Sandy Koufax Monument | |
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Artist | Branly Cadet |
Year | 2022 |
Medium | Bronze sculpture |
Subject | Sandy Koufax |
Location | Dodger Stadium Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
34°4′29.9″N118°14′21.2″W / 34.074972°N 118.239222°W | |
Website | branlycadet.com |
The Sandy Koufax Monument was unveiled outside the centerfield plaze entrance of Dodger Stadium on June 18, 2022. The bronze statue, created by sculptor Branly Cadet, commemorates Dodgers and baseball great Sandy Koufax.
A Hall of Fame pitcher for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966, Koufax is widely considered to be one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and as well as the greatest pitcher in Dodgers franchise history. [1]
In 2019, as part of renovation plans, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they would unveil a statue of Sandy Koufax in the centerfield plaza of Dodger Stadium. It was the second statue dedicated by the Dodgers after the statue of Jackie Robinson was unveiled in 2017. [2]
Dodgers' president Stan Kasten stated that the newly renovated centerfield plaza would have an entrance gate and the plan was that Robinson statue (moved from its original location to the centerfield plaze) and the Koufax statue were to be on opposite sides of the entrance, to "greet" fans as they entered the stadium. [3]
The statue was initially meant to be unveiled in 2020 but the plans were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [2]
The ceremony of the statue unveiling was led by Dodgers broadcaster Charley Steiner with three other people speaking about Koufax: former Dodgers manager and close friend Joe Torre, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and Dodgers owner and chairman Mark Walter. Koufax himself gave a speech in which he thanked numerous former teammates, coaches, team personnel, and friends. [4]
The sculpture was created by artist Branly Cadet who had also created the statue of Jackie Robinson for the Dodgers in 2017. [5]
It depicts Koufax's signature leg kick as he prepares to throw and also shows Koufax determined and a picture of calm as he goes into his windup. Cadet stated, "I think for me more than anything I wanted to capture his strength, his focus and integrity. Although he's a very quiet and absolute gentleman, there's a part of him that's just a fierce competitor." [6]
Koufax picked the inspiration image for the statue and also gripped a baseball for a photograph of his left hand in order to depict it as accurately as possible. [5]
The quote on the base of the statue, by Koufax, says: "As teammates, we were bound together by a single interest and common goal. To win. Nothing else mattered and nothing else would do." [5]
SANDY KOUFAX
Among the most dominating pitchers in the game's history, left-hander Sandy Koufax won 165 games and compiled 2,396 strikeouts in 2,324.1 innings with 40 shutouts in his 12 year Dodger career (1955-1966). In 1966, Koufax earned his third Cy Young Award, becoming the first three-time winner in an era when the honor was given to just one MLB pitcher per season. Koufax led the National League in ERA five straight seasons from 1962-66, was the strikeouts leader four times and was tops in wins on three occasions with totals of 27, 26 and 25. In addition he pitched a National League record four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965, and set the National League single season mark with 382 strikeouts in 1965. He is one of the very few pitchers to have more strikeouts than career innings pitched. [5]
BROOKLYN & LOS ANGELES DODGERS: 1955–1966
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Established in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the team joined the NL in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and assumed several other monikers before finally settling on the name Dodgers in 1932. From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers developed a fierce crosstown rivalry with the New York Yankees as the two clubs faced each other in the World Series seven times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before defeating them to win the franchise's first title in 1955. It was also during this period that the Dodgers made history by breaking the baseball color line in 1947 with the debut of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884. Another major milestone was reached in 1956 when Don Newcombe became the first player ever to win both the Cy Young Award and the NL MVP in the same season.
Sanford Koufax, nicknamed "the Left Arm of God", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, as well as the first major sports star on the West Coast, Koufax was the first three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, each time winning unanimously and the only pitcher to do so when a single award was given for both the leagues; he was also named the National League Most Valuable Player in 1963. Retiring at the age of 30 due to chronic pain in his pitching elbow, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1972 at the age of 36, the youngest player ever elected.
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the ballpark for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of US$23 million. It is the oldest ballpark in MLB west of the Mississippi River, and third-oldest overall, after Fenway Park in Boston (1912) and Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914), and is the largest baseball stadium in the world by seat capacity. Often referred to as a "pitcher's ballpark", the stadium has seen 13 no-hitters, 2 of which were perfect games.
Donald Scott Drysdale, nicknamed "Big D", was an American professional baseball pitcher and broadcaster who played in Major League Baseball. He spent his entire 14-year career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. Known for being a fierce competitor, Drysdale won the Cy Young Award in 1962 and was a three-time World Series champion during his playing career.
Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez, nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1975, mostly with the San Francisco Giants. Known for his high leg kick, variety of pitches, arm angles and deliveries, pinpoint control, and durability, Marichal won 18 games to help the Giants reach the 1962 World Series, and went on to earn 191 victories in the 1960s, the most of any major league pitcher. He won over 20 games six times, on each occasion posting an earned run average (ERA) below 2.50 and striking out more than 200 batters, and became the first right-hander since Bob Feller to win 25 games three times; his 26 wins in 1968 remain a franchise record.
The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles swept the series in four games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It was the last World Series played before MLB introduced the Commissioner's Trophy the following year. The Dodgers suffered record low scoring, accumulating just two runs over the course of the series, the lowest number of runs ever scored by any team in a World Series.
The 1965 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1965 season. The 62nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins. The Dodgers won in seven games.
The 1963 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1963 season. The 60th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the American League (AL) champion and two-time defending World Series champion New York Yankees against the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers; the Dodgers swept the Series in four games to secure their second championship title in five years, and their third in franchise history. Dodgers starting pitchers Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres, and ace reliever Ron Perranoski combined to give up only four runs in four games. The dominance of the Dodgers pitchers was so complete that at no point in any of the four games did the Yankees have the lead. New York was held to a .171 team batting average, the lowest ever for the Yankees in the postseason. Koufax was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
Carl Daniel Erskine, nicknamed "Oisk", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948 through 1959. He was a pitching mainstay on Dodger teams which won five National League pennants and the 1955 World Series.
This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball franchise, including its years in Brooklyn (1883–1957).
The following are the baseball events of the year 1965 throughout the world.
In 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers finally fulfilled the promise of many previous Dodger teams. Although the club had won several pennants in the past, and had won as many as 105 games in 1953, it had never won a World Series. This team finished 13.5 games ahead in the National League pennant race, leading the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed. In the World Series, they finally beat their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees. It was the Dodgers' first and only World Series championship won while located in Brooklyn.
The 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League championship with a 95–67 record, but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
The 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the regular-season with a 97–65 record, which earned them the NL pennant by two games over their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in seven games over the Minnesota Twins.
The 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the fifth for the team in Southern California, and the 73rd for the franchise in the National League. After spending the previous four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, they began the season by opening Dodger Stadium, the team's new ballpark. The stadium opened on April 10 with a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers proceeded to win a Los Angeles record 102 games and tied the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League. The Giants won the ensuing tie-breaker series two games to one.
The 1965 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 12 to October 14, 1965. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Dodgers then defeated the Twins in the World Series, four games to three.
The 1966 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 11 to October 9, 1966. The Braves played their inaugural season in Atlanta, following their relocation from Milwaukee. Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums. On April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3–1 in the Angels' debut following their move from Los Angeles to nearby Orange County. On May 8, the St. Louis Cardinals closed out old Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I with a 10–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants before opening the new Busch Memorial Stadium four days later with a 4–3 win in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves.
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Stealing Home: The Point of No Return is a bronze statue of baseball great Jackie Robinson which was unveiled outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 15, 2017, marking the 70th anniversary of Robinson's breaking of the color line in professional baseball in 1947, when he became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball during the modern era.
Branly Cadet is an American sculptor who is trained in the classical tradition of both figurative and portrait sculpture.