The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #40 Sandy Koufax

Curving in at #40 is Dodgers lefty Sandy Koufax. The Man with the Golden Arm had arguably the greatest four-year stretch in Major League Baseball history at any position. Koufax helped lead the Dodgers to three World Series titles, becoming one of only three players in history to win two World Series MVPs. Koufax is the only player in history with two World Series MVPs over a three-year stretch. He won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young awards becoming the only player in history with three Cy Young awards and two World Series MVPs, and he accomplished it over just four seasons. Koufax is the only player in history to lead the league in ERA for five consecutive seasons. He’s also the only player in history to lead the league in H/9 for five consecutive seasons. No player in history led the league in WHIP for more consecutive seasons than Koufax’s four. He’s the only pitcher since 1945 to win at least 25 games three times in a four-year stretch. His 382 strikeouts in 1965 are second all-time and just one shy of Nolan Ryan’s single-season record.  His .825 career World Series WHIP is the lowest in history among pitchers with at least 40 innings, and he’s the last pitcher to throw two shutouts in a single World Series.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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