Honouring ‘the left arm of G-d’

LUKE ALFRED

Born and bred of Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York, Koufax’s original name was Sanford Braun, with his divorced mother re-marrying Irving Koufax when the boy was nine.

Rather than associate himself with his father, Koufax not only took his stepfather’s surname but abbreviated Sanford to the less stuffy “Sandy”, initially growing up to be more proficient in basketball than the game for which then-president, Barack Obama, honoured him in 2010.

As a teenager, Koufax started playing baseball in Brooklyn’s Ice Cream Leagues before graduating to play on Coney Island. A left-handed catcher to begin with, he earned a partial scholarship to the University of Cincinnati after school, where, after arousing the curiosity of several scouts, he did a little more for the Brooklyn Dodgers’ scout Al Campanis. “There are only two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up,” Campanis said. “The first time was when I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The second was when I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball.”

Despite being known as the “Bonus Baby” for what was a generous original signing-on fee with the Dodgers in 1955, Koufax’s early career was a frustrating, stop-start affair. He pitched fast, but wildly and amateurishly. He trained in Puerto Rico, made precious few starts for the Dodgers, and enrolled in night school at the University of Columbia just in case the baseball thingy didn’t work out.

He was also injury-prone, damaging his ankles and arms. His first five years as a professional were so inconclusive, in fact, that by 1960, he discarded his equipment in a trash can. He had invested in a small electronics business and felt it offered him a better chance of success.

In that off-season, something changed for Koufax. After throwing his spikes and gloves away, he trained hard in the winter break and became fitter than he had ever been. He was determined to give what had hitherto remained elusive one last try.

What followed were “six incandescent” seasons for the by now strong and technically accomplished Koufax, seasons that culminated in the wonderful unattributed line, “Trying to hit Sandy Koufax was like trying to drink coffee with a fork.”

Having moved from New York to Los Angeles, the Dodgers won the World Series in 1963 and 1965. In the second of those two wins, Koufax pitched what has become known as “the perfect game”, in which the opposition batters failed to lay a bat on any of his pitches.

“He gained his greatest fame in that series when he decided against pitching in Game 1 of the World Series so he could observe Yom Kippur,” writes Bill Shaikin in the Los Angeles Times. “In the wider American culture, that quiet act transformed Koufax from an excellent pitcher into a Jewish icon.”

Now the Dodgers are honouring Koufax – who will turn 84 next month – with a statue which is planned to be part of a $100 million (R1.4 billion)entertainment plaza adjacent to Dodger Stadium in LA. The Koufax statue will be joined by one installed two years ago in another part of the stadium – the legendary Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play “pro ball”.

Despite the perfect period containing the “perfect game”, Koufax was no stranger to controversy. In 1966, in pre-union times, he and a fellow player refused to play because they believed they were earning too little. Koufax’s “holdout” achieved the desired salary increase, but he alienated some amongst his legion of fans along the way.

The highly successful 1966 season was destined to be his last. “I was getting cortisone shots with pretty good regularity,” said Koufax at the press conference at which he announced his retirement. “I just felt I didn’t want to take the chance of completely disabling myself.”

The statue is a nice way of honouring a man who has remained private and mysterious throughout his post-ball career. In order to escape the glare of the cameras, Koufax moves around a great deal. He has lived in Maine, North Carolina, and Texas. He occasionally drops into ball games anonymously, as an ordinary fan, but never stays anywhere for very long.

Pitching star, hall of famer, and enigma to the end, the statue is the next best thing to keeping him rooted.

Hatikvah a positive sign of things to come

Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah, was played in Abu Dhabi last Saturday to honour the gold medal earned by Alon Leviev (17) in the World Ju-Jitsu Championships in the Abu Dhabi Arena.

Leviev beat an Abu Dhabi competitor in the final after winning his bouts against a Pakistani, Kazakhstani, and Tajikistani fighter.

This is the second time Hatikvah has been played in the United Arab Emirates since the 2017 ban on Israeli symbols was lifted last year. The first time it was played publicly in a Gulf state was when Israeli judoka Sagi Muki took gold in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam last October.

The lifting of the ban was as a result of the Judo Federation stripping the UAE and Tunisia of hosting rights to international tournaments because they wouldn’t allow Israeli athletes to compete under their national flag and play their anthem if they won.

In 2017, Israeli judoka Tal Flicker competed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam under the Judo Federation flag. When he won a gold at the tournament, the anthem wasn’t played, so he sang Hatikvah himself.