I said, "How is your control on the outside part of the plate?" I was amazed. He then said, "Do you want me to show you how good my control is inside?"

'I said, "Hell, no."'

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by jgannon

Here's a nice anecdote from Jane Leavy's book, where she quotes something Pee Wee Reese wrote near the end of his life:

'To be honest about it, I thought the guy would never be a great pitcher. But he sure proved me wrong. When I retired and I was announcing the CBS Game of the Week, I came up to him while he was warming up. And he was really making the catcher's mitt pop. So I went up and asked him, teasing him, "Where in the hell did you learn how to pitch like that? You can't be that damn good."

'He said, "Grab a bat and get your ass up there at the plate." So I did. Here I am standing with a bat in my hand in my street clothes and I never saw anybody throw that hard in my life, and I've faced some of the greatest in the game. He had pinpoint control. I said, "How is your control on the outside part of the plate?" I was amazed. He then said, "Do you want me to show you how good my control is inside?"

'I said, "Hell, no."'

Yeaaaaah....I'm gonna go with "stories that never happened for $500, please, Alex."