Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy

Anyone who spends more than ten minutes with me knows that I am a huge baseball fan. I love the game; the history, the stories, the smell of fresh cut grass, that moment of mystical silence when the catcher has given the signal and the pitcher has accepted it, followed by that magical moment when the field of potentiality is wide open and anything can happen. The pitcher winds up, muscles rippling in weird physiologic perfection that is almost alien. That being said; I read a lot of baseball books, which brings me to Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, by Jane Leavy.

Let me state upfront: I am in the minority. I did not enjoy this book. As I closed the final page, I was left sadly unfulfilled and disappointed. I probably wouldn’t have even finished this book, had it not been for that pesky New Year’s resolution I made; to finish books that I start, even if I don’t like them, and then figure out and articulate my reason for said displeasure.

The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but then again, the subject matter is Sandy Koufax, a left handed pitcher who is arguably one of the best players the game has ever seen; the youngest player ever elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the first 3-time Cy Young winner in baseball history and the only one to win 3 times when the award was for all of baseball, not just one league. He was the first major leaguer to pitch four no-hitters (including the eighth perfect game in baseball history), amongst many other accolades. These things are barely—(if at all) mentioned in the book. In The Glory of Their Times—(possibly one of the best baseball books ever written), Harry Hooper says, “…and that Koufaux. You name a better left hander in the history of baseball and I’ll eat my hat.”

I was excited to read the book, so when I got to a page numbered xviii in the Preface, with this quote, “Hi, Ms. Leavy, this is Sandy, uh, Koufax. I don’t really have any interest in this project…” I was on alert, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Perhaps Sandy would come around and ultimately embrace the project, participating fully and sharing little known stories of the game. Alas, that was not to be. What the line meant, was exactly what it said. Ms. Leavy goes on to justify the 269 page book, by interviewing 469 friends and acquaintances of Sandy Koufax, making some observations about the game, social history and civil persuasions of the era; all which can be found in any Google search or Wikipedia entry.

Sandy Koufax is well known for not pitching the first game of the 1965 World Series due to the fact that it fell on Yom Kippur. This monumental act, which transcends the field, making Sandy Koufax as big on the field as off, receives approximately one paragraph—unless you include the comments from two random Rabbis’.

In reading the book, I felt like Ms. Leavy had been given a book contract, signed on the line that was dotted and subsequent to that, received a ‘no interest’ clause from Sandy Koufax himself; because his voice is strangely absent in a book titled; Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. Maybe she paced around her kitchen, nervously chewing pencil erasers. What could she do? She had a contract; she had to write a book—any book. I, of course have no proof that such a thing occurred, but, it would seem a plausible explanation.

I bleed Orange and Black, which almost necessarily dictates that I am NOT a fan of the Dodgers. However, I am a fan of baseball, and I think one of the greatest players who have ever graced the game, Sandy Koufax deserved better. I would be willing to eat my hat over it.

#books