Brooklyn native pens book on Sandy Koufax

Arnold Silveri says Dodger’s record stands test of time

July 9, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Arnold Silveri and his grandson, Nicholas Vilardi, 13, are both big baseball fans. Photo courtesy Silveri

Share this:

Next year will mark 50 years since Los Angeles Dodgers pitching great Sandy Koufax announced his retirement at the premature age of 30 due to arthritis in his pitching arm.

When Koufax, who is now 79 years old, was the youngest player ever to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, at the age of 36.

Koufax, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, attended Lafayette High School in Bensonhurst. A left-handed pitcher, he started his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. His career really blossomed after the Dodgers left Brooklyn and moved to sunny Los Angeles. Koufax won two World Series (1963 and 1965), three Cy Young Awards (1963, 1965 and 1966), had the best Earned Run Average (ERA) in the National League for five straight years (1962-1966) and was a six-time All-Star. He also pitched four no-hitters, including a perfect game, against the Chicago Cubs in 1965.

But one senior citizen fan said he thinks Koufax doesn’t get the respect he deserves.

Arnold Silveri, a native of Bensonhurst, has written an e-book called “Why You Can’t Clone Koufax” to defend the Dodger great’s record.

“I think some of the younger fans might not realize how great he was,” Silveri told the Brooklyn Eagle. “I wrote the book to educate the younger fans.”

“He only pitched for 12 seasons. If he had another five or six years, he would have been able to do things no one else has done,” Silveri continued.

In “Why You Can’t Clone Koufax,” Silveri, a retired U.S. Postal Service clerk who lives on Staten Island, uses statistics to compare Koufax to other great pitchers of the last 50 years, including Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez.

Silveri argues that while a pitcher’s win-loss record is important, the statistic that really matters is the ERA.

“In a month-long streak (June 13 to July 12 in 1962), Koufax allowed only four earned runs posting a microscopic ERA of 0.53,” Silveri points out in the point. “During the streak, he pitched 67 and a third innings, allowed four earned runs, and 30 hits. He walked 20, but struck out 77 batters.”

Plus, Silveri points out, Koufax pitched many complete games.

“It’s not like today, when they bring in a relief pitcher right away,” he said.

“Perhaps we were so spoiled by Koufax’s incomparable statistical accomplishments and clutch performances that we couldn’t accept anything less than perfect,” Silveri writes in ‘Why You Can’t Clone Koufax.”

Silveri never saw Koufax pitch in person. “But I know his statistics by heart,” he told the Eagle.

Silveri has led an interesting life. After quitting New Utrecht High School in 1952, he worked as a clerk in a Wall Street brokerage firm. He left his job because he could earn more money as a laborer. He worked as a forklift operator on the Brooklyn waterfront and then entered the U.S. Army. He was stationed in Korea in 1956 and 1957.

After his discharge from the army, he worked as an IBM operator. In 1963, he began working as a computer operator. A few years later, he found a job as a clerk for the Postal Service.

Silveri has written four other books: “Baseball’s Best: From A to Z,” “The Laureate of the Poetasters,” “It Ain’t Shakespeare, But…” and “Turning the Corner on Life.”

“Why You Can’t Clone Koufax” is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s website.