Vintage Tube: Vin Scully interviews Sandy Koufax, ‘the fella who gave the Dodgers the championship’ in ’65

In re-introducing him to fans watching Game 7 of the 1965 World Series on TV at home, legendary broadcaster Vin Scully reminded legendary Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax that he said he "felt 100 years old" after his previous start, which came three days earlier in Game 5.

After joking that he felt "101" after winning Game 7, Koufax added: "I feel great, Vinnie. I know that I don't have to go out there for another four months."

What, you thought Koufax was going to say "I don't care"?

It's funny, but once the adrenalin from competing and the elation of the moment wore off, Koufax probably would start to feel 101 years old for real. Because of shoulder pain, he would compete only one more season, in '66, and call it career at (actual) age 30. It was our loss, as baseball fans, but understandable in Koufax's position.

It also leads us into the situation the Dodgers find themselves in Monday.

Down 0-2 against the St. Louis Cardinals heading back to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 and maybe 5, they might ask their Koufax of today, Clayton Kershaw, to pitch on short rest at some point in the series if they rally. It's asking a lot, though Kershaw would be open to doing it, and it's also three days of rest. Pitchers do that sometimes.

The Dodgers of '65 asked Koufax (or perhaps he volunteered) to pitch again with two days of rest. And he threw another complete game, to boot. To do that today, for other than a short stint of an inning or two, would be unheard of. It's easy to conclude that such sacrifices had something to do with Koufax not pitching for much longer.

The postseason marches on!
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