"I would think that the mound at Dodger Stadium right now is the loneliest place in the world. Sandy fussing, looks in to get his sign, "O" and two to Amalfitano. The strike two pitch to Joe: fastball, swung on and missed, strike three. He is one out away from the promised land, and Harvey Kuenn is comin' up. So Harvey Kuenn is batting for Bob Hendley. The time on the scoreboard is 9:44. The date, September the ninth, nineteen-sixty-five, and Koufax working on the veteran Harvey Kuenn. Sandy into his windup and the pitch, a fastball for a strike. He has struck out, by the way, five consecutive batters, and that's gone unnoticed. Sandy ready and the strike one pitch: Very high, and he lost his hat. He really forced that one. That's only the second time tonight where I have had the feeling that Sandy threw instead of pitched, trying to get that little extra, and that time he tried so hard his hat fell off — he took an extremely long stride to the plate — and Torborg had to go up to get it. One and one to Harvey Kuenn. Now he's ready: Fastball, high, ball two. You can't blame a man for pushing just a little bit now. Sandy backs off, mops his forehead, runs his left index finger along his forehead, dries it off on his left pants leg. All the while Kuenn just waiting. Now Sandy looks in. Into his windup and the two-one pitch to Kuenn: Swung on and missed, strike two. It is 9:46 p.m. Two and two to Harvey Kuenn, one strike away. Sandy into his windup, here's the pitch: Swung on and missed, a perfect game! (Crowd cheering for 38 seconds) On the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the City of the Angels, Los Angeles, California. And a crowd of twenty-nine thousand one-hundred thirty-nine just sitting in to see the only pitcher in baseball history to hurl four no-hit, no-run games. He has done it four straight years, and now he caps it: On his fourth no-hitter he made it a perfect game. And Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flourish. He struck out the last six consecutive batters. So when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record books, that "K" stands out even more than the "O-U-F-A-X." Word-for-word transcription of Vin Scully's call of the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965. "It's 9.46 pm" Art by Stephan Holland.

"He was genius. Perhaps the only pitcher I have ever seen, and certainly broadcast, where after one batter I would think, he might pitch a no-hitter tonight! The only one, he was the only one who would go out to warm-up and he would get applause like a symphony conductor who had just walked onstage. It was such respect as well as admiration. I don't think we'll see his likes for a long time." Vin Scully on Sandy Koufax. "In 1960 I had made the transition from thrower to pitcher and had not understood that in making the transition I had made a beginning, not an end. You become a pitcher before you become a good pitcher. Nor do I wish to testify under oath that I have not forgotten, do not—and will not—forget from time to time and revert to the wayward ways of my youth. It's usually when I'm tired or mad, but dumbness is not to be completely discounted either. In the 1965 All-Star Game I was terribly wild. I came into the game in the sixth inning and immediately threw seven straight balls. Although I got out of the inning, it was a struggle with every batter. There was not a thing wrong with my arm. My arm was fine. My head was something else again. Knowing that I was only going to pitch an inning or two, I had thought: "Well, hell, I'll just go in and throw as hard as I can." And there I was, right back where I'd been ten years ago, wild high." Sandy Koufax. 3x World Series Champion 3x MLB Cy Young Award 2x World Series MVP 1x NL MVP. "Too bad about Koufax's sore arm. He can't shave. Or brush his hair. All he can do is pitch." Harry Walker, Mgr. Pittsburgh Pirates. Art by Graig Kreindler.

You hold the deciding vote in the Hall of Fame case of Manny Ramirez. Does he get in?