Sandy Koufax quotes

The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don't have to ask anyone or play politics. You don't have to wait for the reviews. (Sandy Koufax)

I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.

Sandy Koufax

Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser.

Sandy Koufax

Pitching is the art of instilling fear.

Sandy Koufax

A guy that throws what he intends to throw, that's the definition of a good pitcher.

Sandy Koufax

People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball.

Sandy Koufax

You've got to be lucky to pitch a no-hitter, and if you have good stuff, it's easier to be lucky.

Sandy Koufax

There is among us a far closer relationship than the purely social one of a fraternal organization because we are bound together not only by a single interest but by a common goal. To win. Nothing else matters, and nothing else will do.

Sandy Koufax

Mays always told me how hard it was to get a hit off me and every time I looked up, he was on second base. Yet, even with Mays, I had an idea what to do. When I pitched to Clemente and Aaron, I had no idea. They seemed to hit everything.

Sandy Koufax

I'll never know. I've never been in a fight. But I doubt whether pitching speed would have any significance. You can't go into a windup in the ring.

Sandy Koufax

Sure, nice guys can win - if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last. (Sandy Koufax)

I don't regret one minute of the twelve years I've spent in baseball, but I could regret one season too many.

Sandy Koufax

I don't regret one minute of the last 12 years but I think I would regret the one year that was too many.

Sandy Koufax

The only time I really try for a strikeout is when I'm in a jam.

Sandy Koufax

I've got a lot of years to live after baseball and I would like to live them with the complete use of my body.

Sandy Koufax

I think it's incredible because there were guys like Mays and Mantle and Henry Aaron who were great players for ten years... I only had four or five good years.

Sandy Koufax

If there was any magic formula, it was getting to pitch every fourth day.

Sandy Koufax

But in the end it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don't know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win - if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last.

Sandy Koufax

The only time I really try for a strikeout is when I'm in a jam. If the bases are loaded with none out, for example, then I'll go for a strikeout. But most of the time I try to throw to spots. I try to get them to pop up or ground out. On a strikeout I might have to throw five or six pitches, sometimes more if there are foul-offs. That tires me. So I just try to get outs. That's what counts - outs. You win with outs, not strikeouts.

Sandy Koufax

If I could straighten it out (his golf swing), I'd be pitching at Dodger Stadium tonight.

Sandy Koufax

Well, I already have a fork ball, but it's not really another pitch. I use it instead of a change of pace. If I have a good fast ball and a good curve ball I hesitate to use anything else. But if they're not getting me by, I try to use anything I can, including the fork ball. [...] I don't know if I can throw any other pitches. I used to try the slider once in a while, and some other pitches, but since I had this little problem with my elbow it seems like only my old standby pitches don't bother me. All the new stuff, like the slider or the others I used to try, it seems like they all hurt my arm. (Sandy Koufax)

It was probably the worst thing that could have happened to me, getting my first out by striking out a big hitter. Because that became my pattern for five years, trying to get out of trouble by throwing harder and harder and harder.

Sandy Koufax

Roberto Clemente hit an outside fastball that was still rising when it hit against the light tower in left center field, 450 feet away from home plate. And on a 1-2 pitch at that. But there is no such thing as a good pitch to Clemente. Ask me how to pitch to Clemente, and I will tell you with complete confidence, "How do I know?" Roberto can hit any pitch, anywhere, at any time. He'll hit pitchouts, he'll hit brush-back pitches. He'll hit high, inside pitches deep to the opposite field, which would be ridiculous even if he didn't do it with both feet off the ground.

Sandy Koufax

I don't regret one minute of the twelve years I've spent in baseball, but I could regret one season too many. [...] I've got a lot of years to live after baseball and I would like to live them with complete use of my body.

Sandy Koufax