Thanks for posting the link. Some observations:
Did you notice how the batters generally stayed in the batters box, and the game seemed to move along?
In the 1st or 2nd inning, a ball was fouled into the stands and the umpire throws a new ball to Koufax. Before a pitch is made he gets the ball back and inspects it. In the 6th inning Koufax throws a pitch in the dirt and Rosboro picks it up and returns it to Koufax. The umpire doesn't replace it. Later a Twin hits a foul ball down in the ground on the 3rd base side. Billy Martin (3rd base coach) picks up the ball and returns the ball to Koufax. Again no umpire intervention to replace it.
As for the choice of Koufax over Drysdale, much is made today of Him going on 2 days rest. He normally pitched on 3 days rest and 2 days was not unheard of. Its the last game of the season and they were set up better for in game decisions with a left, right, left versus a right , left, left plan. Koufax was always a sore armed pitcher. Even though he wasn't at the top of his game, I thought he pitched better the last 2 innings than the 1st two. The mound was higher then than now, which is less stressful on the arm. I believe most of the modern day arm troubles stem from the lowering of the mound and the multiple variety of pitches and delivery points employed by pitchers today.
In the '60s the American League was a fast ball league. AL umpires called a higher strike than the NL The AL played In mostly older, smaller ball parks, all of which lent itself to playing station to station baseball and relying on the long ball. The NL had pitchers with more stuff...Koufax, Gibson, Drysdale, Marichal and many others. Put them in those bigger multi-purpose stadiums, many with artificial turf, and that led to playing "small" ball. The main reason why the DH was added by the AL, was because they were losing to the NL in attendance and wanted to add some offense to their game, which was suffering.
The Twins were probably 1st pitch swinging at the beginning of the game because the were a fast ball hitting club and figured to get fast balls early in the count. Koufax's out pitch was considered to be an unhittable curve when he was on. His legend stood him in good stead.
Lou Johnson was nick named Sweet Lou. His attitude seemed to throw an upbeat light on the whole team. He was the replacement for Tommy Davis, who broke his ankle sliding into 2nd the 17th game of the season. Angelenos thought the season ended there, so he was a very happy surprise. Lou's presence contributed as much as anybody to the success of the season and was a feel good story for MLB. He's still involved in the Dodger Organization in many PR events.
3/18/2015 3:15 AM (edited)