May 23, 1960: Sandy Koufax stops first-place Pirates with one-hitter

Sandy Koufax was on the fringes of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff early in the 1960 season, his sixth in the majors. Shaky control and hard luck left him with a 0-4 record and a 5.16 earned-run average entering his May 23 start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Facing the hot-hitting, rally-prone, championship-bound Pirates, however, Koufax hinted at the superstardom to come, as he limited Pittsburgh to one hit–a second-inning single by mound opponent Bennie Daniels–and struck out 10 in the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory at Forbes Field.

Dazzling, dominant moments were scattered through Koufax’s first five big-league seasons, at times validating the Dodgers’ wisdom in signing him to a $14,000 bonus in 1954.1 Striking out batters at a rate nearly unrivaled among major-league pitchers,2 Koufax broke the record for strikeouts in a National or American League night game in one 1959 start3 and tied Bob Feller’s post-1900 record for a nine-inning game in a subsequent appearance.4 In a spot start in Game Five of the 1959 World Series, he allowed just one run in seven innings.5

But overall Koufax had won about as many games (28) as he had lost (27), seldom securing a regular place in the starting rotation.6 Through three seasons in Brooklyn and two more after the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, his 4.16 lifetime ERA was exactly average for his ledger of clubs, years, and ballparks.7

As 1960 opened, Koufax’s role with the Dodgers reflected his middling record. He made just three appearances for the defending World Series champions in the season’s first three weeks. In his only start, on April 22, the St. Louis Cardinals drove him from the mound before he recorded an out.8 Koufax did not pitch again until eight days later, when he walked three straight San Francisco Giants and threw 11 balls in a row in relief, causing manager Walter Alston to pull him from the game.9 Newspapers reported Koufax pitching batting practice to regain his control10 and confronting general manager Buzzie Bavasi over his lack of playing time.11

Roger Craig’s broken collarbone on May 2 gave Koufax a chance in the rotation,12 and the 24-year-old left-hander’s next four starts were a mix of mastery and misfortune. Koufax fanned 15 Philadelphia Phillies on May 6 but lost on a five-run 10th.13 Five days later, the Pirates, down 3-1 with two outs and nobody on base in the eighth inning, rallied for a 6-3 win.14 A rainout in Milwaukee washed away three first-inning strikeouts on May 16.15

On May 19 Koufax was one pitch from a 10-strikeout, 1-earned-run complete game against the Cincinnati Reds before ninth-inning hits by Eddie Kasko and Vada Pinson occasioned another defeat.16 The Los Angeles Times labeled him “the snakebitten southpaw.”17

Koufax’s next shot was in the Monday opener of a three-game series against Pittsburgh, one of the clubs the Dodgers had outmaneuvered to sign him.18 Two come-from-behind, extra-inning wins over the Giants had increased the first-place Pirates’ lead to 1½ games;19 the fifth-place Dodgers were already 8½ games out. Pittsburgh’s team batting average and total runs scored led the majors by large margins.20 Six of the Pirates’ 23 victories had come after they had trailed in the seventh inning or later, including Koufax’s May 11 start at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Pittsburgh’s Daniels–who had grown up near Los Angeles in Compton and made his major-league debut as the Pirates starter in the Dodgers’ final game in Brooklyn in September 195721–took the mound on a night the Los Angeles Mirror described as “cold [and] damp.”22 A dog ran among Pittsburgh’s outfielders, delaying the first pitch for about five minutes.23 The 27-year-old Daniels, in his fifth start of the season,24 pitched around Wally Moon’s two-out walk for a scoreless first.

Koufax began his outing by walking .351-hitting Bob Skinner on a full-count pitch,25 then striking out .307-hitting Dick Groat. Skinner stole second while .382-hitting Roberto Clemente batted, but Koufax fanned Clemente. After Dick Stuart walked, Don Hoak took a called third strike.

Two quick Pirate outs in the second were followed by more control troubles. Eighth-place hitter Bill Mazeroski walked on four pitches. Koufax got ahead of Daniels 1-and-2 but left a curveball hanging high and inside,26 and the lefty-swinging Pirate pitcher lined a single to left.27

When Skinner took a 3-and-1 pitch for ball four, Pittsburgh had its fourth walk of the game, and the bases were loaded. But Groat grounded to shortstop Maury Wills, who threw to Charlie Neal at second for the inning-ending force.

The Dodgers threatened against Daniels in the third. Jim Gilliam drew a one-out walk and took second on Neal’s groundout. Moon hit a grounder up the middle; Mazeroski fielded it behind second, too late to get the out at first. Gilliam rounded third, stopped, and broke for home. Mazeroski–headed for his second of eight Gold Gloves at second base–fired to catcher Hal Smith, who tagged Gilliam on the arm for the third out.

Hoak walked with two outs in the third, but Koufax was finding his groove. Smith struck out to end the inning; he was the first of nine straight Pirates set down until a harmless two-out walk to Smith in the sixth.

“After the first two innings, he really started to pump [his fastball],” Dodgers catcher John Roseboro said of Koufax. “It was the best I’ve seen him because his control was so good.”28

Daniels, whose curveball drew postgame praise from Alston,29 was matching Koufax with scoreless innings, putting up clean frames in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. He took a two-hitter into the top of the seventh.

Los Angeles first baseman Norm Larker led off the seventh with a double to left-center. Right fielder Frank Howard, a 6-foot-7-inch, 23-year-old power-hitting prospect who had been called up from Triple-A Spokane earlier in May,30 hit a first-pitch grounder to short, and Larker held at second. Roseboro also swung at the first pitch, lining it to right; Clemente saved a hit and kept the game scoreless with a sliding catch on his knees.31

Daniels got ahead of 21-year-old center fielder Tommy Davis–like Koufax, a Brooklyn native–with a strike, then threw an outside slider. Davis, hitless in his past 24 at-bats, drove it against the screen near the light tower in left-center, about eight inches short of a home run.32 Larker scored on the double for a 1-0 Dodgers lead.

Now ahead, Koufax cruised through the seventh, retiring Mazeroski on a foul pop to Roseboro and striking out pinch-hitter Gene Baker and Skinner. Groundouts by right-handed hitters Groat, Clemente, and Stuart finished the Pittsburgh eighth.

Elroy Face, in relief of Daniels,33 had pitched two scoreless innings, aided by Stuart’s diving stop of Moon’s grounder with Gilliam at second in the eighth.34 It remained a one-run game heading to the bottom of the ninth. What the Los Angeles Times called a “big and noisy crowd” of 15,936 waited for another rally.35

Koufax began the ninth by catching Hoak looking for his 10th strikeout.

“He was getting his curveball over,” said Hoak, Koufax’s Dodgers teammate in 1955. “That’s what made his fastball so effective.”36

Smith grounded out, and defensive replacement Don Demeter hauled in former Dodger Gino Cimoli’s deep drive near the exit gate in right-center.37 The partisan Pittsburgh crowd gave a cheer for Koufax,38 who had a one-hit shutout on 135 pitches and his first victory in 13 regular-season outings since August 1959.39

“I’ve never been a better pitcher than this year,” Koufax said afterward. “To be perfectly honest, I was looking forward to my best year at the beginning of the season. Then, I lost four in a hurry.”40

“Now, I’m still looking forward to my best year.”41

Koufax followed up his gem in Pittsburgh with a display of dominance, stamina, and hard luck, pitching into the 14th inning, striking out 15 Chicago Cubs, and allowing just three hits–but again taking the loss.42 The next time he faced the Pirates, on June 19, he failed to make it through the fifth inning despite a five-run lead, a performance the Los Angeles Times summarized as “tottering [and] unpredictable.”43 In July, Koufax spent time pitching out of the bullpen.

He finished 1960 with more strikeouts per nine innings than anyone else in the NL,44 but his record for the fourth-place Dodgers was 8-13 and his ERA was just slightly better than league average at 3.91 (101 ERA+). He had reached a career crossroads.

“By the end of 1960, Koufax was ready to quit,” biographer Jane Leavy wrote. “After the Dodgers’ final game … he tossed his gloves, his spikes, and his dreams into the trash can, keeping one mitt in case he wanted to play softball in the park on a Sunday afternoon.”45

Acknowledgments

SABR members Gary Belleville, Kurt Blumenau, and Jacob Pomrenke provided insightful comments on an earlier version of this article.

Photo credit: Sandy Koufax, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play. He also reviewed game coverage in the Los Angeles Mirror, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Pittsburgh Press newspapers.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT196005230.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1960/B05230PIT1960.htm

Notes

1 Jane Leavy, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy (New York: Harper Collins, 2002), 52-57.

2 From 1955 through 1959, Koufax averaged 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 516⅓ innings pitched. The only major-league pitchers active during that period who pitched at least 50 innings and averaged more strikeouts per nine innings were Ryne Duren (10.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 195 innings pitched), Herb Score (9.3 strikeouts per nine innings in 714⅓ innings), and Marshall Bridges (9.0 strikeouts per nine innings in 76 innings). Only four other pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched reached 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings: Sam Jones (7.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 1133⅓ innings), Juan Pizarro (7.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 329 2/3 innings), Bob Blaylock (7.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 50 innings), and Jack Meyer (7.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 428 innings).

3 Koufax struck out 16 Philadelphia Phillies on June 22, 1959. Frank Finch, “Koufax Strikes Out 16, Dodgers Win: Night Tilt Record Set by Sandy,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1959: IV, 1. The previous record for strikeouts in a night game was 15 by Whitey Ford of the Yankees, in a 14-inning game in April 1959. Through 2023, two pitchers–Roger Clemens twice, in 1986 and 1996; and Max Scherzer in 2016–have struck out 20 batters in nine-inning night games.

4 Koufax struck out 18 San Francisco Giants on August 31, 1959. “Koufax Fans 18 for Record; L.A. Wins: Moon’s Homer Beats Giants in 9th, 5-2,” Los Angeles Times, September 1, 1959: IV, 1. Feller had struck out 18 Detroit Tigers in 1938; Koufax repeated the feat against the Chicago Cubs in 1962. In the nineteenth century, Hugh Daily and Charlie Sweeney each recorded 19 strikeouts in nine innings, a mark not reached in the twentieth century until Steve Carlton against the New York Mets in 1969. Through the 2023 season, the record for a nine-inning game is 20 strikeouts, shared by three pitchers (Clemens in 1986 and 1996; Kerry Wood in 1998; and Scherzer in 2016.)

5 Braven Dyer, “Dodgers Lose Tense Struggle, 1-0, Before Record Throng of 92,706,” Los Angeles Times, October 7, 1959: IV, 1. The White Sox won Game Five, 1-0, but the Dodgers went on to win the World Series in six games.

6 From 1955 through 1959, Koufax started 77 games and appeared 60 times in relief.

7 Koufax’s Adjusted Earned Run Average, a metric known as “ERA+” that compares a pitcher’s ERA with park factors and league opponents, was 100 through the 1959 season. “Adjusted Earned Run Average (ERA+),” MLB.com, accessed February 27, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/glossary/advanced-stats/earned-run-average-plus.

8 Frank Finch, “Cards Belt Six Dodger Hurlers, 11-7: St. Louis Scores Five in First,” Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1960: II, 1.

9 Walter Judge, “Giant Homers Crush LA, 6-3: 85,065 Watch McCovey Hit 2 off Drysdale,” San Francisco Examiner, May 1, 1960: III, 1.

10 Wells A. Twombly, “Cincy Hurling Flops,” Valley Times (San Fernando Valley, California), May 3, 1960: 12.

11 Leavy, 93-94.

12 Craig, who had gone 4-0 with two shutouts and a 0.90 ERA in five September starts during the 1959 pennant race, was injured in a collision with Vada Pinson of the Cincinnati Reds. He did not return until June 20. “Craig, Neal out of Action: L.A. Loses Hurler for Two Months,” Los Angeles Times, May 4, 1960: IV, 1.

13 Frank Finch, “Phils Win in Tenth, 6-1, Koufax Fans 15: Freak Hit off Dodger Ace Starts 5-Run Rally,” Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1960: II, 2.

14 Frank Finch, “Pirates Rally to Beat Dodgers, 6-3: 27,926 See Face Notch Relief Win,” Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1960: VI, 1.

15 Frank Finch, “Rain Douses Braves-L.A.; Drysdale, Buhl Go Tonight,” Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1960: VI, 1.

16 Frank Finch, “Reds Defeat Dodgers in Ninth, 5-4: Koufax One Strike Away From Win,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1960: IV, 1.

17 Finch, “Reds Defeat Dodgers in Ninth, 5-4.”

18 The Yankees, Giants, and Milwaukee Braves also scouted Koufax. The Pirates offered a $15,000 bonus; the Braves offered $30,000 after Koufax and the Dodgers had reached an agreement. Leavy, 52-57.

19 Lester J. Biederman, “Bucs Still Have Magic Touch: Hoak, Groat, Clemente Spike Giants,” Pittsburgh Press, May 21, 1960: 6; Lester J. Biederman, “Bucs Take On Dodgers After Rocking Giants,” Pittsburgh Press, May 23, 1960: 24.

20 The Pirates were batting .283 through May 22; the second-best team average was the Reds’ .266. Pittsburgh’s 189 runs scored were 21 more than the Reds.

21 Davis J. Walsh, “He Attended Wake at Dodgers’ Park,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 25, 1957: 24.

22 Charlie Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet,” Los Angeles Mirror, May 24, 1960: III, 2.

23 Lester J. Biederman, “Pirates Agree–Koufax Can Fire: Dodger Ace Gives Bucs Just One Hit to Gain 1-0 Verdict,” Pittsburgh Press, May 24, 1960: 27.

24 Daniels took a regular turn in the Pirates’ rotation during April 1960 but had a 9.49 ERA in three starts. He had made only one appearance in May before this game, a start in the second game of a May 15 doubleheader against the Braves. He allowed four runs in seven innings and was charged with the loss in that game.

25 This article uses pitch-count data collected by Dodgers statistician Allan Roth, as found in Baseball-Reference.com’s play-by-play of this game. “Data Coverage,” Baseball-Reference.com, accessed February 27, 2024, https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/coverage.shtml.

26 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

27 Daniels batted .310 with a .552 slugging percentage in 29 at-bats in 1959. His hit against Koufax was his third hit in 10 at-bats in 1960. He batted .188 in 16 at-bats in 1960 and .170 in 300 lifetime at-bats.

28 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

29 Biederman, “Pirates Agree–Koufax Can Fire.”

30 Frank Finch, “Dodgers Recall Frank Howard,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1960: IV, 1.

31 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

32 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

33 Daniels allowed four hits and one run in seven innings. He made only one more start for the Pirates, who acquired veteran Vinegar Bend Mizell in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals five days after this game, on May 28. Daniels was sent to Triple-A Columbus on June 28 and remained there for the rest of the season. He was traded to the expansion Washington Senators in a four-player deal in December 1960. He made 230 appearances in nine major-league seasons with the Pirates and Senators. Jack Hernon, “Bucs Trade Ben Daniels, Two Others,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 17, 1960: 14.

34 Jack Hernon, “Koufax Stops Pirates on One Single, 1-0: Daniels Only Buc to Hit Dodger Ace,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 24, 1960: 22. Face was pitching for the fourth consecutive game. His 68 appearances led the NL in 1960.

35 Frank Finch, “Different Hero for Each Game Secret for Success of Pirates,” Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1960: IV, 2.

36 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

37 Biederman, “Pirates Agree–Koufax Can Fire.”

38 Frank Finch, “Koufax’s One-Hitter Blanks Bucs, 1-0: Strike-Out Ace Whiffs 10 Batters,” Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1960: IV, 1.

39 Koufax, who went on to pitch four no-hitters in his career, had one other complete-game one-hitter: against the New York Mets in June 1965.

40 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

41 Park, “Elated Koufax Sees Biggest Year Yet.”

42 Frank Finch, “Zimmer’s’ Hit in 14th Beats L.A., 4-3: Koufax Fans 15, But Loses Heart-Breaker as Cubs Snap Dodgers’ Five-Game Streak,” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1960: D2.

43 Frank Finch, “Dodgers Fight Off Pirates for 8-6 Victory: L.A. Gets Six Runs in Third,” Los Angeles Times, June 20, 1960: IV, 1.

44 Koufax struck out 10.1 batters per nine innings in 175 innings in 1960. The only pitcher with a higher rate and more than 10 innings pitched was the Yankees’ Ryne Duren, who struck out 12.3 batters per nine innings in 49 innings.

45 Leavy, 95. In 1961 Koufax had a breakthrough season, winning 18 games and recording his first of four strikeout titles. From 1961 through his retirement in 1966, he won 129 games against 47 defeats, topped the NL in ERA for five years in a row, and received three Cy Young Awards and the 1963 NL MVP Award. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.