Sandy Koufax

August 19, 2002
Sportswriter Leavy describes her book as not so much a biography of a ballplayer as a social history of baseball, with the former star pitcher's career as the barometer of change. While both a preface and an introduction spin Leavy's storytelling wheels, a compelling, literary social history does indeed get rolling. Koufax refused to participate in the project, so Leavy has spoken to hundreds of people with something to share on the former Brooklyn/L.A. Dodger—Hank Aaron, Joe Torre, childhood friend and Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon and even the old Dodgers equipment manager among them—and their testimonies make for a rich baseball pastiche and an engaging look at the game's more innocent period. Koufax capped off his first year by watching the 1955 World Series against the hated Yankees from the bench, and following the Dodgers' historic victory headed from Yankee Stadium to class at Columbia University, where he studied architecture (in case the baseball thing didn't work out). Even when Leavy's historical anecdotes are quaint, they prove timely: she details Koufax holding out for a better contract with fellow star pitcher Don Drysdale in '66, paving the way for free agency. While Leavy's interest in Koufax's Jewish heritage at times seems to border on the obsessive, she delivers an honest and exquisitely detailed examination of a complex man, one whose skills were such that slugger Willie Stargell once likened hitting against Koufax to "trying to drink coffee with a fork."

A LEFTY'S LEGACY is an amazing biography of an incomparable pitcher, a story that exemplifies courage, tenacity, and modesty. Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, who immortalized Koufax in his poem "Night Game," reads most of the book, with alternating chapters read by the author. The story is a fascinating one, and Leavy reminds us that Koufax on the mound was poetry in motion. Pinsky is a moving reader, whether performing his own poems or classic haiku. But his New Jersey baritone is more a reflection of bookishness than the Brooklyn barrio, making him an unusual choice to read a book about professional baseball. Parents and teachers should take note that the book is peppered with locker-room language inappropriate for younger listeners. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine