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Title: Koufax by Edward Gruver, Ed Gruver ISBN: 0-87833-157-3 Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.78 (23 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Where have all our heroes gone?
Comment: On a balmy, summer's evening in Southern California during the mid-60's, I tune my transistor radio to KFI, and loop the handstrap around my bicycle's handlebar. Peddling aimlessly through the darkening twilight, my thoughts are solely on the vision conjured up by the Voice of the Dodgers, Vin Scully. I remember as if it was only yesterday...
"On the mound tonight for the Los Angeles Dodgers ... number 32 ... the great left-hander... Sandy Koufax".
"Koufax", by Edward Gruver, brings it all back. It's more than just a straightforward biography. The backbone of the book is a narrative of Sandy's gutsy, phenomenal performance in the seventh game of the 1965 World Series with the Minnesota Twins, relived batter by batter and pitch by pitch, at roughly one inning per chapter. The author fleshes out each inning's action with the story of Koufax's life: parents, childhood, education, religion, early baseball career, peak baseball career, teammates, adversaries, pitching style, injuries, retirement, and post retirement. And enough pitching stats to satisfy even the most hardball of fans. My only criticism might be that the author's evident hero worship of his subject is almost slavish. However, who am I to criticize considering the knuckle-biting attention I paid to Sandy's every outing, every pitch and every decision? This is a must-have book about a truly great gentleman and ballplayer.
Thirty-four years after my hero's final walk to the mound, I'm no longer a baseball fan, much less a follower of the Dodgers. Nowadays, star baseball (and football, and basketball) players seem to get more media attention when they abuse drugs, commit felony assault or rape, or are just downright obnoxious. Yes, I suppose professional athletes have always had their darker side, but the paying fans rarely heard about it, and the reputation of The Game was the better for it. For me, there are no present-day heroes. But, if I surrender to memory on a balmy, Southern California, summer evening, I can still hear Vin Scully across the decades ...
"Sandy looks in to Roseboro for the sign ... He goes into his wind-up ... Now the pitch... FASTBALL! ... Swung on and missed! Strike three!... Oh, my!"
Rating: 4
Summary: Recommended for all sports fans
Comment: Koufax...The name evokes visions of perfection; one who had it all and dominated baseball like no other pitcher before or since. Stricken with arthritis, the great Dodger southpaw walked away from the game in 1966 and seemingly vanished from the public eye. In his book, aptly titled "Koufax", author Ed Gruver successfully recreates the career of Sandy Koufax from the sandlots of Brooklyn to his final outing in the '66 World Series.
The only shortcoming of the book is that Gruver does little to unravel the mystery of Koufax the man. But, then again, Gruver can hardly be faulted as the Koufax mystique has reached DiMaggio-like proportions over the years and it is doubtful that anyone will ever crack it. As always, the mystique creates the legend.
Koufax was not interviewed for the book, so Gruver relies on former teammates and sportswriters to provide the meat of the book. The antedotes of Koufax's career are framed within a series of flashbacks relating to his gutsy victory over Minnesota in the 7th Game of the 1965 World Series.(A nice touch; reminiscent of Kevin Costner's "For Love of the Game".)Gruver describes, in horrific detail, the amount of pain and sheer torture that Koufax endured not only during the crucial 7th Game, but also during the final three years of his career. We learn of the near amputation of the middle finger of his pitching hand after suffering a mysterious circulatory ailment in 1964. In '65, when Sandy set what was then a Major League record 382 strikeouts, his left arm would swell to the size of his leg. Prior to each start, Koufax "treated" his arm with with an ointment so hot, it seared his skin. After each game he dipped his permanently bowed left arm into a tub of freezing ice-water.
Ironically, by relaying tales of pain and torment suffered by Koufax, Gruver inadvertently lets the reader gaze into the psyche of Koufax the man, not just Koufax the pitcher. We learn of the utter devotion and selflessness that this great athlete possessed. We discover the drive and the relentless pursuit of perfection that landed the hurler in the Hall of Fame. Most of all, we remember the one of a kind class act that was, and is, Sandy Koufax. Recommended for all sports enthusiasts.
Rating: 5
Summary: Koufax Acquaintance From N.Y.
Comment: "Koufax", as written by Ed Gruver, is a highly focused book that covers the life and times of this most private man with flair and tact.
The strength of this book is the combination of the author's narrative with the insightful quotes from interviews he conducted with Sandy's friends and former teammates.
Gruver covers Koufax's life and career through the spectrum of one game - Game 7 of the 1965 World Series. It's an interesting approach, and it works here since this game is regarded as the defining game in Koufax's great career. (Interesting that Jane Levy's book, published one year later, uses the same format, though with a different game).
"Koufax" is a wide-ranging story of the life and career of the man many consider the greatest left-handed pitcher in history. It's filled with interesting anecdotes and brings to life a highly private individual.
Overall, I found it an accurate portrayal of one of sports' most enigmatic figures.
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Title: Sandy Koufax : A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy ISBN: 0060933291 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 02 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and Their Final Pennant Race Together by Michael Shapiro ISBN: 0385501528 Publisher: Doubleday Books Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The New York Yankees: One Hundred Years : The Official Retrospective (New Yours Yankees) by Mark Vancil, Mark Mandrake ISBN: 0345460901 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss by Arthur Agatston ISBN: 1579546463 Publisher: Rodale Books Pub. Date: 05 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title:Finding Nemo ASIN: B00005JM02 Publisher: Walt Disney Home Video Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $20.99 |
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