The Los Angeles Dodgers will soon be honoring one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history.
Sandy Koufax will be immortalized with a statue that will be placed outside Dodger Stadium, potentially as early as next season, according to the Los Angeles Times. Koufax will be the second Dodgers player to receive a statue around the stadium, joining Jackie Robinson.
The Koufax statue will be a feature of the Dodger Stadium renovation. An entertainment plaza is expected to be built beyond center field and completed in time for next season.
The Robinson statue would be moved to the new area along with the Koufax statue. In the same area, the Dodgers will also have “Legends of Dodger Baseball” plaques to honor other franchise icons.
Koufax pitched for the Dodgers franchise from 1955-1966, beginning his career in Brooklyn and then spending most of it in Los Angeles after the team moved across the country. The southpaw made six straight All-Star teams from 1961-1966. He led the league in ERA the final five years of his career, wins three times, strikeouts four times and innings and complete games twice. He won three Cy Young Awards, a league MVP Award and three World Series. He was World Series MVP twice and was 4-3 with a career 0.95 postseason ERA. Koufax retired at the age of 30 due to arm trouble but had one of the greatest peaks of a pitcher in MLB history. That was enough to get him into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
The honor from the Dodgers is extremely deserving, although the modest former pitcher may feel slightly uncomfortable about it.
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