Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — A legend has taken up permanent residence outside Dodger Stadium. Where once only the statue of Jackie Robinson welcomed visitors to the ballgame, there is now company. The Dodgers today, in a lovely pregame ceremony, unveiled the newest showpiece to the stadium, a wonderful statue of Dodger Hall-of-Famer Sandy Koufax. When Koufax was a young Dodger prospect, the thought of being immortalized next to a truly transformational figure like Robinson was the furthest thing from his mind.
“At that time sharing this space with him would have been absolutely unimaginable. And today, it’s still one of the greatest honors of my life,” the 86-year-old Koufax said with a smile.
It’s the 50th anniversary of Koufax, along with Robinson and Roy Campanella, being the first Dodgers to have their numbers retired. And, it’s also been 50 years since Koufax, his career prematurely ended by injury, was the youngest player eve elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 19.5-ton statue is the work of Branly Cadet, who also sculpted the statue of Robinson sliding into home with abandon. The Robinson statue was unveiled in 2017, but the Dodgers chose to delay the Koufax ceremony until the pandemic was a bit further in the rearview mirror. The new sculpture captures Koufax’s signature leg kick as he prepares to throw. It also shows the determined and calm demeanor on his face as he prepares to deliver the pitch.
Sandy Koufax was a two-time World Series MVP with the Dodgers. The lefty won three Cy Young Awards, threw four no-hitters, and was 165-87 in a 12-year career with Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
There was no shortage of star power on hand to celebrate with Sandy and his family. Former Dodger manager Joe Torre was in attendance, as was Clayton Kershaw, both of whom spoke briefly during the event.
“I hope a kid sees the statue and asked his mom or dad about Sandy Koufax and I hope that they tell him he was a great pitcher,” Kershaw said in his remarks. “But more than that he was a great man who represented the Dodgers with humility, kindness, passion and class,”
“And for every rookie who sees it for the first time and asks if he was any good. I hope the veterans tell him simply that he was the best ever do it,” he said.
Amen, Clayton, Amen. And sometime in the not too distant future, it will be your image in bronze joining them as well.
