Rating: 
Summary: Reaching across the generations.
Review: I bought this book in hopes of gaining some insight into my late father's baseball allegiances. He was a Dodger fan and a Koufax devotee. Growing up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. I was never sure why that was so. Leavy does a great job in allowing the reader to get a grasp, albeit a loose one, on this enigmatic and utterly unbelievable athlete. As a baseball fan I had always known about Koufax's legacy as a player. In reading this book I got a better idea about the attitudes in baseball and society during that era. I also discovered what my father could never quite explain to a young boy growing up playing baseball. That there is so much more to this game than the game and Koufax knew that and somehow my dad knew Koufax had that awareness. This book will shed a lot of light on Sandy Koufax for most readers but it will be even more illuminating about an era for those who did not live in it. This should be required reading for every major leaguer today.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating man, a fascinating book.
Review: I became a Dodger fan in '67 (the year after Koufax retired), but then again I was only 9 years old. I remember the legacy that Koufax left behind (any Dodger fan 30 years or older does). Like the best "sports books" Jane Leavy does a wonderful job at making this book much more than a genre book. Koufax is an enigma, he will always be an enigma (I hope) and Leavy does nothing to destroy that perception. What she does do is greatly enrich the popular image of him. In this regard she performs the same magic that Robert W. Creamer did in his great bio of Babe Ruth. She deepens our understanding of the man without really getting past (and destroying) the myth. The anecdotes and stories about Koufax are fascinating. And like the best bios Leavy brings to life the time the man lived in (or, rather in this case, the time the man grew up and starred in). Koufax comes off as a great guy. I was fortunate enough to meet and chat with him (for about 15 minutes) about 10 years and Leavy beautifully describes the man I was thrilled to have met. This an absolute "must read" for any Dodger fan. I'm happy to see it selling well.
Rating:
Summary: A great read about a great athlete
Review: As a baseball fan and a fan of baseball writing, I had high hopes for this biography. The influence of Koufax the pitcher upon my understanding of the game has been immense, but I felt that prior writings focused either on superficial assessments of his personality or sycophantic dwelling upon his Yom Kippur decision. This biography, without pretense of "knowing" Koufax, presents him as a human being and -- more importantly-- as an athlete. The coverage of his perfect game is poignant, and the tale of his struggle for opportunities to pitch is wrenching. Rather than idolizing him for his five matchless years, I learned to relate to his frustration with management for doubting his ability and limiting his career. His story is also a vivid reminder of the ill treatment that fine athletes used to suffer at the hands of team owners. Pitching full games on two days' rest made these pitchers the stuff of legend, but it caused them to pay a price that no contemporary athlete must pay. The story puts current labor disputes in context, supporting the argument that perhaps players are finally getting what they deserve. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves the game. The writing gives me a sense that Bart Giamatti's poetic work might someday have a peer; I hope that Leavy chooses to honor the sport and the genre with more books like this one.
Rating:
Summary: "The Jewish kid is the greatest of them all"
Review: "The Jewish kid is the greatest of them all" That was what Casey Stengel said of Koufax as a pitcher and as a model of supreme eloquence, command, and domination. As an athlete, Koufax was utterly in a class of his own. Koufax had long retired when I was born but the name was always mentioned with a certain awe by an older generation of baseball coach. He was held up as a model and shining light. This book always strikes the reader as doing full justice to Koufax, while always remaining gripping reading from first word to last. Someone who is so esteemed is in danger falling afoul of the myth-making process, and any book such as this of contributing. What is remarkable is that the writer nevers falls into the myopic hero-worshipping rut. And yet she manages to also steer clear of that uniquely 20th century habit of excessively enthusiastic myth-debunking, although that too is an essential ingredient of the book. For example it is candidly revealled that Koufax did once lose his temper and threw at a hitter after he butted onto base and then proceeded to steal second and then third base. It has always been said that Koufax never threw at hitters - he didn't need to, that's for sure - but to see that he too was mortal is never allowed to degernate into a scadalous slur against his name. Overall, the masterful steering the ship stylistically in the right direction without running aground on the banks of a one-sided doctrinaire tendency, whether that of myth making, myth debunking, historical recreation or any other pitfall is the essence of this book's success. There are so many dimensions of depth to the book that it is possible to enjoy any one or all of these perspectives-upon-the-whole, without any one perspective dominating. For example, the writer has even gone to the trouble of having Koufax's pitching biomechanics analysed - to find that a modern high tech computer program unable to fault his beautifully fluid mechanics in the slightest. Not only that but instead of the the hopeless archaic 1960's diagnosis of "a degenerative arthritic condition of the elbow" being quoted ad nauseam, the writer has gone to the extraordinary trouble of finding out from a collegue of the surgeon who developed so called Tommy John surgery, what the true diagnosis probably was that lead to Koufax's premature retirement. I tend to agree that after an MRI, an elbow arthroscopy and surgery that in our age Koufax would have been back to pitching after a year of rehab. Mat Morris went through this process recently. Other biographies have dwelled on the stoicism with which he endured the pain of his ailing elbow to the point of endulgent hero worshipping of some fallen suffering martre, but have not never quite managed to capture the sheer futility with which the primitive medical science of the time attempt to treat the problem. The anti-inflammatory drugs of the day were so toxic that they have long since been withdrawn from the market, and required regular blood test to monitor them. Today you can buy the modern, less toxic equivalents over the counter, no blood tests required - but how so very different it was in those days. Even technical discussion on pitching mechanics emerge in the course of the book. So many hero worshipping fans care little about this sort of thing and prefer to dwell on how he struck out Willie Mays or Mickie Mantle, to discussion on Koufax's mechanics. Yes, he did strike out Mays and Mantle but that not all that you will find here, for pitching mechanics is a subject over which Koufax himself becomes animated about when discussing. Esoteric coaching secrets of the sort even I had never heard start to emerge. To someone like me who has studied Koufax's biomechanics carefully, they made extraordinary sense, even if they actually fly in the face of many currently held conventions. The social aspects of his ethnic background too are handled intelligently. He emerges as someone sympathetic to his Afro-American team-mates, without turning him into an activist akin to Martin Luther King. Nor is he portrayed as some overly pious Rabbi who refused to pitch on Yom Kippur, when it clashed with a World Series start. I could well imagine even Koufax giving this book a grudging nod of approval.The fact that Koufax's main contribution seems to have been a proof-reading role to ensure no distortions were perpetuated only adds credence and authority to the writing. There is a sense of detachment, and of facts speaking for themselves, rather than of the conjuring and manipulation of the myth-making powers that be. Overall this is highly recommendable reading.
Rating: 
Summary: grand to read about sandy
Review: a really nice book about one of the few baseball heroes whose heroic qualities have stood up well over time. no player in recent years simply grabbed the game by the throat and dominated the way koufax did. as an avid collector of baseball cards in the 1950s and 1960s, this was one book I had to go out and buy.
Rating:
Summary: A Star is Born
Review: The book is well written and provides alot of interesting trivia which can be conversation starters.
The author's description of Mr. Koufax's perfect game was exciting to me even though I knew the obvious outcome. My one regret is that the author did not interview people individuals outside of baseball to gain their perspective about him.
Rating:
Summary: A Time When The Owners Held All The Cards
Review: I saw Sandy Koufax pitch once during his career. It was on August 8, 1964, in Milwaukee against the Braves. My memory of that game is Sandy Koufax diving back into second base on a pickoff attempt. When he reached third base, he was twirling his left arm around. Shortly thereafter he received the diagnosis of arthritis in his left elbow. Koufax was built with huge muscles in his back and arms and this very build made it possible for him to throw as well as he did, but it also meant he was due to break down earlier. Sports medicine was still in the future and pitchers pitched until they were worn out and then the owners got somebody else. Pitchers were disposable and since players weren't paid very much no attempt was made to protect them. Sandy had a contentious relationship with manager Walter Alston who, for whatever reason, wouldn't pitch Koufax early in his career even in years the Dodgers weren't involved in any pennant race. Pitchers weren't placed on pitch counts during the 1960's and there were seasons when Koufax logged over 300 innings and pitchers pitched every fourth day. Can you imagine pitching a complete game during spring training? Where was the common sense of managers during this time? Think about this for a minute. The total Dodger payroll for the fifteen years Buzzie Bavasi was general manager equals Kevin Brown's $15 million annual salary. When Koufax pitched his perfect game against the Cubs, Dodger Owner Walter O'Malley let the moths fly out of his wallet and gave Sandy a $500 raise. Prior to the start of the 7th game of the 1965 World Series against the Twins the Dodgers had a meeting in which Manager Walter Alston announced to the team who would start the game on the mound. Dick Tracewski remembers Alston saying, "We're going to start the left-hander. After that we have Drysdale and Perranoski in the bullpen." Tracewski noted that Sandy felt he should have called him by name instead of simply referring to him as "the left-hander." I agree. It appears that Alston wanted to maintain that distant relationship he had with Sandy. Many people consider Koufax somewhat of a recluse, but he shows up at Dodger fantasy camps, Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, and funerals of former teammates such as Joe Black and Pee Wee Reese. A prize possession of Cubs' pitcher Bob Hendley, who was Sandy's pitching opponent in the perfect game and who gave up only one hit himself and lost 1-0, is a baseball signed by Koufax with the simple inscription, "What a game." The book is really two stories alternating between the innings of the perfect game and Sandy's career. If you're a sports fan, this book should have a permanent place in your bookcase.
Rating:
Summary: Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy
Review: Taut biography of the Dodger great's playing years: baseball savvy and as far from tall-tale-telling as former Washington Post sportswriter Leavy (Squeeze Play, not reviewed) can get. Koufax lent himself only incidentally to this work-to verify stories and allow the author access to his friends and family-but Leavy has produced what appears to be a very convincing portrait. She concentrates on the player's six last, mind-blowing years, when his fastball and curve ruled. His plays on the mound are adeptly recorded-including, as interspersed chapters, his perfect game, told with consummate skill and containing the only hint of hyperbole here: "the ball headed toward home like an eighteen wheeler appearing down the highway out of a mirage." But it's a sense of Koufax's character that Leavy most wishes to convey. Never one for promiscuous self-promotion, Koufax has been shoehorned into the recluse category; because he is reserved and Jewish, he was typecast as "moody, aloof, curt, intellectual, different." Yes, he wouldn't pitch the opening game of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, an act with profound cultural impact, and yes, he liked to read, a positive egghead by sporting standards, though he also says: "I may have read Huxley once in my life, but if I did, frankly, I don't remember." His 1963 self-profile is true to form: "a normal twenty-seven-year-old bachelor who happens to be of the Jewish faith. . . . I like to read a book and listen to music and I'd like to meet the girl I'd want to marry." But Leavy reveals also a man of dignity, honesty, and courtesy, not to mention his having that shaman's touch with a baseball. He is, simply, a standard: "In virtually every way that matters, ethically and economically, medically and journalistically, he offers a way to measure where we've been, what we've come to, what we've lost." Well-conceived and sharply drawn, a thinking fan's biography.
Rating:
Summary: Sandy Koufax A Lefty's Legacy
Review: This well written, well researched book accurately portrays Koufax's impact on the game and his lasting legacy. It is the best book written to date that bridges the Dodgers' Brooklyn and Los Angeles eras. For baseball fans of any age, it is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You
Review: I caution a reader of this review that I am biased. Koufax was my hero as were all the Dodgers of the 60s. Therefore, I am not able to offer an objective view.
For those who share my view this book is must reading. You will not be disapointed. In fact, you will discover that Koufax was all we ever thought-and more.
To the rest, I promise a well written book which not only examines a man of great balance, but reveals an author of exceptional ability.
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