There was a nice field for the Travelers Championship Celebrity-Pro Am.
Among them: the usual crowd from ESPN and UConn, Joe Pesci, other actors whose faces you know but might have to think about their names (Aidan Quinn, Peter Krause, Rob Morrow, Luke Wilson, and local guy James Naughton), Boston sports guys Bill Belichick, Doug Flutie, and Dwight Evans, and Roger Staubach.
And there was Sandy Koufax.
Dapper at 73
You don’t hear much about Sandy Koufax because he doesn’t want you to. He pitched in the big leagues for parts of just 12 seasons, and half of them were forgettable. But the other six? He set a standard that perhaps Pedro Martinez once approached, but no one ever topped.
In 1966, he went 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA. He started 41 games, and completed 27 of them. And then he quit. Said he didn’t want to risk permanent injury to his golden arm (the left one), and he walked away. Trying to figure out what he’d be worth in today’s baseball dollars would give a sabermetrician a splitting headache.
Since 1966, he hasn’t exactly been baseball’s Garbo, but he has chosen his public appearances quite carefully. That makes his appearance in Cromwell one to remember.
Back in the day, producers in L.A. took note of Koufax’s good looks, and worked him into a number of television shows, often with his teammates. So we leave you with this: Sandy Koufax pitching to “Mr. Ed.”
(Thanks to BG, who pointed this out.)
Hi Gerry,
Wow…where did you find/how did you remember that clip? It is great and so was Sandy!
Thanks for sharing this story, Gerry. This morning I saw the interview with Roger Staubach and his reference to people thinking he owns Starbucks and thought that was pretty funny and how gracious he was about it. But this story was very touching. I wish a lot more people followed his example. I used to love Mr. Ed……thanks for posting the clip.
I wish more of today’s players would hustle like Mr. Ed.
This is what puts the fun back in baseball.
Steve, I actually remembered him on “Dennis the Menace,” but a friend told me about the “Mr. Ed” clip. And, of course, Sandy’s in the pamphlet.
Linda, that interview with Staubach was a good one. He’s an all-pro in more than football.
And Graham, I think Ed would have been the Youk of the horsey set.
After having been a Brooklyn Dodger fan in my youth long ago, I loved this clip! Thanks for the chuckle and the memories!