Koufax Shuts Out Dodgers

The Los Angeles Times ^ | 02/21/2003 | Jason Reid

[GeneD]

February 21, 2003

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, whose brilliance on the mound captivated fans in the 1960s and defined the Dodgers' greatest era in Los Angeles, has severed ties with the club in protest of another News Corp. subsidiary.

Koufax, a very private man who established a standard for pitching excellence in four of the most dominant seasons in the game's history from 1963-66, recently informed the Dodgers he would no longer attend spring training here at Dodgertown, visit Dodger Stadium or participate in activities while they are owned by the media conglomerate, because of a report in the New York Post that apparently intimated that he is homosexual. The Post is owned by News Corp.

Through friend Derrick Hall, a Dodger senior vice president, Koufax declined comment Thursday night, but officials familiar with the situation said the legendary left-hander, and Vero Beach resident, broke off ties after 48 years in response to a two-sentence gossip item published in the Post on Dec. 19. The Post reported that a "Hall of Fame baseball hero" had "cooperated with a best-selling biography only because the author promised to keep it secret that he is gay. The author kept her word, but big mouths at the publishing house can't keep from flapping." Koufax, who was not specifically named by the paper, is the subject of Jane Leavy's acclaimed biography, "Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy," published last September.

News Corp. is undertaking steps to sell the Dodgers, but the timetable doesn't help team officials saddened by what they perceive as the Post's unfair treatment of Koufax....

[GeneD]

Rupert and his boys are such class acts.

[AppyPappy]

Well, is he? If they accused me of being gay, I would deny it and move on.

[jra]

Judging by Sandy's reaction, the statement is probably true.

That's not a bad reflection on Rupert or NewsCorp, it's an indictment of SK's aberrant lifestyle.

Nice try, Gene.

[Rebelbase]

There is a pitcher/catcher joke in there somewhere.

[mr.pink]

....best-selling biography only because the author promised to keep it secret that he is gay. The author kept her word, but big mouths at the publishing house can't keep from flapping.

If the author kept "her word", how did the "big mouths who started flapping" know what to "flap" about?

[GeneD]

Read further down (I'd have run the whole thing but it's from the LA Times):

Contacted Thursday by The Times, [Jane] Leavy [Koufax's biographer], a former Washington Post reporter, said she assumed the item was about her book. She called it "thoroughly erroneous on all counts. [The item] was blatantly unfair, scandalous and contemptible. It was thoroughly without basis in so far as it had to do with Sandy or any relationship I had with him professionally. It's not the kind of journalism I practice."

But hey, what do you expect from a "conservative" who gives to Al Gore?

[sharktrager]

OK, so if someone is upset about being accused of being gay, that makes them gay?

[MAWG]

So, now we know what he was loading up the ball with , K Y Jelly!

[zarf]

Bullsh*t. Koufax is a class act and has guarded his privacy since he retired. The big mouths who flapped their lips at News Corp. can go to hell.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Did Rupert Murdoch call him gay? Did the Dodgers call him gay?

There is something more to this than an article from a NewsCorp publication calling him gay

A couple of yrs ago.....the NY Post reportedly outed Mike Piazza. Some sports writers affiliated w NewsCorp properties got upset and quit.

They didnt specifically "name" Piazza in particular, but Piazza had a press conference saying he wasnt gay. Of course, I wonder, how Piazza exactly knew they were talking about him?

I bet there is something more to Koufax's Dodger boycott than being outed. Unfortunately most of the people connected to sports (athletes and media people, especially) are quite liberal. And, everyone knows that NewsCorp (specifically Fox News Channel) is not a leftist company

[Whitebread]

A gay co-worker of mine told me many years ago that Sandy Koufax was gay, he aslo told me that Maclolm Forbes was gay. At the time I didn't believe either story, but later found out that he was right about Forbes, and I'll bet that he was right about Koufax too.

[glorgau]

If someone accused me of being gay, I would regard it as libel.

[jra]

I'm straight.

If someone suggested I was gay, I'd roll my eyes, perhaps chuckle, and that would be the end of it.

Sandy's gonna take his marbles and go home. I'm sure the Dodger Nation will be losing LOTS of sleep over his absence.

The point of my post--and I hope this is in terms simple enough for you to understand--is that the story isn't a negative reflection on NewsCorp, it's an indictment of an aberrant lifestyle. SK's reaction appears to validate the veracity of same.

Cheers.

[jra]

For someone whom you claim to be private, he sure is handling this in a very un-private way.

Hmmmmm...

[ER_in_OC,CA]

Let's be fair here --- according to the article linked, the Post's gossip column (which I would assume this was in) didn't even NAME Koufax in the piece.

I can't expect that anyone would want a corporation wish such "synergy" that the paper should avoid topics having anything to do with another NewsCorp company.

I can see the headlines now:
"Mets Luck out to Defeat Classier, Superior Dodgers 11-4."

"Misguided Teacher's Groups Call Fox Series 'Boston Public' Unrealistic, Despite it's Solid Ratings and Brilliant Advertisers."

more...

And as for the "classiness" of News Corp because of their gossip column, then you must find FR lacking in class because of plenty of the same gossip and rude innuendo that flies around here.

[mr.pink]

How do you fit Magic Johnson, Marv Albert, Sandy Koufax, and PJ Carlisemo on one barstool?

[DoughtyOne]

If this was untrue, it would open the paper up to litigation. If is true I would respect Sandy a lot more if he'd just have let it drop. I'm not going to dwell on it if he is a homosexual. However a person who doesn't allow the media to print truth about them, is not a moral person. A good rule in life is to do things you are proud of. If you're not proud of it, then you're not being true to your own convictions.

When these things surface, stand up and defend them with your head held high. It seems to me that Sandy can't do that in this instance. And that makes me sorrier for Sandy than the revelation itself. Whatevery he is, Sandy should be perfectly at ease with it, if he wants true happiness. When it all comes down to it, what we think shoudn't matter a hill of beans to him.

[r9etb]

How do you fit Magic Johnson, Marv Albert, Sandy Koufax, and PJ Carlisemo on one barstool?

Waiting for the punchline, pinky.....

[Alberta's Child]

The Piazza rumors had been lurking under the surface in New York for a long time.

He was actually quite diplomatic in his denial:

"There's nothing wrong with a gay baseball player, but I'm not him."

[Redcloak]

If they accused me of being gay, I would deny it and move on.

Would you then help them to make money?