By the end of 1960 Sandy Koufax had pitched six seasons and had a losing record. He went 8–13 that year with a 3.91 earned run average, struck out 197 and walked 100, and said afterward that he was unhappy with it.
In 1961 it changed. Taking Norm Sherry's advice to ease off, he went 18–13, was named to both of that summer's All-Star teams, and struck out 269 batters, the most in the majors and a National League record, breaking the 267 that Christy Mathewson had held for fifty-eight years.
Six seasons and a losing record, and then 269 strikeouts.
This is the card that was on the shelves that year. Topps made 587 cards in 1961, fifteen more than the year before, numbered to 589 with a few gaps and issued in seven series. Number 344 is in the fourth. Koufax is shown in his follow-through, a pitch just delivered and held for the photographer, in a Los Angeles uniform, with his position and team along the bottom.
He appears twice more in the set, on the National League strikeout leaders card and on a card titled “Dodger Southpaws,” but #344 is his own. The scarce part of the 1961 set is the seventh series, the high numbers from 523 on, and #344 is nowhere near it; the card turns up in good condition more readily than many of his others.
It is a card from just before the famous years. Two seasons later he won twenty-five games, the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player award.
