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| Sandy Koufax was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1963, and won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Awards by unanimous votes, when there was only one Cy Young award made for all major league pitchers, unlike now when an award is made for each league. In all three seasons, he won the pitcher's triple crown by leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (he actually led both leagues in all three categories). A notoriously difficult pitcher for batters to face, he was the first major leaguer to pitch more than three no-hitters (including the first perfect game by a left-hander since 1880), to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched in his career (6.79; batters hit .205 against him), and to strike out more than nine batters (9.28) per nine innings pitched in his career. He also became the 2nd pitcher in baseball history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts, and the first to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts. Retiring at the peak of his career, he became, at age 36 and 20 days, the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Koufax is also known as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes of his era in American professional sports. His decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because game day fell on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, garnered national attention as an example of conflict between social pressures and personal beliefs. |
| Rod Carew won the American League's Rookie of the Year award in 1967 and was an All-Star in every year but his final one, 1985. In his career, Carew won seven batting titles. In 1972, Carew led the American League in batting, hitting .318, and remarkably, without hitting a single home run for the only time in his career. During the 1977 season, Carew batted .388, which at the time was the highest since Boston's Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. For his efforts, Carew won the American League's Most Valuable Player award. In 1975, Carew joined Ty Cobb as the only players to lead both the American and National Leagues in batting average for three consecutive seasons. Carew achieved the feat in 1973, 1974, and 1975. Carew also stole home 17 times in his career, including seven times in the 1969 season. |
| Eric Dickerson was selected second overall in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. An immediate pro success, he established rookie records for most rushing attempts (390), most rushing yards gained (1,808) and most touchdowns rushing (18), including another two receiving touchdowns. His efforts earned him All-Pro, Pro Bowl, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors. In his sophomore season, Dickerson continued his onslaught of the NFL record book. Eleven times during that season he gained more than 100 yards rushing, breaking the record of 100-yard games in a season held by O.J. Simpson. His 2,105 total yards rushing in the 1984 NFL season beat Simpson’s 1973 NFL season record of 2003 yards rushing in a single season. To date, no one has rushed for more yards in a single NFL season. However, it should be noted that Simpson's career high rushing total came in a 14-game season, whereas Dickerson's mark was set during a 16-game season. But it should also be noted that Dickerson's 5.6 yards per carry led the Rams to a playoff birth in 1984, while Simpson's Bills missed the playoffs and were widely criticized for focusing more on O.J.'s rushing stats as opposed to trying to win games. |
| Elgin Baylor was a gifted shooter, a strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. Renowned for his acrobatic maneuvers on the court, Baylor regularly dazzled Lakers fans with his trademark hanging jump shots. He is regarded as one of the game's all-time greatest players. As a rookie in 1958-59, Baylor finished fourth in the league in scoring (24.9 points per game), third in rebounding (15.0 rebounds per game), and eighth in assists (4.1 assists per game). He registered 55 points in a single game, then the third-highest mark in league history behind Joe Fulks's 63 and Mikan's 61. Baylor won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and led the Lakers, from last place the previous year, to the NBA finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics on April 9, 1959, in the first four game sweep in finals history. Thus began the greatest rivalry in the history of the NBA finals between the Celtics and the Lakers. During his career, he helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals eight times (although never winning). Baylor was the last of the great undersized forwards, in a league where many guards are now his size or bigger. Baylor's signature shot was a running bank shot, which he was able to release quickly and effectively over taller players. In 1977, Baylor was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1980 he was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team and again in 1996, he was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. |
