The first arm immortalized in a Dodger Stadium statue will be the one once known as “The Left Arm of God.”
Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax will be honored with the second statue at the stadium. The statue is scheduled to be unveiled next year, in what the team is calling a new entertainment plaza beyond center field. The Dodgers plan to move the Jackie Robinson statue, installed two years ago on the reserve level, to the entertainment plaza, flanking the Koufax statue.
Koufax, 83, dazzled Los Angeles and all the major leagues with five of the most electric seasons ever recorded. He led the National League in earned-run average every year from 1962-66. He won three Cy Young awards — all unanimously — and the 1963 most valuable player award.
The Dodgers won the World Series in 1963 and 1965; Koufax was the World Series MVP in each series. In 1965, he started three games and completed two, including a three-hit shutout in the clincher on two days rest.
However, he gained his greatest fame in that series when he decided against pitching in Game 1 of the World Series so he could observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. In the wider American culture, that quiet act transformed Koufax from an excellent pitcher into a Jewish icon.
At a White House event honoring Jewish Americans in 2010 – almost a half-century later – President Obama told the crowd: “We are both lefties. He can’t pitch on Yom Kippur. I can’t pitch.”
In 1966, Koufax and fellow Dodgers ace Don Drysdale staged a successful holdout in spring training, before the rise of the Major League Baseball Players Assn. or the advent of free agency. The Dodgers had paid Koufax $85,000 in 1965 and offered him $100,000 for 1966; he earned $125,000 through a holdout that many fans did not appreciate.
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Sandy Koufax holds up four baseballs on Sept. 10, 1965, a day after he pitched a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. It was the fourth no-hit performance of his career.
(Associated Press)
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Photos of Sandy Koufax batting when he was eight years old.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax delivers a pitch during a May 1957 game against the Chicago Cubs. The Brooklyn Dodgers starter struck out 13 batters and allowed four hits in the 3-2 win.
(Harry Hall / Associated Press)
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Following his rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Sandy Koufax enrolled in a winter session at Columbia University in 1955 to take courses in architecture, graphics and physics.
(Associated Press)
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Dodgers pitchers (from left to right) Don Drysdale, Pete Richert, Stan Williams, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres pose together at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 25, 1962.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax shows off one of the balls he threw to break the National League record for most strikeouts in a season in 1961. Koufax ended the season with 243 strikeouts, breaking a 50-year-old record held by Rube Marquard.
(Associated Press)
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Dodgers Manager Walter Alston, left, smiles as Sandy Koufax shows off his fully healed left hand during spring training in Vero Beach, Fla., in 1963. An injured finger hampered Koufax in the late part of the 1962 season.
(Jim Kerlin / Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax walks onto the Yankee Stadium field before Game 1 of the 1963 World Series. The Dodgers went on to sweep the Yankees in the series.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax delivers the final pitch of the Dodgers’ 1963 World Series victory over the New York Yankees.
(Ben Olender / Los Angeles Times)
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Sandy Koufax, left, and catcher John Roseboro celebrate as the Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the 1963 World Series to win the team’s first championship in Los Angeles.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax delivers the final pitch of his perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 9, 1965 at Dodger Stadium.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax delivers a strike to secure his perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 9, 1965 at Dodger Stadium.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax is congratulated by teammates Willie Davis, left, and Ron Fairly, second left, moments after throwing a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 9, 1965 at Dodger Stadium.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax points at the Dodger Stadium scoreboard after throwing a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 9, 1965.
(Harold P. Matosian / Associated Press)
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San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, bottom left, swings a bat at Dodgers catcher John Roseboro as Sandy Koufax tries to intervene during a game at Candlestick Park on Aug. 22, 1965.
(Robert H. Houston / Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax, left, and pitcher Don Drysdale share a laugh after the Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves to claim the 1965 National League pennant.
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Dodgers teammates Maury Wills, left, Sandy Koufax, center, and Willie Davis celebrate following the team’s victory over the Minnesota Twins in Game 5 of the 1965 World Series. The Dodgers went on to win the series in seven games.
(Lou Mack / Los Angeles Times)
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Sandy Koufax celebrates in the clubhouse after the Dodgers clinched the 1966 National League pennant.
(Associated Press)
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Sandy Koufax announces his retirement during a news conference in Beverly Hills on Nov. 18, 1966. Arthritis in his pitching elbow forced Koufax to retire after just 12 seasons. He retired with a 165-87 record and a career 2.76 ERA.
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Dodgers pitching greats Don Drysdale, left, and Sandy Koufax, right, pose with Dodgers announcer Vin Scully at the team’s spring training facility in Vero Beach, Fla., in 1985.
(Jayne Kamin / Los Angeles Times)
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Former Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, left, sits with Dodgers greats Pee Wee Reese, center, and Sandy Koufax during a number retirement ceremony for Don Sutton at Dodger Stadium in August 1998.
(Susan Sterner / Associated Press)
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Former Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, left, shakes hands with Sandy Koufax before the team’s 2008 season opener.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Dodgers greats Carl Erskine, left, Sandy Koufax, center, and Don Newcombe throw out the ceremonial first pitches before the team’s 2008 season opener at Dodger Stadium.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Dodgers pitching greats Sandy Koufax, left, and Don Sutton talk before an old-timers game at Dodger Stadium in June 2013.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Former Dodgers pitchers Orel Hershiser, left, and Sandy Koufax stand on the field before the start of the Dodgers’ 2013 season opener.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Sandy Koufax, center, speaks with Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, left, as Clayton Kershaw looks on during spring training at Camelback Ranch in 2013.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Dodgers announcer Vin Scully chooses to place the ceremonial first pitch into the glove of Sandy Koufax before the team’s 2014 home opener against the San Francisco Giants.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sandy Koufax, left, shakes hands with Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw during spring training in 2013.
(Jon SooHoo / Los Angeles Dodgers)
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“It was astonishing to me,” Koufax wrote in his 1966 autobiography, “to learn that there were a remarkably large number of American citizens who truly did not believe we had the moral right to quit rather than work at a salary we felt — rightly or wrongly — to be less than we deserved. . . . Just take what the nice man wants to give you, get into your uniform, and go a fast 25 laps around the field.”
Koufax stunned Los Angeles and the baseball community by retiring after the 1966 season. He was 30, but he was concerned that continued wear and tear on his arthritic elbow could permanently impact the use of his left arm for the rest of his life.
Koufax treasures his privacy, but he has graced the Dodgers with his regal presence in recent years, including appearances at the World Series. He has become good friends with Clayton Kershaw, who is almost certain to someday will join Koufax as the lone Dodgers left-handers in the Hall of Fame.
A bronze statue of Los Angeles Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson is unveiled outside Dodger Stadium on April 15.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Times staff writer Jorge Castillo contributed to this report.
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