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The most dominent pitcher of his time, Sandy Koufax played for the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He was the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to hurl four no-hit games, including a perfect game in 1965.
Koufax won the Cy Young Award (baseball’s highest pitching honor) three times in four years (1963, 1965, 1966), won the earned run average title five consecutive seasons (1962-66), won 25 or more games three times, had 11 shutouts in 1963, and 40 career shutouts.
He was the Major League strikeout leader four times, including a record 382 strikeouts in 1965, 2396 career strikeouts, and had three seasons with 300 or more strikeouts. In his final season, he was professional baseball’s highest salaried player, and led his teams to the World Series with a 27-9 record, and a 1.73 ERA. A severe arm injury caused his early retirement following the 1966 season.
In 1972, Koufax became the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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