1966: Sandy Koufax retired from baseball

Sandy Koufax retired on this day in 1966.   His arm was spent at age 30.  

I saw him pitch a couple of times on TV, or more specifically when he broke my heart in game 7 of the 1965 World Series against my favorite Twins.

For my money, he was the greatest lefty of our generation.   Just ask the hitters who couldn't hit his wicked pitches!

From 1961 to 1966, his last season with the LA Dodgers, he won 129 games and led the league in strikeouts 4 times.  He was also the ERA champ 5 seasons in a row.

What about the post season?   He pitched the Dodgers to victories in the 1963 and 1965 Series.  

It's a shame that arm troubles cut his career short!

Check out the book by Jane Leavy.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

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1965: Zoilo & Tony-O lead the AL MVP race

On this day in 1965, Zoilo Versalles was named the AL MVP.  He was followed by teammate Tony Oliva.  Zoilo & Tony were two of the key players in the Minnesota Twins who lost to the LA Dodgers in 7 games.   

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1863: Lincoln took the train to Gettysburg

On this day in 1863, President Lincoln took a train to Gettysburg, Pa.   

He delivered the now famous speech the next day.  

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We remember Roberto Goizueta (1931-1997)

We remember Roberto C. Goizueta who was born in Havana on this day in 1931.   He died in 1997.

His story is remarkable:

“Roberto Crispulo Goizueta was born in Havana, Cuba, on November 18, 1931, into a wealthy family with ties to the country’s sugar industry. He attended a Jesuit school in Havana and spent a year at a preparatory school in Connecticut before enrolling in 1949 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1953 he graduated from Yale with a degree in chemical engineering. The same year, he married Olguita Casteleiro in one of Cuba’s most high-profile weddings, and the couple eventually had three children. 

After working for his father for a year, Goizueta answered a classified advertisement in a Havana newspaper for a company seeking a bilingual chemical engineer. The company was Coca-Cola, and after just a few years, he was appointed the chief engineer for the company’s five Cuban bottling plants. But after Fidel Castro seized power from Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Goizueta made plans to defect to the United States. 

Goizueta and his family left Cuba in 1960 with little more than $200 and 100 shares of Coca-Cola stock. They settled in Miami, Florida, where Goizueta continued to work with Coke’s Latin American concerns, while also serving as a chemist for the company’s Caribbean interests. He became a U.S. citizen in 1969.”

He became the CEO in the 1981 and held that position until his death in 1997.  

A great story!  We would definitely recommend his biography!

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1966: Sandy Koufax retired

 

Sandy Koufax retired on this day in 1966.   His arm was spent at age 30.  

 

I saw him pitch a couple of times on TV, or more specifically when he broke my heart in game 7 of the 1965 World Series against my favorite Twins.

 

For my money, he was the greatest lefty of our generation.   Just ask the hitters who couldn't hit his wicked pitches!

 

From 1961 to 1966, his last season with the LA Dodgers, he won 129 games and led the league in strikeouts 4 times.  He was also the ERA champ 5 seasons in a row.

 

What about the post season?   He pitched the Dodgers to victories in the 1963 and 1965 Series.  

 

It's a shame that arm troubles cut his career short!

Check out the book by Jane Leavy.

 

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

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