Baseball Time Machine: Sandy Koufax's 1st no-hitter
Sandy Koufax had been building to this for years. The wildly talented left-hander who had spent the better part of 7 seasons in a Dodgers uniform, known for wildness more than for success, had finally found his control. By the summer of 1962 he was emerging as a star. On June 30, 1962, at Dodger Stadium — the ballpark itself barely 3 months old — Koufax threw the first no-hitter of his career, blanking the expansion Mets 5–0 before 29,797 fans.
It was a night that announced to the baseball world that something truly historic was being assembled, one masterpiece at a time.
Koufax came into the game 10-4, 2.48 ERA. Out in the Dodger bullpen that evening, reliever Ron Perranoski could see it coming before the Mets had even dug in for their first at-bat. Perranoski said, “From my angle back there, sitting in the bullpen, his curveball used to break from the first deck, it looked like. And all of a sudden it’s breaking from the second deck and I said to the guys, ‘They’re in for a tough day.’”
Koufax made Perranoski look prophetic in a hurry. He struck out the first 3 New York batters—Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl, and Felix Mantilla—on just 9 pitches. It was one of the finest opening innings anyone had ever seen, and even Mets 3rd-base coach Solly Hemus took notice. After Koufax walked off the mound following the immaculate inning, Hemus said to him, “You know something? You’ve got a no-hitter.” Koufax replied, “I’ve had ‘em later than this and lost them.”
Continued
https://open.substack.com/pub/mrbaseballandsomefootball/p/baseball-time-machine-sandy-koufaxs-8b4