When Sandy Koufax Did Not Pitch on Yom Kippur

A story that may be even more important today…. and a story we hope you share with current and future generations.

The legendary pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sandy Koufax, informed his team that he would not be able to pitch on Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it was Yom Kippur, Wednesday, October 6, 1965.

This decision made by Sandy gave all young Jewish children and their families such a sense of pride that the best pitcher in baseball was not available due to his observance of the most solemn of days in the Jewish calendar. As great as he was already, he became the biggest hero for the American Jewish community who felt such a wonderful sense of Judaic pride.

As legend has it, Koufax pitched in 3 of the next 6 games ( winning two of the games by shut out) and won game 7 on only 2 days of rest!

We hope you can read the full story courtesy of ESPN’s Jim Caple here.