June 5, 1964 - Sandy Koufax revealed today that his no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies was the result of a careful study of his pitching form that disclosed he had been making a mistake in his delivery.
In New York, where the Dodgers will face the Mets, Koufax said: “I have been studying pictures in magazines of my form and suddenly realized I had been stepping too far to the left with the right foot across my body.”
He continued: “So, in the first few innings I concentrated on making an adjustment, stepping more to the right. It felt fine. I had the old pitching rhythm back. As a matter of fact, by the fifth inning, I forgot all about it. Everything was natural again.”
Koufax issued only one walk. He said the fourth ball to third baseman Richie Allen in the fourth, the only Philadelphia player to reach base, was a low fastball.
“It’s a funny thing,” he remarked. “Doug Camilli [Dodger catcher] called for a curveball. I shook him off for the fastball. Then while I was winding up, I thought to myself, ‘Doug’s right, curveball would be better.’ But I didn’t think fast enough, and instead of stepping off the rubber I went through with the fastball. It was low, no doubt of that.”
In the modern era, only one other pitcher has thrown three no-hitters: Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians, whose 18-year career ended in 1956. Feller no-hit Chicago, 1-0, on opening day, 1940; New York, 1-0, April 30, 1946; and Detroit, 2-1, July 1, 1951.
Two other pitchers have hurled three no-hitters — Lawrence Corcoran of Chicago (1990-82-84) in the National League and Cy Young of Boston in the American League (1900-04-08).
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