Koufax Suffers First 1965 Defeat

Apr. 26, 1965 - Sandy Koufax suffered his first defeat of the 1965 season tonight when the Philadelphia Phillies belted him for three runs on four hits in the first inning and went on to beat Los Angeles, 4-3, before 24,703 rooters at Dodger Stadium.

The Phils got what turned out to be the deciding run in the top of the ninth, when Cookie Rojas walked, stole second, and scored on Clay Dalrymple’s single to right off Dodger reliever Ron Perranoski.

Jack Baldschun saved the game for the Phils’ starter, Chris Short, but got into trouble in the last half of the ninth, when the Dodgers got their third run on three singles. Short got credit for his third victory of the season against one defeat, going 6⅓ innings and giving two runs on five hits.

Philadelphia’s first-inning outburst was triggered by Johnny Callison’s homer into the center field bleachers.

The home run must have reminded Sandy of his recent magazine rating of his 10 toughest hitters, a list that included Callison. Koufax included Callison because of the way he lashed the 40-ounce bat around on flamethrowers like Dick Radatz to hit All-Star Game homers.“I saw that story,” Callison said today. “He had his facts wrong. I hit that homer off Radatz with a lighter bat I borrowed from Billy Williams. But I might not have been picked for the game if I hadn’t hit that homer off Koufax a couple days before.”

Whenever a team beats Koufax by scoring four runs, questions about the southpaw’s physical condition are soon to follow.

Surrounded by inquisitive reporters after tonight’s loss, Koufax gave no excuse about his arthritic elbow bothering him.

“My arm is all right,” said Koufax. “I just couldn’t put the ball where I wanted it.”

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s