Sanford “Sandy” Koufax was born on the 30th December 1935 in Brooklyn, New York City USA of Jewish ancestry. He is a retired baseball pitcher, a member of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball(MLB). Koufax is the winner of three MLB Championships, three Babe Ruth Awards as the Best play-offs player, a Most Valuable Player Award of the National League and six awards for All-Star, one of the most successful pitcher’s of all time. After playing baseball professionally from 1955 to 1966, in 1972 Koufax was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
How rich is the retired baseball player? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the total size of Sandy Koufax net worth is equal to $10 million, as of the data presented in the middle of 2016.
Sandy Koufax Net Worth $10 Million
To begin with, Koufax grew up in Brooklyn and initially played basketball at Lafayette High School. As a student of the University of Cincinnati he was also a promising basketball player, yet he decided to try baseball, and soon he was ‘scouted’ by the Dodgers, and signed to a professional contract of over $6,000 salary, and $14,000 bonus – his net worth was assured.
Concerning his professional career, Koufax made his debut in 1955 with the Dodgers. His first six years were unremarkable. His run average was constant at moderate 4 to 5, and he lost more games than he won. But as a reserve player, he was part of that team that won the World Series in 1959. However, the ambitious often stubborn and unprofessional Koufax was so frustrated that he seriously considered retirement at the end of the 1960 season, but was persuaded to stay-on for another year. Koufax understood that he had to change his professional attitude, so to gain more stamina, he ran for hours, and improved his throwing technique. Koufax was suddenly characterized as one of the best pitchers of the MLB – he recorded 269 strikeouts to break a National League record, and won 18 of his 31 games. In 1963, Koufax made his final breakthrough, when he won the Triple Crown for pitchers by most wins import (25, with only 5 defeats), most strikeouts thrown (306) and the lowest ERA (1.88) listed. He led the Dodgers into the World Series in 1963 and dominated the New York Yankees, leading the Dodgers to their second World Series win, and winning the athlete of the year award from the Associated Press.
Although he had arm problems due to joint degeneration, he won 19 games and lost only 5 in 1964. The next year he was prescribed to take cortisone and capsaicin for chronic elbow pain, but his performances remained excellent; the Dodgers made it to the World Series against the Minnesota Twins. There Koufax made history when he refused to play the World Series because it took place on Yom Kippur, and participation was incompatible with his Jewish faith. This attracted nationwide attention because it showed the tension between professional opinion and religious beliefs. For American Jews Koufax became the hero. Yet Koufax dominated the rest of the series, led the Dodgers to their third championship victory, and won a lot of sympathy for his decision: the magazine Sports Illustrated elected him the sportsman of the year 1965, and from Associated Press he received the nomination as Athlete of the Year. In 1966 Koufax’s arm was so damaged that he decided to continue only for a year, but still ended the season impressively by winning 27 games. The Dodgers reached the World Series, but were defeated.
Finally, in the personal life of the former baseball player, he was married to Anne Widmark(1969-82) and to Kimberley Francis(1985-98). Currently Sandy is single.
