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.

Post-playing career

Koufax has led a quiet life after baseball. In 1969, he married Anne Widmark, daughter of movie star Richard Widmark, although they divorced in 1982. He remarried and divorced again in the 1990s. In 1971 he signed a ten-year contract with NBC for $1 million to be a broadcaster on the Saturday Game of the Week. Koufax never felt comfortable being in front of the camera; he quit before the 1973 season.

Related Topics:
Richard Widmark - 1971 - NBC

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In 1972, his first year of eligibility, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Elected just weeks after his 36th birthday, he was five months younger than the youngest previous inductee, Lou Gehrig, had been. On June 4 of that same year, Koufax's uniform number 32 was retired alongside Dodger greats Roy Campanella (39) and Jackie Robinson (42).

Related Topics:
1972 - Baseball Hall of Fame - Lou Gehrig - June 4 - Roy Campanella

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The Dodgers hired Koufax to be a minor league pitching coach in 1979. He resigned in 1990, saying he wasn't earning his keep, but most observers blamed it on his uneasy relationship with manager Tommy Lasorda. In 2003, Koufax ended his longtime relationship with the Los Angeles Dodgers when the New York Post (which like the Dodgers was then part of Rupert Murdoch's business empire) published a story reporting unsubstantiated rumors about his sexual orientation.

Related Topics:
1979 - 1990 - New York Post - Rupert Murdoch - Sexual orientation

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