May 26, 1962: Sandy Koufax shines on the mound and at the plate
Through mid-May of 1962, Sandy Koufax owned a modest 4-2 record, not having dented the win column since the previous month. But after an 18-win 1961 season while striking out 269 batters in 255 2/3 innings, Koufax sported “the best strikeout average of any pitcher who ever lived.”1
A 4-1 April with three complete games appeared promising. However, May began with a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. (Two of the Cubs’ runs were unearned.) Koufax lasted no more than six innings without any decisions in his next three starts.
The Dodgers faced their biggest rivals, the first-place San Francisco Giants, on May 21. Koufax spun his first complete game and his first victory in three weeks (since April 28). The mojo returned as the left-hander allowed only five hits while striking out 10.
LA pummeled the Mets, 17-8, on Friday evening, May 25, to complete a three-game sweep. The Dodgers had won five in a row and looked to feast on the Philadelphia Phillies, who had just dropped two of three to the Giants. The Phillies were sputtering at 16-23, ahead of only the Houston Colt .45s, the expansion Mets, and the cellar-dwelling Cubs. Meanwhile the Dodgers were nipping at San Francisco’s heels for first place in the National League.
With 18,071 in attendance at Dodger Stadium, Tony Taylor got the Phillies off to a positive start with a line double to left. Koufax settled in to retire the next two hitters. His first K was on a swing and miss by rookie Ted Savage, who enjoyed his best NL season in 1962; however, this wasn’t his day against Koufax.
With Taylor still on second, cleanup hitter Roy Sievers slammed a two-run shot to deep left, his third home run of the young season. Koufax recovered to get third baseman Mel Roach on a swinging strike to end the inning.
Dennis Bennett, 22 years old, got the pitching nod for the visiting Phillies, his third start and the fourth major-league appearance of his rookie season. The lefty battled leadoff hitter Maury Wills to a full count before issuing a free pass. Bennett temporarily lost the strike zone and also walked Jim Gilliam on four pitches. Willie Davis grounded out to first baseman Sievers as both runners advanced. Tommy Davis tied the game by lacing a two-run double to right field and increasing his season RBI total to 45, trailing only Orlando Cepeda. Bennett continued to struggle from the stretch after hitting Ron Fairly and walking Larry Burright, but got Doug Camilli on a called strike three to avoid additional damage.
After a long half-inning in the dugout, Koufax seemed stronger against the bottom of the Phillies’ lineup. He struck out young Cuban center fielder Tony Gonzalez to start the inning and shortstop to end the one-two-three frame. Both went down swinging as Koufax threw only three pitches out of the strike zone in the inning.
Koufax led off the bottom half and struck out swinging. Bennett allowed yet another walk to Gilliam but preserved the 2-2 tie.
Bennett flied out to center on the first pitch of the third. Tony Taylor reached on LA second baseman Burright’s error, swiped second on the first pitch to Johnny Callison, and scored on Callison’s single to right. (Callison took second on the throw to the plate.) Koufax got a pop fly to Burright at second and a liner to Fairly at first to get back into the dugout.
With the Phillies leading 3-2, Bennett issued another leadoff walk in the third inning, this time to Tommy Davis, who motored to third on Frank Howard’s ground single to left. That brought up Fairly, who had been on fire, hitting .542 over his past eight games. He recorded an RBI ground single to right field. After Burright popped out and Doug Camilli walked, Dallas Green relieved Bennett and got the two final outs of the inning.
Koufax mowed down the Phillies in the fourth for his second one-two-three inning. His efficient 14-pitch inning included two groundouts and a swinging strike three by Sammy White in what became White’s final professional season. That was the fifth K for Koufax. Green also retired the Dodgers in order in the fourth.
Koufax responded very well to the quick return trip to the mound by striking out the side in the fifth. Wine, Green, and Taylor saw a total of 11 pitches, all but two for strikes. Koufax now had eight K’s through five innings. Green blanked the Dodgers again in the bottom half.
The heart of the Phillies order was due in the sixth inning of a tie game. Callison went down on three pitches, the last a swinging strike. Savage struck out swinging on a 2-and-2 pitch. That made it six consecutive strikeouts for Koufax. Sievers broke the string, lining out to center as Koufax completed a 10-pitch inning and now had 10 strikeouts.
Green struck out Koufax looking to start the bottom of the sixth inning and held the Dodgers scoreless as the score remained 3-3.
Mel Roach, leading off the Phillies’ seventh, whiffed on a 2-and-2 pitch, Koufax’s 11th strikeout. González touched Koufax for a ground double to right. White flied out to right on a two-strike pitch. Manager Walter Alston called for an intentional walk to Wine, the number-eight hitter.
The Phillies allowed Green to hit for himself with the go-ahead run at second base. Before the game, Phillies manager Gene Mauch admitted to the press, “The bullpen isn’t up to snuff.” He said, “We’ve blown six games in which we had the lead going into the seventh, eighth or ninth innings.”2 Koufax struck out Green looking for the second time to snuff out the threat.
The Dodgers responded with three singles and a walk off Green to take the lead. The tiebreaking hit was a single by Wally Moon, batting for Burright with one out. After another out, a bonus run came home courtesy of none other than the day’s starting pitcher. Koufax, “who had struck out three straight times and is rated one of the worst hitting pitchers in baseball,”3 had struck out in 24 of 33 plate appearances so far in the season. When it counted with a razor-thin lead, Koufax bopped a 2-and-1 pitch into the grass in short right field to plate Frank Howard.
With a 5-3 lead, Alston’s defensive changes paid dividends. Fairly caught Taylor’s line drive to right field to start the eighth. Callison grounded out to Gilliam, who was now at second base. Savage went down on strikes for the third time, giving Koufax 13 K’s through eight frames. It only took the southpaw 11 pitches to finish another efficient one-two-three inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Willie Davis brought the crowd to its feet by tacking on a solo home run, his sixth of the year, to widen the Dodgers advantage to 6-3.
Sievers walked on four pitches to lead off the Phillies’ ninth. Roach legged out an infield hit to Wills at short. Suddenly the tying run was at the plate with no outs.
Koufax bore down. González walked back to the dugout after looking at strike three. Pinch-hitter Jacke Davis, playing in his only major-league season, swung and missed on a full-count pitch for the second out. Don Demeter grabbed a bat and strode toward the plate as the Phillies’ last hope. Mauch had hoped to start the former (Brooklyn) Dodger, but a hamstring injury forced Demeter into a pinch-hitting role. Koufax induced strike three swinging to end the game, 6-3, stranding both Phillies baserunners.
Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully couldn’t even credit Koufax for the most strikeouts in a game that season, commenting: “Sandy Koufax ran out of victims before he could equal the major-league strikeout record of 18 he shares with Bob Feller.”4 Back on April 24, Koufax had already struck out 18 Cubs in a 10-2 Dodgers victory.
On this Saturday afternoon, Koufax allowed only five hits and struck out 16 Phillies–the last to end the game–and recorded his 100th strikeout of the season (in 83 innings pitched). He also had mowed down six consecutive Phillies in the middle innings. As noted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Sievers was the lone Phil regular who did not strike out against the blazing fast ball and sharp-breaking curve of Koufax.”5
The feat this day was nothing new to Koufax, Frank Finch wrote: “He’d previously baffled that many Phillies in a Coliseum night game, June 22, 1959.”6 Overall, this was Koufax’s 34th time reaching double-digit strikeouts in his career.
Although he tallied double-digit strikeouts six more times in 1962, none matched his two incredible early-season feats against the struggling Cubs and Phillies. Koufax improved his record to 6-2 while the hot second-place Dodgers had won 14 of their last 18 contests.
SOURCES
In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and the following:
Lederer, George. “Koufax Whiffs 16 Phils,” Long Beach (California) Independent, May 27, 1962: 21.
United Press International. “Koufax Strikes Out 16 Phillies, as Dodgers Win, 6-3, for Sixth Straight,” New York Times, May 27, 1962: S3.
Associated Press. “Koufax Whiffs 16, Wins 6-3,” San Bernardino County (California) Sun, May 27, 1962: 27.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196205260.shtml
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1962/B05260LAN1962.htm
Photo credit: Sandy Koufax, SABR-Rucker Archive.
NOTES
1 Allen Lewis, “Koufax Fans 16 Phils as Dodgers Win, 6-3,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 27, 1962: 97.
2 Frank Finch, “Phillies Pitching Poses Problem,” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1962: G5.
3 Lewis.
4 Finch.
5 Lewis.
6 Finch.
Additional Stats
Los Angeles Dodgers 6
Philadelphia Phillies 3
Dodger Stadium
Los Angeles, CA
Box Score + PBP:
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