60 years later, Sandy Koufax's perfect game is still amazing

Sports

Harold P. Matosian / AP

LOS ANGELES — For baseball aficionados, the name Sandy Koufax is almost mythical.

In the 1960s Koufax put together what is generally considered the greatest span of five seasons for a pitcher in Major League history. And 60 years ago, Sept. 9, 1965, Koufax had his single most magical night as he became just the sixth pitcher in the modern era to throw a perfect game.

The stories about Koufax, who is now 89 years old, sometimes sound fictional.

"He had a beauty about that was hard to describe," recalled Wes Parker, who was the first baseman with Koufax's Los Angeles Dodgers team in 1965.

"If you've seen a ballet dancer. He had that kind of beauty of motion. Like a beautiful animal, like a racehorse, something like that," he said.

Harold P. Matosian