Sandy Koufax: Symbol of Jewish Pride

On May 27, 2010, President Barack Obama welcomed a group to the East Room of the White House to celebrate the inaugural Jewish American Heritage Month. In his opening remarks, the president observed, “This is a pretty distinguished group. We’ve got senators and representatives, Supreme Court justices, successful entrepreneurs, rabbinical scholars, Olympic athletes–and Sandy Koufax!” As the crowd laughed, the president quipped, “Sandy and I actually have something in common. He can’t pitch on Yom Kippur–and I can’t pitch!”1

Of all the prominent Jewish Americans in the East Room on that occasion, President Obama singled out just one–Sandy Koufax. This speaks volumes about the iconic, almost mythical status Koufax possesses among Jewish Americans. To non-Jewish baseball fans, Koufax is heralded as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time. But to Jewish baseball fans, Koufax is nothing less than a folk hero, a “public emblem for his people.”2 Koufax’s success on the mound resonated deeply with Jewish baseball fans and served as a source of immense pride. As one of the few prominent Jewish players during his era, Koufax became a symbol of Jewish achievement.

During his heyday in the mid-1960s, Koufax was without peer among Jewish American athletes. One familiar line was, “Abraham, Moses and Sandy.”3 Former Commissioner Bud Selig recalled that “every Jewish mother was trying to figure out how her daughter could meet Sandy Koufax.”4 Koufax himself never sought the limelight. Unlike many professional athletes, he was reserved and tended to shy away from publicity. But his lack of self-promotion did nothing to diminish his immense standing among baseball fans, particularly Jewish baseball fans. According to Jack Mendelson, who grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood as Koufax, “We were so proud [of Koufax] as Jewish kids. We all felt something, some sort of crazy pride. Back then the Holocaust was still fresh, and so when a kid like that makes it, man, it was tremendous for us.”5

Koufax, of course, was not the first great Jewish major leaguer. In 1935 Hank Greenberg won the American League Most Valuable Player Award and helped the Detroit Tigers win the World Series.6 It was a watershed year for Greenberg. He led the American League in RBIs, total bases, and extra-base hits, and tied Jimmie Foxx for the most home runs. Greenberg would eventually be named to five All-Star teams, win another MVP award in 1940, and be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956. But despite his prowess on the field, Greenberg was forced to endure harsh anti-Semitism throughout his career. Greenberg recalled, “Every ballpark I went to, there’d be somebody in the stands who spent the whole afternoon just calling me names. … If you’re having a good day, you don’t give a damn. But if you’re having a bad day, why, pretty soon it gets you hot under the collar.”7 Birdie Tebbetts, a teammate of Greenberg’s in Detroit for seven seasons, lamented, “There was nobody in the history of the game who took more abuse than Greenberg, unless it was Jackie Robinson.”8

On December 30, 1935, two months after Greenberg won his first MVP Award, Sandy was born in Brooklyn to Evelyn and Jack Braun. The Brauns divorced when Sandy was 3 years old. Six years later, Evelyn married Irving Koufax, and Sandy took his stepfather’s last name. Sandy played baseball at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and went to the University of Cincinnati, where he also played basketball. Dodgers scout Al Campanis, who had seen Koufax pitch while he was still in high school, recalled, “There are two times in my life the hair on my arms stood up–the first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the second time I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball.”9 Koufax signed with the Dodgers in 1954 when he was just 18 years old. He received a $14,000 signing bonus along with a starting salary of $6,000. As a “bonus baby,” he went straight to the Dodgers and never pitched in the minor leagues.

During Koufax’s first six years in the majors, he was an average pitcher at best. He had control problems and his ERA hovered around 4.00. The only season he won more than 10 games was 1958, when he went 11-11 with a 4.48 ERA. The turning point in his career came during spring training in 1961 when Dodgers catcher Norm Sherry urged Koufax to ease up a bit on his fastball.10 Sherry had noticed that the harder Koufax threw the wilder he got. So he told Koufax, “Why not have some fun out there, Sandy? Don’t try to throw so hard and use more curveballs and changeups.”11 Koufax wisely followed Sherry’s advice, and for the next six seasons, no major-league pitcher was more dominant.

He was a National League All-Star in each of his last six seasons (1961-66) and a World Series MVP twice (1963, 1965). He was a three-time Cy Young Award winner (1963, 1965, 1966) and a National League MVP (1963). He led the majors in wins three times (1963, 1965, 1966) and in strikeouts four times (1961, 1963, 1965, 1966), and he topped the National League in ERA five times (1962-66). He threw four no-hitters, including a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on September 9, 1965.

But aside from his tremendous accomplishments on the field, Koufax is revered by many Jewish baseball fans more for what he did off the field. Perhaps the most defining moment of his career was his decision not to pitch Game One of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins. That game fell on October 6, which was Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Koufax was not known to be a particularly devout or observant Jew; nevertheless, before the start of the 1965 series, Koufax announced he would not pitch Game One because it coincided with the holy day. Koufax always maintained that his decision not to pitch was easy. He said, “There was no hard decision for me. … It was just a thing of respect.”12 Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, along with Koufax’s teammates and coaches, supported his decision. According to fellow hurler Claude Osteen, “Sandy was such a star on our club, we said, ‘If this is Sandy’s decision, then it’s okay.’”13

Dodgers manager Walter Alston named Don Drysdale the starting pitcher for Game One. Drysdale had won 23 games in 1965, so the Dodgers were not particularly concerned about Koufax’s absence. But Drysdale got shellacked in the game. In 2â…” innings, Drysdale gave up seven runs on seven hits, including home runs to Don Mincher and Zoilo Versalles. As Drysdale walked off the mound in the third inning after getting pulled, he looked back at Alston and supposedly said, “I bet right now you wish I was Jewish too!”14 The Twins won the game, 8-2.

For years, there has been much speculation about where Koufax spent October 6, 1965. Koufax never disclosed where. Rabbis throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul area claimed to have seen Koufax at their synagogues that day. The late Rabbi Bernard Raskas of the Temple of Aaron Synagogue in St. Paul maintained until his death in 2010 that he brought Koufax into his synagogue through a side door and sat him in front where almost no one saw him.15 Koufax biographer Jane Leavy is skeptical. She believes Koufax never left his hotel room on October 6. She writes, “Raskas could not have seen [Koufax] unless he was the room service waiter at midnight [when Koufax would have broken his fast].”16

Koufax’s decision to sit out the first game of the World Series became a major national news story, sparking intense media attention and igniting debates throughout the country. Some praised Koufax’s decision to place religion over sport, while others criticized him for potentially letting down his team. Koufax’s decision resonated most deeply with Jewish baseball fans, who saw it as an affirmation of his Jewish identity. As Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove observed, Koufax’s decision was a “pivot forever changing Jewish-American identity… [showing] that you could stand in two cultures–you could make it big in America and remain a nice Jewish boy.”17

Koufax returned to the mound for Game Two. But he did not fare much better than Drysdale had in Game One. Koufax pitched six innings in a 5-1 loss. After the game, Koufax refused to blame his performance on his longer-than-normal layoff. He said, “I knew what I wanted to do out there, but I just couldn’t do it. If I had a little better control, or better stuff, I might have gotten away with it.”18

Koufax got his groove back for games Five and Seven. Both were masterful pitching performances. In Game Five at Dodger Stadium, with the series tied at two games apiece,19 Koufax pitched a four-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking only one. The series returned to Minnesota, where the Twins won Game Six. For the decisive seventh game, Alston again went with Koufax even though he had only two days’ rest to Drysdale’s three. Koufax threw a three-hit shutout, again striking out 10, on his way to his second World Series MVP in three years. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Drysdale with three days’ rest is not as good as Koufax with two days’ rest. … If Alston had started anybody but Koufax, management probably would have demanded a psychiatric examination.”20

In the years since 1965, several Jewish major leaguers have followed in Koufax’s footsteps and refused to play on Jewish holy days. In 1966, 20-year-old Cubs rookie pitcher Ken Holtzman refused to pitch on Yom Kippur. Years later, Holtzman recalled that Koufax’s decision not to pitch Game One of the 1965 World Series made it much easier for him not to pitch on the holy day.21 In 2001 Shawn Green refused to suit up for the Dodgers for a crucial game against the Giants that fell on Yom Kippur. When asked about his decision, Green said, “There is nothing I would rather do than play against the Giants in a pennant race, but some things take precedence over that.”22

But unlike Koufax, Holtzman, and Green, some Jewish major leaguers have opted to play on holy days. In 1996, Brewers backup catcher Jesse Levis played on Yom Kippur and said, “It’s not like I’m Sandy Koufax. I don’t have that kind of leverage. I hope God forgives me.”23 In 2019 three Jewish players, Alex Bregman (Astros), Max Fried (Braves), and Joc Pederson (Dodgers), decided to play in playoff games on Yom Kippur. All three of their teams lost. Armin Rosen questioned whether the three losses were caused by a “Koufax Curse.”24 Rosen humorously asked:

“Why would Yom Kippur observance be the determinative factor in a baseball game? Surely [God] isn’t that petty. But consider this: Any one of these outcomes would have been an unlikely event. Two of them? Preposterous. Three of them? On Yom Kippur? What do you wanna bet that it’s not the hand of any angry God?25”

Sandy Koufax’s influence in the American Jewish community has been profound and far-reaching. Through his commitment to his faith, he provided cultural representation and served as a role model for many aspiring Jewish athletes. Indeed, it is almost impossible to overestimate just how important Koufax’s decision not to pitch on Yom Kippur 1965 was, and still is, to the American Jewish community. According to David King, “[I]n an America that often vilified the Jewish people, Koufax’s act gave Jews a renewed sense of pride in both their religion and their cultural contributions.”26 For this reason, it is unlikely Koufax’s decision in 1965 is going to be forgotten by the Jewish community any time soon. In fact, some rabbis are making a concerted effort not to let the story die. As Rabbi Gordon Tucker said, “I’ve said to the congregation, to the over-60 crowd, ‘You have to keep that story alive and tell your grandchildren–you have an obligation to do that.’”27

WILLIAM M. “MATT” VINES is a trial lawyer who has practiced in Jackson, Mississippi, since 1994. He is a lifelong baseball fan and collector of baseball cards. His collection includes a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente (rookie card), a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth (#144), and a 1909-11 T206 Walter Johnson (hands at chest).

 

Notes

1 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/realitycheck/the-press-office/remarks-president-reception-honor-jewish-american-heritage-month.

2 David A. King, “Nostra Aetate and Sandy Koufax,” Georgia Bulletin, October 29, 2015. https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2015/10/nostra-aetate-sandy-koufax/.

3 King.

4 Bud Selig interview, “The Central Theme of Jews in Baseball,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJXKylOeaiY.

5 David Lengel, “Fifty Years Later, Sandy Koufax Still Stirs Up Emotions of Jewish Baseball Fans,” The Guardian, US edition, October 7, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/oct/07/sandy-koufax-world-series-50-years. Accessed September 2, 2023.

6 Greenberg sprained his wrist in Game Two of the World Series and was unable to play the remainder of the Series.

7 Michael Beschloss, “Hank Greenberg’s Triumph over Hate Speech,” New York Times, July 25, 2014.

8 Beschloss.

9 Jane Leavy, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy (New York: Harper Perennial, 2002), 55.

10 Marc Z. Aaron, “Sandy Koufax,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Sandy-Koufax, citing Bob Broeg, “Sandy Started Slowly … But Oh What a Finish,” The Sporting News, August 14, 1971.

11 Aaron.

12 Hillel Kuttler, “Why Sandy Koufax Sitting Out a World Series Game Still Matters 50 Years Later,” Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County, https://www.jewishorangeny.org/jewish-life/wao-weekly-e-blast-news-articles/why-sandy-koufax-sitting-out-a-world-series-game-still.

13 Lengel.

14 Tess Cutler, “1965: When Dodger Sandy Koufax Didn’t Pitch Game One of the World Series,” Jewish Journal, October 24, 2017, https://jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/226360/dodger-sandy-koufax-yom-kippur/

15 John Rosengren, “Myth and Fact Part of Legacy from Sandy Koufax’s Yom Kippur Choice,” Sports Illustrated, September 23, 2015.

16 Rosengren.

17 Elliot J. Cosgrove, “The Hyphen Within,” Park Avenue Synagogue, September 22, 2015, https://pasyn.org/node/320.

18 Paul Zimmerman, “Sandy Loses, but There’s a Catch to It,” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1965: III-1.

19 The Dodgers won Game Three (4-0) and Game Four (7-2).

20 Jim Murray, “Worker of Art,” Los Angeles Times, October 15, 1965: III-4.

21 Frederic J. Frommer, “Sandy Koufax Wouldn’t Play on Yom Kippur. Neither Would Another Ace Jewish Pitcher,” Forward, September 29, 2022, https://forward.com/news/sports/519660/sandy-koufax-wouldn’t-play-on-yom-kippur.

22 Jeff Merron, “Green, Koufax and Greenberg–Same Dilemma, Different Decisions,” ESPN, September 26, 2001, https://www.espn.com./classic/s/merron_on_green.html.

23 Merron.

24 Armin Rosen, “The Koufax Curse,” Tablet, October 10, 2019, https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/sports/articles/the-koufax-curse.

25 Rosen.

26 King, “Nostra Aetate and Sandy Koufax.”

27 Lengel, “Fifty Years Later, Sandy Koufax Still Stirs Up Emotions of Jewish Baseball Fans.”