Sandy Koufax: Did he, or didn’t he?
Legend or fantasy? That’s the question.
The Jewish high holidays are gone, but the question still lingers — did he or didn’t he?
The holiday is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishri, corresponding to a date late in September or early October.
This year, the holy day was sundown, Friday, Oct. 11. And for traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and repentance. The day’s main observances consist of full fasting and asceticism, both accompanied by extended prayer services and sin confessions.
But what about Sandy Koufax? Did he go to synagogue on Yom Kippur in 1965? He declined to pitch Game 1 of that World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.
Koufax was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they played the Minnesota Twins that Series.
The grad of Lafayette High School and future Hall of Famer has earned the admiration of generations of American Jews with
his unmatched career, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
But how did Koufax truly spend the day? We wanted to know, and we tried finding answers.
According to the JTA, some say he went to synagogue, while others claim he stayed in his hotel room.
When asked, Koufax, who is famous for being reserved as well as quiet, never answered the question.
According to Daniel Schloff, Koufax did indeed attend services that morning at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. How does Schloff know? JTA asked.
Jacob Gurvis of the JTA wrote that Schloff, who was 17 at the time, sat behind Koufax in the sanctuary. “They even wished each other a ‘Shana Tova,’ a happy new year,” Schloff told Gurvis in the publication.
“Everyone’s there for services, and the whole time I’m staring at the back of his bald head, davening, and thinking, huh, here’s Sandy Koufax,” Schloff told Gurvis in JTA. “My God, here’s Sandy Koufax.”
OK, that is one account. Yet, few if any other eyewitnesses have corroborated this account, according to JTA.
And one more thing — Koufax was not bald.
But JTA did not stop there — nope, there is more.
Rabbi Bernard Raskas, who led Temple of Aaron at the time and died in 2010, insisted Koufax was there, JTA reported. In a sermon he gave later in the Jewish holiday season that year, Raskas referred to the fact that Koufax, “was in this very synagogue on Yom Kippur Day,” JTA said.
Koufax’s importance in the Jewish community came from his athleticism; Jewish men were stereotyped as being weak and unathletic, and Koufax helped break that image. In fact, Rabbi Rebecca Alpert explained the significance of his decision in 2014: “Koufax was ridiculed because he had rather read a book — he was treated as if he were a recluse and there was something wrong with him because he was not a fame-grabber.
“Imagine, playing in Los Angeles and not being interested in getting headlines. But his masculinity was questioned, and again in part because of an underlying antisemitism — or at least stereotyping of Jewish men as not muscular. So, Koufax was also an important role model, a real hero.”
He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 19 — he never pitched in the minor leagues because of the bonus rule he signed.
He was born in Borough Park. His parents divorced when he was three years old and spent most of his childhood with his maternal grandparents and spent his summers at Camp Chi-Wan-Da, a Jewish summer camp, in Ulster Park, New York, where his mother worked as a bookkeeper.
Nicknamed “The Left Arm of God,” he was named basketball captain at Lafayette High School his senior year and ranked second in the division averaging 16.5 points-per-game. He attended the University of Cincinnati after becoming a walk-on for their freshman basketball team — he averaged 9.7 points-per-game for coach Ed Jucker. Jucker also coached baseball — he knew of Koufax’s baseball skill — and Koufax went 3-1 with a 2.81 earned run average, 51 strikeouts and 30 walks in 32 innings pitched.
In 1972, his first year of eligibility, Koufax was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame. At 36 years and 20 days old, he became the youngest person ever elected, five months younger than Lou Gehrig. He was the second Jewish player elected to the Hall after Hank Greenberg, who was elected in 1956.
In 12 seasons, Koufax had a 165-87 record with a 2.76 earned run average, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games and 40 shutouts. He was the first pitcher to win three Cy Young Awards. He had four no-hitters in his career.
This is what we do know — but did he attend synagogue on Yom Kippur? That still is a mystery.
Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a Scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected], Twitter: @AndyFurman FSR
Leave a Comment
Leave a Comment