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4 baseball books to lure late-season readers

For fans who dread the post-season's end, here are four baseball books to enjoy deep into winter.

2. 'Finding the Left Arm of God: Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1960-1963,’ by Brian Endsley

  • By Ross Atkin

During his prime, Sandy Koufax was one of the most dominating pitchers of all time. But this was only the case after he struggled as a Brooklyn Dodger and for several years after the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. His control was so erratic that in 1960, after completing the season 8-13, he seriously contemplated quitting. But a mechanical tweak and several other factors transformed him during his 1961 breakout season, which began a run of six straight All-Star selections before his sudden, early retirement in 1967 with elbow problems. This second volume in a trilogy on the Koufax-era Dodgers tracks the the team’s and his personal fortunes.

Here’s an excerpt from Finding the Left Arm of God:

“Sandy Koufax was a notorious slow starter. April had never been kind to him. In fact, he had never won a game in the traditional month of the baseball season since he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as a bonus baby in 1955. That would change in 1961.

“It was a new Sandy Koufax who took the mound on Friday night, April 21, at the Coliseum to face the Cincinnati Reds. Ever since his catcher-confidant-roommate, Norm Sherry, helped him to make a breakthrough a month ago in Orlando, he approached the game with a new philosophy: he did not need to press; he did not need to throw the baseball as hard as he could; he could pitch to spots; he would be a pitcher.”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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