Sandy Koufax
Few players in the history of MLB have endured more pain or performed more brilliantly in their final season as Sandy Koufax did in 1966. Traumatic arthritis in his pitching elbow that after one spring training game in 1965 left his entire left arm black and blue from hemorrhaging, forced him to rely upon Empirin with codeine for pain, Butazolidin for inflammation, and a capsaicin-based Capsolin ointment called “atomic balm” to take the ball every fourth day.
Before finally heeding the advice of Dodgers’ team physician Robert Kerlan and giving up the game, Koufax put together one final, masterful season on the mound in 1966 that included league-leading marks of 27 wins, 27 complete games, 323 innings, five shutouts, 317 strikeouts, and a 1.73 ERA. He also led baseball with a 2.07 FIP, a 190 ERA+, and a 9.8 bWAR, leading Los Angeles to the National League pennant and a trip to the World Series.
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Though the Dodgers were swept by Frank Robinson and the Baltimore Orioles in the Fall Classic that year, Koufax’s accomplishments in 1966 cannot be dimmed. He was an all-star for the sixth consecutive time, won his second straight Cy Young award, the third of his career, and finished runner-up to Clemente for NL MVP honors. Koufax was enshrined in Cooperstown in 1972, and it is possible that baseball will never see a swan song season as dominating ever again.