Interesting discussion this. Sandy Koufax was indeed one of the greatest pitchers I've ever seen. Though he did derive some benefit from Chavez, his move there from Brooklyn and the Coliseum had little to do with his sudden success, as well noted by TomIron above.
Koufax was a "Bonus Baby," so called due to a small bonus he received to sign at age 18. Due to the arcane rules of the time, however, this bonus prohibited his natural growth and maturity because the Dodgers weren't allowed to send him down on the farm, where he could have learned to throw strikes. He had dreadful control at this age, as do so many young fireballers, many of whom never make it (see Steve Dalkowski), and manager Alston wasn't keen to risk his wildness on key games, so many of which the Dodgers had in Sandy's early years. Quite simply, Sandy was denied a chance to learn the control he needed early on.
Koufax slowly matured and as he did he began to learn how to pitch and how to better control his pitches, as first became apparent in 1961. Only then did his talent begin to emerge, now at age 25 and no longer a youngster. That his emergence as a great pitcher coincided with LA's move to Chavez was incidental, merely a chance coincidence of life. It wasn't the ballparks holding Koufax back. It was his youthful immaturity and lack of opportunities in those early years. Whether Koufax would have performed just as well in Fenway isn't the point; perhaps not, but he still would have been a superb pitcher.
As a Christian and deep traditionalist, I nevertheless don't see the need to hold suspect every Jew I know or every black person I meet. Sandy Koufax, from all I know about him, is a compassionate and empathetic person, completely unaligned with any group seeking to alter America's traditional culture and way of life. Martel speaks often of the Jewish power establishment and of their outsize influence upon our culture. I have no reason to doubt him, and I am deeply offended by those who sponsor any agenda that denigrates our nation or its founders and sacred foundations, such as we witnessed and through which we suffered in the late 1960s and right on down to today through violent opportunists like many of those who lead BLM and the accursed Antifa organization. But, sadly, many of these jackals are gentiles, turncoats to their own people, traitors and heretics to their own culture and kin.
Koufax was a "Bonus Baby," so called due to a small bonus he received to sign at age 18. Due to the arcane rules of the time, however, this bonus prohibited his natural growth and maturity because the Dodgers weren't allowed to send him down on the farm, where he could have learned to throw strikes. He had dreadful control at this age, as do so many young fireballers, many of whom never make it (see Steve Dalkowski), and manager Alston wasn't keen to risk his wildness on key games, so many of which the Dodgers had in Sandy's early years. Quite simply, Sandy was denied a chance to learn the control he needed early on.
Koufax slowly matured and as he did he began to learn how to pitch and how to better control his pitches, as first became apparent in 1961. Only then did his talent begin to emerge, now at age 25 and no longer a youngster. That his emergence as a great pitcher coincided with LA's move to Chavez was incidental, merely a chance coincidence of life. It wasn't the ballparks holding Koufax back. It was his youthful immaturity and lack of opportunities in those early years. Whether Koufax would have performed just as well in Fenway isn't the point; perhaps not, but he still would have been a superb pitcher.
As a Christian and deep traditionalist, I nevertheless don't see the need to hold suspect every Jew I know or every black person I meet. Sandy Koufax, from all I know about him, is a compassionate and empathetic person, completely unaligned with any group seeking to alter America's traditional culture and way of life. Martel speaks often of the Jewish power establishment and of their outsize influence upon our culture. I have no reason to doubt him, and I am deeply offended by those who sponsor any agenda that denigrates our nation or its founders and sacred foundations, such as we witnessed and through which we suffered in the late 1960s and right on down to today through violent opportunists like many of those who lead BLM and the accursed Antifa organization. But, sadly, many of these jackals are gentiles, turncoats to their own people, traitors and heretics to their own culture and kin.
