sandy koufax final tribute - the card that should have been

as most people (i think) know, sandy koufax went out on top, even though the dodgers lost to the orioles in the world series. in 1966, his final season, he won the pitching triple crown and the cy young award, both for the second year in a row. in fact, it was his fifth straight era title, and the third time he had led the league in wins and strikeouts in the previous four seasons. he finished a very close second in the mvp voting (for the second straight year) to roberto clemente, although koufax actually had more first place votes. and he did it all with an arthritic arm that would balloon up after every appearance.

sandy retired right after the world series, which means there was time for topps to omit him from their 1967 set. so, while he appears on the league leader cardsthere is no base card of sandy in the 1967 topps set. silly isn't it? to right that wrong, i created a final tribute card

doc at baseball card recollections used the same photo on his 1967 koufax. if there were a back to this card, you would see a few seasons of mediocrity and then perhaps the greatest four-season stretch in history. and to think that it came at the end of his career...

here's to you sandy!