Sandy Koufax's Perfect Game

Lore & Background

The game was also notable for the high quality of the performance by the opposing pitcher, Bob Hendley of the Cubs. Hendley gave up only one hit and allowed only two baserunners. Both pitchers had no-hitters intact until the seventh inning. The only run that the Dodgers scored was unearned. The game holds the record for fewest baserunners in a game, with two, and the fewest hits in a game. The only hit by either team was by Lou Johnson of the Dodgers, who was also the only baserunner. Koufax's perfect game is a memorable part of baseball lore, particularly since it was not televised. The game was immortalized by Dodgers' play-by-play announcer Vin Scully who instructed the radio crew to record the final inning of the perfect game. He later gifted the recording to Koufax, as he had done so with the pitcher's previous three no-hitters. Scully's call of Koufax's perfect game is often cited as one of the greatest and most memorable calls in the history of baseball.

In Their Own Story

The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the diamond at Dodger Stadium as Sandy Koufax wiped his brow, the silence of the crowd heavy with anticipation. He looked toward the dugout, then locked eyes with the next batter from Chicago, a man who had seen many greats but never one quite like this. With a smooth windup and a blur of motion, the ball left his hand, dropping sharply into the strike zone. The bat swung and missed; two outs in an inning that felt endless. One by one, the Cubs' lineup crumbled under the weight of perfection, until finally, the 27th batter stepped away, and history was made.

Reader's Guide

On September 9, 1965, the second-place Dodgers were playing at home against the eighth-place Chicago Cubs. Bob Hendley, the starting pitcher for the Cubs, was just up from the minor leagues and had a 2–2 record while Koufax, the starting pitcher for the Dodgers, had a record of 21–7 but had not won a game in three weeks. Koufax retired the first batter he faced, Donald Young, on a pop-up. Glenn Beckert struck out looking at a curveball after hitting a line drive down the first base line just barely foul. Billy Williams also struck out looking at a curve ball. In the second inning, Ron Santo fouled out, Ernie Banks struck out on a forkball, and Byron Browne, during his first major league at-bat, lined out. Koufax got Chris Krug to line out to start the third inning, then Don Kessinger flew out and Hendley struck out. In the fourth, Koufax got Young to fly out, Beckert to fly out, and struck out Williams a second time. In the fifth, Santo flew out, Banks struck out, and Browne grounded out. By the bottom of the fifth, neither team had reached first base. That changed when Hendley walked Lou Johnson. Ron Fairly dropped a sacrifice bunt that Hendley bobbled. On the first pitch to Jim Lefebvre, Johnson stole third base. The Cubs' catcher Krug threw the ball over Santo's head and into left field, allowing Johnson to score. The Dodgers had scored a run without an official at-bat or RBI. In the sixth, Krug grounded to shortstop Maury Wills, who threw in the dirt to first baseman Wes Parker, who dug it out. Kessinger hit a dribbler down the third base line, but Jim Gilliam threw him out. Hendley struck out. In the seventh, Koufax threw one pitch that sailed past Young and went to the backstop, but recovered and struck out Young. Beckert flew out. Williams hit a pop fly to left field. In the bottom of the seventh, Johnson broke up Hendley's no-hitter with a bloop hit. Fairly grounded out, stranding Johnson. In the eighth, Koufax struck out all three Cubs, including Banks for the third time. The Dodgers went three up, three down. Koufax struck out the side in the ninth, with the final out made by Harvey Kuenn, who also made the final out of Koufax's 1963 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants.

Did You Know?

• Koufax struck out fourteen batters, the most in a perfect game.
• He struck out at least one batter in all nine innings, the only perfect game pitcher to do so to date.
• The game holds the record for fewest baserunners in a game, with two, and the fewest hits in a game.
• Until Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies no-hit the Cubs on July 25, 2015, the perfect game had been the last no-hitter to be pitched against them.
• In a 1995 poll of members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Koufax's perfect game was selected as the greatest game ever pitched.