Nastiest Pitches in MLB History
Sandy Koufax’s Curveball
Now, we move from one great lefty to perhaps the greatest of all-time. Sandy Koufax had one of the most unusually fantastic careers. For the first 6 years of his career, Koufax was just an above-average starter for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. However, Koufax would miraculously transform himself into one of the best pitchers the game has ever seen in his final 6 seasons before prematurely retiring at age 30.
Over that 6 year span, Koufax won 3 Cy Youngs, 3 Triple Crowns, an NL MVP, and was an All-Star in each season. When it comes to mechanics, Koufax was the anti-Randy Johnson. Koufax had picture-perfect body mechanics with a completely over-the-top arm angle. His repertoire consisted of two main pitches: a hard, rising fastball, and an overhand curveball that seemingly dropped out of the sky.
While the natural movement on his fastball was astounding, it was his perfection of the curveball that carries his legacy today. Koufax would scare batters with his fastball, but he would embarrass them with his legendary curve. The pitch could drop anywhere from 12 to 24 inches on its path to home plate, and Koufax had complete control of where he wanted to throw it. He could make it seem like a pitch over your head, and then drop it on the outside corner for a strike. Or, he could throw it at the letters, just to drop in the dirt and make you look foolish.
The mystery of Sandy Koufax’s curveball was perfectly described in a story from Jane Leavy’s biography, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy. In the 1963 World Series versus the Yankees, Koufax struck out Mickey Mantle with nothing but his heater. In Mantle’s second at-bat, Koufax got an early 0-2 lead on the Yankee legend. Mantle had a reputation for crushing curveballs, and Koufax was told to avoid throwing one to him. However, he shook off the catcher twice, and threw a knee-buckling curve for the strikeout. Mantle then turned back to the catcher and said, “How the f*** is anybody supposed to hit that?” (Source: David Dobbs of Wired)
During his six-year reign, Koufax was untouchable. He threw four no-hitters and a perfect game during that span, and lead the league in strikeouts four times. In that very short time, Koufax cemented himself as one of the best pitchers of all time. Still to this day, nobody, not even his contemporary, Clayton Kershaw, can compete with Sandy Koufax’s curveball.