Koufax

Fifty years ago, the biggest man inside Los Angeles' biggest new landmark was 6-foot-7, 255-pound Frank Howard, the National League rookie of the year in 1960 who helped break in Dodger Stadium by slugging 31 home runs, batting .296 and driving in 119 runs. Howard, 75, resides in Northern Virginia and stays informed about major Dodgers news, such as Magic Johnson being part of the new ownership group and Clayton Kershaw winning last year's NL Cy Young Award, only on a limited basis.

Your browser does not support iframes. Hollywood doesn't love the Dodgers? Check out the video the team unleashed Monday just before their season opener against the Giants. This puppy took some work, and includes superstar athletes (and race car drivers), comedians, movie and TV stars, singers, a rapper and two kids known for being cute. It was nicely conceived by Dodgers employees Jon Chapper and Cat Belanger, and features the following in order of appearance supposedly throwing a baseball around to get it to Dodger Stadium for the first-pitch ceremony: Kobe Bryant, Landon Donovan, Dustin Brown, Wayne Gretzky, George Lopez, Kevin Hart, McKayla Maroney, Sophia Grace & Rosie, Snoop Dog (Lion)

Behold the Baby Blue Dodgers, the rug rats of Chavez Ravine. At first base, the 1992 National League rookie of the year. Behind the plate, the 1993 NL rookie of the year. In right field, a strong--and we do mean strong--candidate for 1994 NL rookie of the year. Seldom have the Dodger boys of summer seemed so boyish. There are nights for Tom Lasorda when it doesn't seem so much a dugout as a day-care center. His team is younger than springtime. Lasorda has socks older than six of his regulars.

It was staged and hokey, and similar to what had been done in the past. Really, there was only one thing that made it special. On opening day, Magic Johnson stood on the mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch and kept shaking off his catcher, Orel Hershiser. So Manager Don Mattingly strode to the mound, took the ball from Magic, turned to the dugout and signaled for a left-hander. And out stepped Sandy Koufax. Pure chills. The greatest left-hander in team and baseball history, dressed in a vintage Dodgers jersey, walked to the mound and the stadium was electric.

There is no concrete reason, astrological explanation nor mathematical hypothesis why 1968 should have been such a dominating season for pitchers. There are, however, a few educated guesses: --Pitching coaches. "Collectively, the game was going in a new direction," said Denny McLain, who won 31 games for the Detroit Tigers. "The professionals had real major league pitching coaches, rather than just the managers' buddies.

Russell Martin is in town, and his presence triggers thoughts of a movie. "Escape From Alcatraz. " Martin is a Yankee now. When he gets in his crouch behind the plate these days, it is in the uniform of Ruth and Gehrig, not Koufax and Reese. Say it ain't so, Joe. Martin was the Dodgers' All-Star catcher in 2007-'08. Many considered him to be the best at his position in baseball in those seasons. He was a homegrown Dodgers draftee, part of the core built by the Dodgers minor league organization to take the fabled team to successes well into the second decade of this century.

On a blustery night featuring timid Dodgers offerings and furious Phillies hacks amid an angry stadium awash in blue blood, you know what I would have liked to see? I would have liked to see those Dodgers prospects whom they liked more than Cliff Lee. Now that would have been ugly. Who are those guys? Where were those guys? They needed to stand amid the ruins of Sunday's 11-0 Philadelphia Phillies victory to witness what the organization sacrificed to keep them. They need to be part of this Dodgers tumble into the ropes in the National League Championship Series, the team falling behind two games to one after the franchise's worst postseason loss in 50 years.

The Dodgers will celebrate their 100th anniversary season without the most celebrated pitcher in franchise history, as Sandy Koufax confirmed Tuesday that he has severed his ties with the organization. Koufax, a Hall of Fame member who served as a minor league pitching instructor since 1979, said he has resigned because he is weary of the job. Although Dodger officials called it a one-year sabbatical, Koufax said he has placed no time frame on the resignation.

The TV career of Edgar Allan Jones Jr. began with a phone call in early 1958 from a producer who needed to cast someone knowledgeable about the law. Although Jones taught law full time at UCLA, he was nervous at the prospect of auditioning: His only acting experience had been a walk-on part in a high school production of "Julius Caesar. " Several professional actors also vied for the job, but the role went to the amateur. Jones was cast as the judge on KABC-TV's "Traffic Court," one of the medium's earliest nonfiction courtroom shows.

Willie Stargell called hitting against Sandy Koufax like "trying to drink coffee with a fork." And so it was. Koufax, the hype-aversive legend sometimes dubbed "the J.D. Salinger of baseball," dominated the sport from 1962-1966 like no pitcher before or since. He made his mark off the field as well, refusing to pitch on Yom Kippur and retiring at his peak in 1966, after 12 years with the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers, to avoid further injuring his arthritic left elbow.

It was a mound of mystique, on a day of magic. Sandy Koufax threw the first pitch. Clayton Kershaw threw the last pitch. Koufax brought thousands of Dodger Stadium fans to their feet. Kershaw kept them there. In a day filled with symmetry and sizzle, Koufax summoned memories of Dodgers greatness while Kershaw offered promise of its return Monday in the Dodgers' season-opening 4-0 victory over the defending champion San Francisco Giants. Koufax threw a ceremonial first-pitch curveball that bounced, and Kershaw threw a bunch of them that baffled, completing a four-hit shutout that was complemented by one shout-out blast - he improbably broke a scoreless tie in the eighth inning with the first home run of his career.

What an experience it has been. When it came time to recuperate from my mini-stroke or whatever it was, the family went to Las Vegas. They said it had been really tough on them. Don't get the wrong idea. It wasn't as if they weren't thinking of me. They brought me along so they'd have the money to eat, drink and feel better again. The Bagger must have been really affected by what happened; he was getting his beer, six bottles to a bucket as if he might not have anyone buy beer for him again.

Catching up on some items on the web: -- Sandy Koufax lets Yahoo's David Brown know he's not all thrilled about being part of the 'Big Lebowski' lore. -- Sore-elbowed Chad Billingsley tells the Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett: “I'm going to be like Takashi Saito. ” -- The one guy the Dodgers didn't want to give up in that blockbuster trade with Boston last summer, Rubby De La Rosa, has impressed Pedro Martinez: “He has an opportunity to be someone special.” -- Tampa Rays manager Joe Maddon likes his early view of James Loney , calling him a “good gamble for the Rays.” -- Feelin' Kinda Blue's Dustin Nosler has unearthed the White Sox video of Hyun-Jin Ryu's spring debut with the Dodgers on Sunday.

PHOENIX — During a recent bullpen session, Hyun-Jin Ryu was offered advice by Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax on how to grip his curveball. Ryu threw the pitch once in his Dodgers debut Sunday and Dewayne Wise of the Chicago White Sox drove it into the right-field corner for a triple. "I guess it really didn't work today," Ryu said through an interpreter as he laughed. Pitching a scoreless third inning in the Dodgers' 2-2 tie with the White Sox at Camelback Ranch, Ryu was otherwise flawless in his first major league game.

— Shortly after noon Sunday, a black SUV pulled up at the front door of Camelback Ranch amid the breathless aura of a royal homecoming. Two Dodgers employees were waiting on the curb. Several others were staring out from inside the main building. Out of the car stepped a wiry, deeply tanned white-haired man wearing black sweat pants and a long-sleeve white shirt. He took off his sunglasses to reveal bright eyes over a huge smile, and here came the whispers. "He's really 77?

Tom Lasorda and Maury Wills applauded the Dodgers' hiring of former teammate Sandy Koufax , who will be a special advisor to Chairman Mark Walter. “I think it's great,” Lasorda said. “Having Sandy here is always a great move. He's very popular and one of the greatest pitchers that ever wore a Dodgers uniform.” Lasorda, a Hall of Fame manager, is one of three other special advisors to Walter. Former pitcher Don Newcombe and Dr. Frank Jobe also share the same title.

A private and reticent Sandy Koufax, one of nine pitchers selected to baseball's all-century team, appeared at a media interview session in conjunction with the team's introduction before Game 2 of the World Series on Sunday and was asked if he was apprehensive about being exposed to an hour of questioning. "There wasn't any apprehension," the former Dodger left-hander said, "but I'd almost rather have a root canal." Koufax, however, was patient and revealing.

Left-hander Mark Guthrie was everything the Dodgers hoped for in 1996, and everything the opposition hoped for last season. The reliever had a bad time, going 1-4 with a 5.32 earned-run average in 62 games. His low point came Sept. 18 at San Francisco when Giant catcher Brian Johnson hit a 12th-inning, leadoff home run against him, giving the Giants a 6-5 victory. With the victory, the Giants moved into a first-place tie with the Dodgers, then went on to win the National League West title.

The Dodgers' new owners have made some nice moves, some intriguing moves and some absolutely blockbuster moves since they took over last May. On Tuesday they upped their game to a completely brilliant move. There's being fan-friendly, and then there is this: The return of Sandy Koufax. Koufax will officially join the organization this season as a special advisor to team chairman Mark Walter. He is scheduled to attend a portion of spring training to work with pitchers and consult with the team throughout the year.

For the first time in more than two decades, Sandy Koufax is officially a Dodger. The Dodgers made one of their most symbolically powerful moves in what has already been an eventful off-season, announcing on Tuesday that Koufax will be a special advisor to Chairman Mark Walter. The Hall of Fame member will attend a portion of spring training to work with pitchers and consult with the team throughout the year. Koufax last had a formal role with the Dodgers in 1989, the final of his 11 seasons as the organization's minor league pitching instructor.