Sandy Koufax

[XianSPL]

I'm re-evaluating my PC and I noticed that everyone on it is just a recent player on one of my home teams. I kind of wanted to branch out just for the fun of it and see if I could get into collecting someone else, but who? I've always been a fan of Koufax stories but the idea of collecting him was always daunting simply because I can't just go out and buy packs of cards hoping to pull him. It'll undoubtedly become an expensive part of my collecting. That said, I figure it's never too late to start and maybe I'll get lucky and find some good deals from time to time.

That said, my current Koufax collection consists of 6 whole cards. lol

I have:
2012 Topps Series 2 Career Day (CD-5)
2012 Topps Series 2 Golden Greats (GG-47)
2012 Topps Series 2 Mound Dominance (MD-3)
2012 Gypsy Queen base card (290)
2012 Topps Archives SP (210) - (I have two of these)


I'm pretty sure that's it. Since this is the trading forum, I figured this would be a good place to try to find some help in expanding the start of this collection. My photobucket is linked in my signature and also under my avatar. If you have any Koufax cards other than the ones listed above and are interested in trading for anything in my bucket (other than the cards in the PC folders), hit me up and make an offer. I'm mostly interested in even value trades as I'm not going to give cards away just to expand this.

I'm open to any Koufax cards. In the meantime, I think a trip to my LCS is in order this weekend.

 

[Mike]

I'll definitely keep you in mind in case I come across any. Who knows, you might be getting a care package soon.

 

[XianSPL]

hahaha, that's not the intention of this post. I'm not looking for handouts by any means. If I don't have anything that interests whoever reads this to trade, I may be willing to buy as well ... just depending on my financial status that day. lol

 

[commishbob]

Christian, I have a Koufax collection, he's probably my favorite non-Oriole player. I featured his 1959 Topps card here on my '59 blog.

One of the best baseball books I've ever read is this one. I wrote about the book on in a different blog post. I'll quote myself:

On September 9, 1965 the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax and Bob Hendley of the Cubs squared off in Dodger Stadium. The result was a remarkable game that ended in an hour and forty three minutes with Koufax having pitched his fourth no-hitter and only perfect game while Hendley had allowed only one hit to go with an unearned run. The game set records for fewest combined hits (1) and fewest base-runners (3).


Around an inning-by-inning account of that amazing game author Jane Leavy weaves the story of Sandy Koufax' life and career. Sandy Koufax A Lefty's Legacy was written without his cooperation but Leavy was still able to throughly explore one of baseball's more interesting superstars.


Leavy was able, through scores of interviews, to examine a guy who was (and still is) a very private person who made his living at the position that least lends itself to privacy. It's hard to hide when you are standing alone on a pitching mound and every eye is focused on you. She deals with his Jewish religion and the way that played into his career, his relationship with black teammates with whom he felt a bond, his time spent in the television industry as an NBC broadcaster and many other subjects.


I found it hard to put down and it increased my admiration for a player who has always been among my very favorite athletes. I especially liked how she wove in Vin Scully's play-by-play account of the final inning of the game. Great stuff.


Sandy Koufax struck out 2396 hitters in his brilliant career. The very first was Bobby Thomson on June 24, 1955 in the fifth inning of a Dodger 8-2 loss to the Milwaukee Braves. Koufax entered the game in relief of Johnny Podres and immediately loaded the bases on a single, an error and a walk. He them fanned Thomson and got Joe Adcock to ground into a double play.

I am not plugging my blog but Koufax is a guy I find very interesting and I get enthused when other card people get into his cards. I have all his Topps cards, and a lot of oddball stuff.

Bob Lemke, one of the giants of this hobby does 'Throwback cards' on his blog. Here are a couple I picked up from him:

You can't go wrong chasing his cards. They are not cheap but go for lesser conditioned ones. It's still a blast to have an original Koufax in your hand. Good Luck!

 

[XianSPL]

Thanks man! Great post!!

I'm actually in the middle of that book right now. Maybe that's what caused this desire to collect his cards but ... I've always been a fan of his. Well, of the stories of him. I never got to see him pitch or anything.

I'll definitely check out the links and thanks again for all of the info!!

 

[commishbob]

You can get some of the League Leader cards he appeared on cheaper than his base cards. And check for his 2012 A&G I think it's really nice.

Another quote from a post of mine:

I saw him pitch once in person, in Shea Stadium in 1966, his final season. It was the first game of a doubleheader. He shut down the Mets, had two hits himself and prompted my father to want to leave between games saying "We've seen Koufax, why hang around for the next guy [Joe Moeller]?"

 

[XianSPL]

I think I actually just gave his A&G to my LCS a little while ago after I decided not to put the set together. lol I'll have to get that back this weekend.

 

[pwolantern]

I will take a look at what I have, I might just have something for you.

 

[franklinguy52]

I don't have any vintage but I can probably helpnyou out with some throwback cards

 

[XianSPL]

Any help you guys want to give is appreciated. Just let me know what you want in return. Thanks guys for trying to help me get this started! I'll let you know if I pick up anything at my LCS tomorrow night.

 

[DbaxFanAJ]

I just picked up these cards (actually, mom found them at a garage sale).

 

[XianSPL]

sweet! i gotta start going to some garage sales!!!

nice haul, dude!

 

[DbaxFanAJ]

Thanks! Got them for a STEAL. I'm probably just going to flip them and try to make a bit of a profit for my next LCB break lol

 

[XianSPL]

well PM me if you do. the Koufax's anyway.