Koufax KOs Yanks

Sandy Koufax set a World Series record with 15 strikeouts and pitched a six-hitter in leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees in the opening game of the 1963 World Series.

John Roseboro gave his batterymate a big lift in the third inning of Game 1 with a three-run homer.

By Phil Ellenbecker

   "How the fuck are you supposed to able to hit that shit?"

   Can't pin this quote down for an exact citation, but I seem to recall it coming from the 1963 World Series, when Mickey Mantle turned around to Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro and expressed his exasperation at facing Sandy Koufax.

  The left-hander, amid perhaps the greatest five-season stretch for a pitcher in major league history, had the New York Yankees almost completely bamboozled during that Series, going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 18 innings as the Dodgers upended the mighty Yankees in a four-game sweep.

  Koufax was especially bamboozling in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, setting a World Series record with 15 strikeouts in a 5-2 Dodger win. He struck out the first five batters he faced, six of the first seven and struck out the side again in the fourth inning as New York went 12 up and 12 down to start the game.

  All but one Yankee position player struck out against Koufax. Only Clete Boyer was able to get bat on ball each time up. Losing pitcher Whitey Ford managed a pop-up, but the three pinch hitters who took his spot in the batting order each struck out, including Harry Bright to end the game.

  Bobby Richadson also struck out three times. That's the Bobby Richardson who struck out only 22 times during the regular season, finishing second in the American League in at-bats per strikeout. He led the league in that stat the following three years.

  Besides all the K's, Koufax coaxed six pop outs out of the Yanks, three in foul territory. That's a clear indication that the Bronx Bombers weren't getting around on Sandy this day, even when their bats grazed Sandy's pitches.

  Koufax did encounter some trouble. With two out in the fifth, back-to-back singles by Elston Howard and Joe Joe Pepiton broke up the perfect game. Boyer then hit a hot shot up the middle, but a diving stab by second baseman Dick Tracewski saved a run, limiting Boyer to a single and leaving the Yankees with the bases loaded when Koufax struck out pinch hitter Hector Lopez.

  Tom Tresh broke up the shutout by unloading a two-run homer in the eighth.

  But regardless of what threats the Yankees made, they were largely moot after the Dodgers built a 5-0 lead through three innings.

  Bill "Moose" Skowron, in his first year with the Dodgers after coming over from the Yankees, whom he helped win seven AL pennants and four World Series titles, got Los Angeles on the scoreboard with one out in the second when he singled in Frank Howard, who'd doubled. After a single by Tracewski, Roseboro bumped the margin to 4-0 with a three-run homer.

  Moose, who'd been traded by the Yankees for Stan Williams, was loose again in the third with a two-out single that plated Willie Davis, making it 5-0.

  More than enough for Koufax, who threw a six-hitter with three walks.

  Sandy came back four days later at Yankee Stadium with another six-hitter, with eight strikeouts and no walks, in a 2-1 Dodgers win that closed out the sweep. 

  P.S. Bob Gibson broke Koufax's record with 17 strikeouts for St. Louis in the 1968 World Series opener. That record still stands.