Sandy Koufax

Sanford "Sandy" Koufax (born Sanford Braun on December 30, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former left-hand pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966.

Mechanics

Whereas most left-handed pitchers throw with a three-quarter or sidearm motion (to some degree), Koufax threw with a pronounced over-the-top arm action. This may have increased his velocity, but reduced the lateral movement on his pitches, especially movement away from left-handed hitters. Most of the velocity, however, came from his deceptively strong legs and back, combined with a high kicking wind-up and long forward stretch toward the plate. Throughout Koufax's career, he relied on two pitches: his four-seam fastball had a "rising" motion due to underspin and appeared to move very late; the overhand curveball, spun with the middle finger, dropped vertically ("12-to-6") due to his arm action. He also occasionally threw a changeup and a forkball.

Related Topics:
Velocity - Fastball - Curveball - Changeup - Forkball

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the beginning of his career, Koufax worked with coaches to eliminate his tendency to "tip" pitches (i.e. reveal which pitch was coming due to variations in his wind-up). Late in his career, and especially as his arm problems continued, this variation (usually in the position he held his hands at the top of the wind-up) was even more pronounced. Good hitters often were able to predict what pitch was coming; nevertheless, the challenge of hitting it remained.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~