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Sanford "Sandy" Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is a retired American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He pitched twelve seasons for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1955 to 1966. Koufax, at age 36 in 1972, became the youngest player ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=minnesota.twins.mlb.com )〕 Koufax's career peaked with a run of six outstanding years from to , before arthritis in his left elbow ended his career prematurely at age 30. He was an All-Star for six seasons〔National Baseball Hall of Fame, "six-time All-Star" () Retrieved April 15, 2015〕 and was the National League's Most Valuable Player in . He won three Cy Young Awards in 1963, , and 1966, by unanimous votes, making him the first three-time Cy Young winner in baseball history and the only one to win three times when one overall award was given for all of major league baseball instead of one award for each league. Koufax also won the NL Triple Crown for pitchers those same three years by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=www.baseball-reference.com )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Baseball-Reference )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Baseball-Reference )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Baseball-Reference )〕 Koufax was the first major league pitcher to pitch four no-hitters and the eighth pitcher to pitch a perfect game in baseball history. Despite his comparatively short career, Koufax's 2,396 career strikeouts ranked 7th in history as of his retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Koufax, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, and Nolan Ryan are the only four pitchers elected to the Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax is also remembered as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports. His decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur garnered national attention as an example of conflict between professional pressures and personal beliefs. ==Early life== Koufax was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family, and raised in Borough Park. His parents, Evelyn (née Lichtenstein) and Jack Braun, divorced when he was three years old. His mother was remarried when he was nine, to Irving Koufax.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=www.hickoksports.com )〕 Shortly after his mother's remarriage, the family moved to the Long Island suburb of Rockville Centre. Before tenth grade, Koufax's family moved back to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 19–22.〕 Koufax attended Brooklyn's Lafayette High School, where he was better known for basketball than for baseball. At the time, school sports were not available because New York's teachers were refusing to supervise extracurricular activities without monetary compensation. As an alternative, Koufax started playing basketball for the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst local community center team. Eventually, Lafayette had a basketball team; Koufax became team captain in his senior year, and ranked second in his division in scoring, with 165 points in 10 games.〔〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 22–28; Leavy, pp. 37–40.〕 In 1951, at the age of 15, Koufax also joined a local youth baseball league known as the "Ice Cream League." He started out as a left-handed catcher before moving to first base. While playing first base for Lafayette High School's baseball team with teammate and friend Fred Wilpon, he was spotted by Milt Laurie, the father of two Lafayette teammates and a baseball coach. Laurie recognized that Koufax might be able to pitch, and recruited the 17-year-old Koufax to pitch for the Coney Island Sports League's Parkviews.〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 32–39.〕 Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the freshman basketball team, a complete unknown to coach Ed Jucker.〔 He later earned a partial scholarship. In spring 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team.〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 43–44.〕 That season, Koufax went 3–1 with 51 strikeouts and 30 walks, in 31 innings.〔Koufax and Linn, p. 46.〕 Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten.〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 44–45.〕 After trying out with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds,〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 46–48.〕 Koufax did the same for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 56–57.〕 During his Pirates tryout, Koufax's fastball broke the thumb of Sam Narron, the team's bullpen coach. Branch Rickey, then the general manager of the Pirates, told his scout Clyde Sukeforth that Koufax had the "greatest arm (had ) ever seen."〔Leavy, p. 54〕 The Pirates, however, failed to offer Koufax a contract until after he was already committed to the Dodgers.〔Koufax and Linn, pp. 70–74.〕 Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about Koufax from a local sporting goods store owner. After seeing Koufax pitch for Lafayette, Campanis invited him to an Ebbets Field tryout. With Dodgers manager Walter Alston and scouting director Fresco Thompson watching, Campanis assumed the hitter's stance while Koufax started throwing. Campanis later said, "There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up: The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball."〔Leavy, p. 55〕 The Dodgers signed Koufax for a $6,000 ($ today) salary, with a $14,000 ($ today) signing bonus. Koufax planned to use the signing bonus as tuition to finish his university education, if his baseball career failed.〔Koufax and Linn〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sandy Koufax」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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