This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/31/2012.
Sandy Koufax became a legend by declining to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series due to his observance of Yom Kippur. Don Drysdale pitched the opener, but was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins. In Game 2, Koufax pitched six innings, giving up two runs, but the Twins won the Game 5–1 and took an early 2–0 lead in the series. With the Series tied at 2 to 2, Koufax pitched a complete game shutout in Game 5 for a 3–2 Dodgers lead as the Series returned to Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium for Game 6. The Twins won Game 6 to force a seventh game. Starting Game 7 on just two days of rest, Koufax pitched through fatigue and arthritic pain. Despite giving up on his curveball early in the game after failing to get it over for strikes in the first two innings and pitching the rest of the game relying almost entirely on fastballs, he threw a three-hit shutout to clinch the Series. The performance earned him his second World Series MVP award and also won the Hickok Belt a second time, the first (and only) time anyone had won the belt more than once. He was awarded Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award and the 1965 Cy Young Award with a record of 26-8, 27 complete games, 382 strike outs with a 2.04 ERA. On the left front tail of this historic jersey is the “Tim McAuliffe” manufacturer’s tag. Directly below are two labels, the year “65” and the size “44”. Beneath is a white felt strip tag with “Koufax” embroidered in blue script chain stitch. Across the front is “Dodgers” in blue felt. Player number “32” appears on front in red felt which has been reinforced and on back in blue felt. The jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion, shows excellent use. This shirt is a “10” in every way, pristine and all original from the year when the legend of Sandy Koufax was made.