Dec. 18, 1962 - Southpaw Sandy Koufax and right-hander Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers walked off with practically all the National League’s pitching honors for 1962. Koufax, who appeared certain to break his own league modern strikeout record until he suffered a finger injury in July, compiled a 2.54 earned run average that was by far the best in the circuit. Drysdale not only won the most games, 25, but also started the most, 41, pitched the most innings, 314, faced the most batters, 1,289, and led the league with 232 strikeouts. Koufax, out of action almost two months, still struck out 216 batters. Last year, he struck out 269 batters to break Christy Mathewson’s modern league record of 267. Bob Feller of Cleveland established the major strikeout mark with 348 in 1946.
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