SWEET

Check this out...
Over a 6 year span, Sandy AVERAGED:
22 wins and 8 losses a year
2.24 ERA
19 complete games!
6 Shutouts!
286 Strikeouts with 69 walks
Remember - those were averages.

He had four consecutive years in which he threw a no hitter or perfect game.

And he was a man of principle - refusing to pitch a World Series game on a Jewish holiday.

And (this is my favorite), he struck out the first five damn Yankees in the '63 World Series. That was, in order: Kubek. Richardson. Tresh. Mantle. Maris.

Sweet!

I watched Sandy strike out 18 Giants at the Coliseum. Awesome performance. And what about the Koufax-Drysdale show against the Yankees in the World Series!!

Relatively brief career, but at his peak, perhaps only Grove, who won 8 ERA titles in hitter's park in a hitter's era, was greater amongst lefties. Amazing pitcher who blew fastballs by even the greatest sluggers, and the central figure of the great L.A. teams of the 60's. Walked away on top due to constant arm pain.

Great lefty but falls short to Carlton and Grove. Sorry Dodger fans. Didn't play long enough. Arthritis is a killer. Those years that he pitched were killers for batters though. He was a master. What a combo, Koufax and Drysdale. A managers delight!

Simply put.. the best lefthander ever.

One of the best, and my favorite Dodger, along with Drysdale, of all time. I got to see both of them when I was kid. It was something to see both of these guys warm up side by side. Too bad we didn't have video cameras back then.

Easily the best...Jewish pitcher,ever.

One of the few pitchers in major league history who you could always count on to pitch a gem when you needed it.

Only an idiot like Bob Costas would have the gall to say the great Sandy Koufax does not belong among the top ten of all-time greatest pitchers in Major League baseball history. But for those who know and appreciate baseball, Koufax was arguably the best left-handed starting pitcher ever. Koufax was a dominating pitcher who reached the pinnacle of his great-but-relatively short career between 1963-1966. He left at the top of his game (due to aggressive arthritis), and fans are left to ask themselves What if? Perhaps the only fault was the relatively short career he had. But along with four no-hitters (one of which was a perfect game) in four consecutive seasons- as well as a fearful delivery (his fastball and curveball were both brutally efficient), Koufax had 6 All-Star appearances between 1961-1966. Koufax also was National League MVP in 1963; won the National League Cy Young Award in 1963, 1965 and 1966; and won the World Series MVP in both 1963 and 1965, sporting a 0.95 ERA in four of the Fall classics. Koufax was truly magnificent, and only the great pitchers such as Christy Mathewson, Nolan Ryan, Cy Young and active legends such as Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens deserve to be mentioned under the same breath as he.

Along with Carlton one of the best left handers of all time. In the 1960s he dominated every game he pitched. Awsome!!

AWESOME

Awesome!

His career is so poetic it's almost tragic. From 63 to 65 he was the very best pitcher on the planet but, alas, fate said he wouldn't be the best ever. I still get upset when I see that speech he made were he said he wanted to leave the game while he could still comb his hair. We were watching a man die a little there.

Koufax is clearly a solid #2 in this category. His numbers match up well to Rube Waddell but not to RJ. Best in Hits/9 of the three though.

If you consider the pinnacle years of his career, then no doubt, he was the best lefty ever. From 63-65, he was basically untouchable. I mean that literally as well as figuratively, with 5 no-hitters in that time. But that is an awfully short time frame. If you need to have longevity, then Grove or Carlton are going to come out on top. Still Koufax is a 5-star player.

lights out. best ever. not much more to be said.

In my view the choice between the best left-hander in history comes down to this guy and Lefty Grove. All things considered I give the nod to Grove, but only after a lot of thought. This guy had a fastball that looked like it would go through a brick wall, and a curve that looked like a hammer dropping.