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"I'd almost rather have a root canal," he said. "Somethinglike this in those days would draw eight people. Where did you allcome from?"
He has become baseball's Garbo.
Kids sometimes think the "K" for strikeouts in scorebooks cameabout because of him. Many think he's the greatest pitcher ever,the original Dr. K.
Koufax doesn't share that opinion.
"Spahn, not only for what he did on the field -- he'll kill mefor doing this -- he pitched in the whole damn century," Koufaxsaid.
Warren Spahn spent 21 seasons in the major leagues and won 363games, the most ever by a left-hander. While Koufax was 165-87 withthe Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, he will be forever rememberedfor going 129-47 from 1961-66, three times finishing with an ERAunder 2 and once coming in just above at 2.04.
He finished second in the All-Century voting, trailing NolanRyan 992,040 to 970,434. He beat out Cy Young, Walter Johnson,Christy Mathewson and Spahn in fan voting. Some pretty greatplayers, he admitted, didn't make the 30-man All-Century team.
"I don't know if it detracts from the legitimacy of it, but itdoes make it partially a popularity contest," he said, adding thatsome greats who missed "played at the wrong time, they played insmall cities."
He looked like anyone's uncle, nondescript, his hair gettingwhiter by the year. You wouldn't know that he led the Dodgers to aWorld Series sweep of the New York Yankees in 1963 and a seven-gamewin over the Minnesota Twins two years later.
His career started slowly when he first joined the BrooklynDodgers in 1955.
"I didn't know where you went for batting practice," he said."Joe Black had to show me around."
Koufax was wild as a youngster -- on the field, not off. He hadtwo winning records in his first six seasons, never finishing morethan two games above .500. After going 8-13 in 1960, everythingchanged. He learned control and wound up 18-13 with 269 strikeoutsthe following year.
"I think the biggest thing was I got to pitch on a regularbasis," he said, adding that his roommate, Norm Sherry, gave him someadvice.
Koufax went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA and 306 in 1963, followed thatwith records of 19-5, 26-8 and 27-9, ERAs of 1.74, 2.04 and 1.73,and strikeouts totals of 223, 382 and 317.
Then, it all stopped. He retired. He took his flaming fastballand nasty curve and went home, becoming a broadcaster for a fewseasons.
"I didn't regret making the decision. I regretted having tomake the decision," he said. "At the time, I was risking the useof my arm -- the normal use of my arm."
He had felt numbness in his fingers, and quit rather than riskpermanent damage. He kept throwing a little until four years ago,when he hurt his rotator cuff. Other than that, the left arm stillworks.
"Normal for a 63-year-old," he said.
He won Cy Young Awards in 1963, 1965 and 1966, the standarduntil Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver and Greg Maddux came along, and waselected to the Hall of Fame in 1971 on the first ballot.
The plaques pile up, but that's not all that is important toKoufax. He talks about teammates, not trophies, about what joy theYankees and Braves were experiencing by playing in the WorldSeries.
"The biggest honor is what happens on the field," he said."Everything else that happens late in life is anticlimactic."
He still watches baseball, admires Mike Mussina, Randy Johnsonand Pedro Martinez and "a bunch of guys here in Atlanta, because Ibelieve in the outside corner." But he doesn't like the currentphilosophy of most pitching coaches.
"Changing speeds is more important than ball movement," hesaid. "I don't believe that."
He also feels more distant from the Dodgers since Peter O'Malleyand sister Terry Seidler sold the team last year to the Foxdivision of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
"I grew up with Peter and Terry. They're about the same age,"Koufax said. "Part of the affinity is the people. I'm still aDodger fan, but it's not the same people."
He shows up at spring training and talks about Dodgers pitchers,makes an occasional appearance to talk with pitchers on the Mets.He was teammates at Lafayette High with team co-owner Fred Wilpon,whom he says was a much better batter and pitcher in high school.He even makes it back to Brooklyn once in a while -- "I went to apretty good Italian restaurant a year ago," he said.
With all the attention players get these days, some wonderwhether Koufax would have put up with it. He says he could.
Koufax talked about how he hasn't changed his telephone numberin 11 years and how some players change theirs every two or threemonths.
But make no mistake, he's not about to become another talkinghead former athlete on TV.
He has no desire to write about himself, no notion of settingthe record straight when untruths are said. He just wants to behimself, not Sandy Koufax, Hall of Famer.
"I don't care what anybody says about me," he said. "What canI do?"
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