Dec. 17, 1964 - Four key men reached terms today with the Dodgers for a grand total in salaries of more than $200,000.
Buzzie Bavasi, the general manager, announced at a news conference that the club had come to terms with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale (pictured), pitchers, and Willie Davis and Tommy Davis, outfielders.
The highest salaries, estimated at $75,000 each, went to Koufax and Drysdale. The biggest raise, estimated at $10,000, was received by Willie Davis to put his salary in the neighborhood of $30,000.
Tommy Davis, whose batting average fell 50 points last season, received the biggest cut. But Bavasi stipulated that the left fielder would be back at more than $40,000 in salary if he had a good season.
“The club doesn’t like to cut salaries,” Bavasi said, “but we feel that we must make cuts when players have bad seasons, just as we feel obligated to give them raises when they have good years.”
Drysdale, with a record of 18-16, refused to put the blame on his teammates for their lack of hitting that resulted in his dropping five games in which his team failed to score and losing four other games by 1‐0 scores.
“We just didn’t jell the way we did in 1963 when we won the pennant,” Drysdale said, “but the players put out the same effort.”
Koufax said the sore elbow that put him on the sidelines the final six weeks of the season was sound, but he would not test the arm until spring training.
“If I hadn’t tried to come back too soon, I probably could have pitched the final couple of weeks,” he said. “But when a pitcher has 19 wins, he’s anxious to get that 20th and I tried to pitch too soon.”
Willie Davis said he had felt no particular delight in learning that the Mets would have paid $500,000 for him.
“After all, I wouldn’t get any of that money,” he said. “It would go to the club, and I’m happy to be playing in my home area rather than 3,000 miles away.”
Tommy Davis admitted he had tried too hard to hit after a slow start because of injuries and began guessing pitches instead of being relaxed at the plate.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments