Rating: 
Summary: Fine social biography of a good man
Review: Jane Leavy had a daunting task -- writing a biography of a living ex-ballplayer who would not let her interview him. Sandy Koufax is famous for many things including: (1) pitching ability -- including one of the best 4-5 year stretches in baseball history; (2) retirement at a young age [30] to prevent additional damage to his already debilitated arm, which led to induction in the Hall of Fame at 35 (the youngest inductee ever); (3) his refusal to pitch game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it took place on Yom Kippur; (4) winning game 7 of the '65 Series in a three-hit shutout on two days' rest with only his fastball; (5) his reputation as the sporting world's reclusive equivalent of Greta Garbo or J.D. Salinger.
Leavy approached this book the right way -- she did a great deal of research, interviewed his former teammates and contemporaries, interviewed the players who have met and learned from him since his retirement and researched his background. Moreover, this is not a straight biography because Koufax is so intensely private despite his larger place in baseball history -- a Jewish icon, a superstar who struggled for the first 6-7 years of his career, a minority white who helped bridge the racial divide in the first decade-plus after baseball's racial integration, a reluctant labor leader who held out for more money during the players-as-chattel era when players were bound to their teams and could not become free agents. Leavy is able to show Koufax's integrity, professionalism, work ethic and honesty through the numerous Koufax contemporaries she interviewed.
Leavy's work is highly readable and innovatively structured: the chapters detailing Koufax's life are separated by three-four page interlude chapters recalling, inning-by-inning, Koufax's perfect game against the Cubs in 1965 (his 4th no-hitter and the 4th-straight season in which he pitched a no-hitter). Leavy is a sportswriter and some of the stylistic quirks in her writing are annoying, but inconsequential (quote attribution can be confusing, sliding from direct quotes to non-quoted vernacular) traits that many sportswriters have. She also soft-pedals the anti-Semitism of Walter Alston, Koufax's manager, that both ESPN's and Sports Illustrated's Koufax retrospectives detailed.
All told, this is a fine book that places Koufax in perspective of his sports era, his religion, and the culture of the country as baseball expanded during the transition from the 1950s to the 1960s.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Writing, great legacy
Review: I have read a great many baseball books over the years and usually don't have a particularly high hope for the writing of most biographies, especially when the subject is still alive. Either the writing comes off as trying to impress too hard or the writer is trying to make his or her reputation off the subject. That is not true in this case. Ms. Leavy is a wonderful writer and she works hard to create an honest portrait of one of the all time great pitchers, Sandy Koufax. The style of the book, intersecting his perfect game with his life will delight baseball and non-baseball fans alike. Her discussion of Koufax and his faith is thought provoking and well developed. She also provides a glimpse into the 1950's in Brooklyn that is terrific. This book certainly ranks as one of the finest baseball related books to be published in some time, and unlike the Cubs who were silenced by Koufax on that great night in 1965, this book contains plenty of hits. Read it- give it as a gift. This is a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Koufax Rates 5 Stars
Review: In 1965, I was a 14 year old eighth grade student living in Pasadena, about ten miles from Chavez Ravine. The voice of Vin Scully on KFI boomed from our AM radio every time the Dodgers played ball. I also had several opportunities to see Koufax and Drysdale pitch home games, including in the World Series. [Although it was always from the left field bleachers because my family couldn't afford better]. Along with the pitchers, we loved John Roseboro for being able to catch what sounded like rifle shots hitting his glove. These were my heroes in those days, and it was a wonderful time just before Viet Nam changed the climate and tore the fabric of the country. The background music was the Beach Boys and Beatles. This book, which I picked up on impulse as reading for a flight I was taking home out of LAX, brought back a lot of memories. I didn't expect the book to be as good as it is. It's not perfectly written or edited, to be sure. But it does take you back and enlighten you to the mid-sixties atmosphere that surrounded Koufax. It doesn't really overdo the Jewish angle the way some reviewers complain. When it was happening, it actually was a much bigger deal than the book plays it. Overall, a good read and well worth it for anyone interested in Koufax.
Rating: 
Summary: Sloppily written but good info on the great Koufax
Review: I'm glad someone finally wrote a book about Sandy Koufax, but I dearly wish it had been a better book than this one. It is sloppily written. Leavy often does not make it clear who is talking from one sentence to the next. In one case, talking about Pee Wee Reese and son, she gives a long quote, then follows it with "Reese said." Which Reese? In the next paragraph, she at last mentions Mark Reese, the son -- who presumably was the speaker in the text just above that. She'll give a last name, pair it with a first name in another chapter, and finally identify who the person is/was. This kind of sloppiness runs throughout the book. If you know your '60s baseball trivia, this may not bother you, but I think Leavy's editor let her down. Also, I agree with Publisher's Weekly that the author's interest in Koufax's Jewish heritage "borders on the obsessive." And at least three times, she uses the term "the Chosen People," a term that I and many other non-Jews find offensive. In another instance, she cites "Yom Kippur" followed by four digits. I know enough about Judaism to recognize that as the Jewish year, but why assume all readers will know that? She also goes on and on about whether Koufax did or did not attend synagogue on that famous Yom Kippur when he refused to pitch. His refusal to pitch on that holy day made big news; whether he attended synagogue or not (he says no) merits about one sentence. Again, where was the editor? Is this a book about the Jewish experience in sports or about a great athlete who is Jewish? This book tries to be both. Surely Koufax is proud of his millenia-old heritage, as he should be, but if he doesn't feel the need to make a big deal of that, neither should Leavy. The Jewish experience in major league sports might be a topic for another book. If Koufax is in it, I'll read it.
Rating:
Summary: By far the best sports biography I have ever read
Review: This is a very special book in many ways, not merely in telling the story of one of the most remarkable 20th century American athletes, but in the way author Jane Leavy tells his story. She deftly blends Sandy Koufax's own story with the story of the way our society and the game of baseball have changed since Sandy Koufax's career ended. Indeed, the world that Koufax knew when he first started playing professional baseball was already changing dramatically by the time he retired, and in many ways he helped it to change. Many of the changes that Leavy notes were for the worst; many for the better. On the former, she documents the growth of the cult of celebrity, and the way public attention has made being famous an ordeal in addition to a supposed blessing. She recounts a simpler time, with less crass materiality, and perhaps more love of the game. On the other hand, she also shows how far we have come in attitudes towards race and the patriarchal attitude of baseball owners and managers. She hints at, but doesn't fully cover, the changes in the ways that pitchers are used since Koufax's day, changes that today extend the careers of many players. Bill James in his most recent historical abstract speculates that if Koufax were pitching today, he would have pitched every fifth day instead of every fourth, would have been held out of a start if his elbow was hurting too badly, and would have been held strictly to a pitch count each game. While he probably wouldn't have had individual seasons as great as he did, he would have probably pitched an additional eight or nine years, and instead of retiring with 165 wins, would probably have eclipsed 300. Leavy also connects many aspects of Koufax's career with some of the seminal events of the sixties. I was raised Baptist, not Jewish, but my closest friend is Jewish, and although not at all a baseball fan, instantly said to me upon my telling her I was reading a great biography of Sandy Koufax, "Oh yeah, he is the guy who refused to pitch on Yom Kippur." Leavy expends a good deal of energy in detailing the enormous cultural impact that Koufax had by his insistence on not pitching in the World Series on Yom Kippur. She deals both with the contradictions (he was, after all, not a practicing Jew, and never had a bar mitzvah) and the motivations behind his refusal. What emerges in the midst of all this is a heightened appreciation of Sandy Koufax as a baseball player, but even more admiration for him as a human being. I was impressed with his lack of desire to be a famous celebrity, his sense of social fairness and lack of racism, his integrity and personal courage, and what seems to be a genuinely good heart. You get a portrait of someone who is a fundamentally good human being, someone you admire apart from his excellence as a baseball pitcher. I especially enjoyed learning of things he has done since retiring, of his passion for life. One traditional view of the good life was that of fulfilling one's potential as a human being, and that certainly seems to fit the case of Koufax. Years ago I more or less gave up on sports biography as a genre. Probably 99.5% of all sports biographies are puff pieces, pabulum for instant and easy consumption by fans who don't normally read books. That is absolutely not the case with this superb book. Perhaps there is a better sports biography, but if there is, I would very much like to know about it. I can honestly recommend this book not merely baseball fans, but anyone interested in American life in the latter half of the twentieth century. I hope this book becomes a model for other writers on sports figures.
Rating:
Summary: Captures an era as well as the man
Review: This book is a fabulous read for the baseball fan. Leavy writes with poetic appreciation for the subtleties of Sandy Koufax's pitching abilty and her admiration for him is evident on every page.
However this does not result in shallow hero worship . Instead we are brought back to a simpler time when baseball truly was the national pastime. A very enjoyable trip down memory lane for some and an exposition on one of the all time greats for those too young to remember.
Rating:
Summary: "Now Pitching for Los Angeles..."
Review: Jane Leavy's biography of Sandy Koufax is like that box of baseball cards in your garage, attic or basement that you have held on to for the last 25 years - something to be treasured. Although Koufax pitched in era far different from today's world of major league baseball, his brillant career sparkles throughout the pages of Leavy's writing. This is a well researched effort that rekindles the memories of a talented, classy, ball player who wore Dodger Blue, refused to pitch on the Jewish holy days, pitched 4 no-hitters, including the perfect game in 1965, staged a salary holdout with teammate Don Drysdale, retired at 30 and kept a private life that was important to him. Baseball is just a game. Sometimes there are players who epitomize the purity of the game; players who master their position; players who are so good that everyone has at least heard of them. Everyone has heard of Sandy Koufax; some know he was a Dodger; some know he was a lefty; some know he was a Jew; some know he threw a perfect game. With Leavy's book, you will get to know just how good a player Koufax was; and you get to know about Koufax's life - a lot more than you could get by reading the back of his baseball card you keep in your box in the garage.
Rating:
Summary: wow, great book about a great era of baseball....
Review: this is more than just about sandy koufax and his life, it is about baseball in the 50's and 60's. I loved it, learned alot and now realize why many people consider koufax the greatest pitcher of all time. you don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate this book.
Rating:
Summary: A great gift for a young fan - Fascinating read for anyone!
Review: There have already been dozens upon dozens of reviews for this book, but I'd like to throw my two cents in: Buy this book and give it to a baseball fan who is too young to remember Sandy Koufax. It is a great lesson on this legendary pitcher and how the game used to be played. Fascinating
Rating:
Summary: Nice bio on a short but sweet career
Review: I enjoyed Jane Leavy's biography on Sandy Koufax. Using interviews with childhood pals, teammates, opponents, and other associates, Leavy pieced together an intriguing portrait of a man that the press has over-analyzed for being "enigmatic," "aloof" and "reclusive."
I liked how the chapters alternated between Koufax' perfect game in September 1965 and the story of his life. Leavy did an excellent job of painting the picture around the life, with details of Brooklyn in the fifties, and life in the Dodgers organization. The perfect game of 1965 was woven into the fabric of the turbulence that had occurred in Los Angeles that summer and with what was to come.
Koufax had six so-so years, then six years where he was the best pitcher in baseball, and established records that were all the more amazing when one considers the state of his left arm. The man used his time, and used it well, and when he had to, he walked away from the game, at only thirty years old.
The book covers primarily his teen years and baseball career, with a final chapter or two on his life after baseball. If you're looking for a "behind the scenes" glimpse into Koufax' life, this is not that kind of book. It is an attempt to separate myth and legend from reality, and to show that Mr. Koufax was just a great pitcher, and a person like the rest of us.
|
