On Saturday evening, the popular Twitter (x.com) site @baseballinpix posted this:
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Hall of Famer Henry Louis Aaron – AKA: Hank Aaron – AKA: “Hammerin’ Hank,” spent 23 seasons in Major League Baseball – 21 with the former Milwaukee Braves and two with the re-branded Milwaukee Brewers. During that time, he slashed a combined and incredible .308 / .374 / .555 / .928 with a combined 755 home runs and an MLB-record 2,297 RBIs. He was also a 25-time All-Stat (the most in MLB history), a three-time Gold Glover, a two-time batting champion, a World Series Champion and MLB’s MVP in 1957 as a 23-year-old. (Did I mention he’s a Hall of Famer?)
Hall of Famer Sanford Koufax – AKA: Sandy Koufax – AKA: “The Left Arm of God,” spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball – three with the Brooklyn Dodgers and nine with the relocated Los Angeles Dodgers. During that time, he posted a combined and incredible 165-87 record with a combined 2.76 ERA, 2,396 strikeouts, 817 walks (48 intentional), and allowed a combined (and minuscule) 204 home runs to the 9,497 opposing batters he faced. He was a seven-time All-Star, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, a three-time Triple Crown winner, a five-time ERA title holder, a four-time World Series Champion, a two-time World Series MVP, and was MLB’s MVP in 1963. (Did I mention he’s a Hall of Famer?)
As noted above, the two Hall of Famers squared off against each other 130 times, during which “Hammerin’ Hank,” collected 42 hits (including seven home runs) off of “The Left Arm of God,” the most of any of those 9,497 batters Koufax faced.
As every Dodgers and baseball fan on the planet knows, Koufax’s historic career was cut short by what was then called “arthritis” in his left elbow, a condition which is now correctable with what is now (very) commonly referred to as Tommy John Surgery. (Can you even imagine if it had been called Sandy Koufax Surgery?).
If you are a fan of the game, how can you not absolutely love this stuff!?”
Play Ball!
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