Sandy Koufax 1965 final games and World Series.

If anything, Los Angeles Dodger lefty ace Sandy Koufax was abused by his manager Walter Alston who started managing the Dodgers in Brooklyn in 1954 and continued into 1976 in LA: 23 seasons, 7 pennants, 4 World Series (WS), including 1955 the only one in Brooklyn when bonus baby Koufax at age 19 pitched 41 innings.

1901 to 2015, SO>=340, sorted by greatest Strikeouts

Rk	Player	SO	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	ERA	FIP	ERA+	HR	BF	AB	2B	3B	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	PO	BK	WP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Pit	Str
1	Nolan Ryan	383	1973	26	CAL	AL	41	39	26	4	2	21	16	.568	1	326.0	238	113	104	162	2.87	2.49	123	18	1355	1172	53	5	2	7	7	7	24	37	10	4	0	15	.203	.302	.303	.605	78
2	Sandy Koufax	382	1965	29	LAD	NL	43	41	27	8	2	26	8	.765	2	335.2	216	90	76	71	2.04	1.93	160	26	1297	1205	29	7	4	5	13	3	13	16	4	1	0	11	.179	.227	.280	.507	52
3	Randy Johnson	372	2001	37	ARI	NL	35	34	3	2	1	21	6	.778	0	249.2	181	74	69	71	2.49	2.13	188	19	994	890	33	2	2	18	10	5	17	19	15	4	1	8	.203	.274	.309	.583	50	4076	2638
4	Nolan Ryan	367	1974	27	CAL	AL	42	41	26	3	1	22	16	.579	0	332.2	221	127	107	202	2.89	2.98	118	18	1392	1165	38	6	3	9	12	4	24	28	21	3	0	9	.190	.313	.279	.592	76
5	Randy Johnson	364	1999	35	ARI	NL	35	35	12	2	0	17	9	.654	0	271.2	207	86	75	70	2.48	2.76	184	30	1079	993	28	4	3	9	4	3	14	42	17	5	2	4	.208	.266	.335	.601	55
6	Rube Waddell	349	1904	27	PHA	AL	46	46	39	8	0	25	19	.568	0	383.0	307	109	69	91	1.62	1.59	165	5	1496					14							0	8	undef	undef	undef
7	Bob Feller	348	1946	27	CLE	AL	48	42	36	10	5	26	15	.634	4	371.1	277	101	90	153	2.18	2.16	151	11	1512	1331				3	25	0	12	15	11	2	0	3	.208	.291
8	Randy Johnson	347	2000	36	ARI	NL	35	35	8	3	0	19	7	.731	0	248.2	202	89	73	76	2.64	2.53	181	23	1001	900	45	2	1	6	14	5	15	26	16	6	2	5	.224	.288	.356	.643	63	4021	2595
9	Nolan Ryan	341	1977	30	CAL	AL	37	37	22	4	0	19	16	.543	0	299.0	198	110	92	204	2.77	3.12	141	12	1272	1027	23	3	7	9	22	10	21	43	19	7	3	21	.193	.329	.256	.585	64

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/23/2016.

In 1965 Koufax set the modern record for most strike outs (SO) in a season with 382. That season the Dodgers were locked in a battle for first place with the Giants, led by players who each won the National League MVP award:
Willie Mays: 1954, 1965
Willie McCovey: 1969
Orlando Cepeda: 1967 in his first season with St. Louis; had only 40 plate appearances in 1965.

Mays hit over 50 home runs (HR) in 1965 for the second time in his career.

Koufax started 41 games in 1965, completing 27, and saving two others in relief. 26-8 when no one was killing the win. Here are his final regular season games and the three he pitched in the World Series against the Minnesota Twins.

														Cum	Cum	Est
		Team		LA	O	DR	Inn	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	SO	Inn	Pit	HR	HR
9/18/1965	@	Cardinals	W	1	0	1	9	4	0	0	1	6	0	348	307	114
9/22/1965	@	Braves	(w)	7	6	3	2	6	5	5	0	3	2	354	309	43	Bolling	Jones
9/25/1965		Cardinals	W	2	0	2	9	5	0	0	3	12	0	357	318	140
9/29/1965		Reds	W	5	0	3	9	2	0	0	1	13	0	369	327	121
10/2/1965		Braves	W	3	1	2	9	4	1	0	1	13	1	382	336	128	Oliver
10/7/1965	@	Twins	L	1	5	4	6	6	2	1	1	9	0	391	342	98
10/11/1965		Twins	W	7	0	3	9	4	0	0	1	10	0	401	351	122
10/14/1965	@	Twins	W	2	0	2	9	3	0	0	3	10	0	411	360	130

The first game was on one Day of Rest (DR) after Koufax had saved a game 2-0 with one inning of relief against the Cubs in Chicago. The matrix above includes cumulative SO and Innings for the season through the WS. It also has estimated pitch counts using the Tom Tango formula.

It was understood that Koufax would not pitch on Wednesday Oct. 6 because that would conflict with the religious beliefs of Koufax. That was the scheduled date for WS game one. Alston could plan his rotation accordingly.

Games 161 of the scheduled 162 were on Saturday Oct. 2. Entering that day the Dodgers had clinched at least a tie with the Giants who were two games back with two to play. Both teams were at home. The Giants wound up winning their final two games against the Reds to stay alive. The Dodgers had already used their only other two reliable starting pitchers Don Drysdale (23-12) and Claude Osteen (15-15): Drysdale beat the Braves 4-0 Thursday and Osteen lost to the Braves 2-0 Friday. The Dodgers had two more games against the Braves and needed one more win.

Since Alston knew that Koufax would not pitch Wednesday Oct. 6, why not hold him out until the final game on Sunday Oct. 3 and hope that the Giants lose on Saturday? If the Giants win, Koufax pitches in game 162. If Koufax wins the final regular season game, he could then pitch in WS game 2, which he did in real life on four days, on Thursday Oct. 7 on his usual three days rest.

In one sense Alston did Koufax a favor. Drysdale pitched in WS game one and lost, then Koufax lost WS game two. But Osteen, Drysdale and Koufax swept the Twins in LA to lead the WS 3-2. However, Osteen lost game six, setting the stage for the dramatic showdown game for which Koufax is remembered, some say immortalized. Koufax pitched a complete game shutout on two days rest. His accomplishment seemed enhanced by his ethical stand about scheduling.

Would you replace Koufax with Perranoski? Gibson with Schultz? Clemens with Schiraldi? Witt with Moore? Sunday, February 21, 2016