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As a rabid Giants fan gowing up in LA, I had to suffer far too many humilations at the hands of Mr Koufax from the Pavillion seats at the Blue Hell Hole. Willie Mays said hitting Koufax was like trying to drink coffee with a fork. And I would venture a guess that Willie Mays could do pretty well today if he were in him prime. That's how good Koufax was.
About 10 years ago, the Dodger front office sent an edict to their scouts around the world saying that they were not to sign, or even scout, pitchers under 6'4". So Sandy Koufax couldn't have even been scouted in today's baseball market! The greatest left hander of all time!!!
Big, strong players are nice, but if that's all you're willing to sign, then it's no wonder we got what we got...a pool of monster pichers and hitters in the minors to draw from, and not much else. The whole Dave Winfield/Bo Jackson approach to baseball (great athletes playing baseball, rather than great baseball players playing baseball) has spread to the point where we can applaud the feats of great athletes, but barely recongnize what a great baseball player is. You know, a guy who knows what base to throw to from the outfield, a guy who can bunt, a guy who can steal, a guy who can play his position so well he doesn't have to make spectacular plays, a guy who can hit a 3rd inning sac fly in June and resist the temptation to step out of the dugout and tip his cap to the crowd.
