One Dodger legend recalls another

Sandy Koufax, second from left, took the field once more at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 50th anniversary celebration on opening day, April 1. With Koufax are, from left, Carl Erskine, Don Newcombe, Joe Torre, and Tommy Lasorda. Photo courtesy John Soo Hoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Sandy Koufax, second from left, took the field once more at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 50th anniversary celebration on opening day, April 1. With Koufax are, from left, Carl Erskine, Don Newcombe, Joe Torre, and Tommy Lasorda.

Photo courtesy John Soo Hoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Features Editor

April 10, 2008

Steve Garvey learned about dignity from Gil Hodges. From Jackie Robinson, he learned about passion.

Sandy Koufax taught him about faith.

Garvey, one of the great players in the history of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, is making the rounds with his new book My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer (Scribner).

A 10-time all star and 1974 National League Most Valuable Player, Garvey played with the franchise from 1969 to 1982, spending the last five years of his career with the San Diego Padres. He still holds the NL record for most consecutive games played — 1,207.

Garvey first met his heroes as a young boy growing up in Tampa, Fla., where his father served as bus driver for the team during spring training.

Koufax earned the admiration of generations of young Jewish fans — and their parents — when he refused to take the mound for the first game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.

“I’m Catholic but anyone who knew about Sandy and his connection to his religion would clearly understand, and we all respected and admired him for it,” Garvey said in a telephone interview. “When I listed him under ‘faith,’ that was part of it. He [also] had faith in himself.”

Koufax made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. Because of the large bonus he received, he had to be kept on the major league roster.

My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer (Scribner)
“He sat there when he could have been pitching every fourth day in the minors, and that probably slowed down his progress,” Garvey said. “By the time ’57, ’58 comes along, he strikes out 14 guys one time and walks seven the next. He wa

s never consistent enough to impress [manager Walt] Alston to make him part of the rotation.”

The future Hall of Famer struggled forseveral years and even entertained thoughts about quitting and going back to school. Koufax received some welcome inspiration in the form of a figurative kick in the pants from teammate and fellow Jew, Norm Sherry.

“When all the pressure was on him and building and the press and the fans and the front office, Norm Sherry says to him, ‘Just let it go, forget everything; you’re holding yourself up,’” Garvey said. “And from that point on, for six, seven years, he becomes arguably the best pitcher in baseball and the greatest left-hander of all time.”

Koufax retired in 1966 at the age of 30, three years before Garvey joined the team. But the two icons took the field together with about 50 other Dodger alumni in pregame ceremonies on April 1 against their arch-rivals, the San Francisco (ne New York) Giants, marking the 50th anniversary of both clubs’ move to California. The old players were introduced individually and walked to their former positions to the adulation of a packed house.

“The last player announced was, of course, Sandy…who got the biggest ovation,” Garvey said. “There’s always been a little mystique about him.”