Sandy Koufax Throws His Second Career No-Hitter

On May 11, 1963, Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants, winning 8-0 at Dodger Stadium. It was the second no-hitter of his career and the start of a three-year stretch in which Koufax would add two more, including a perfect game.

The Giants lineup that day featured Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, and Harvey Kuenn, with Juan Marichal pitching on the other side. This was not a weak opponent. San Francisco had won the pennant the previous year. Koufax cut through them anyway.

He carried a perfect game into the eighth inning before walking Ed Bailey on a full count. He walked McCovey on four pitches with two outs in the ninth, the only real wobble in an otherwise dominant performance. He threw 111 pitches, struck out four, and got seven ground ball outs. The final out came when Kuenn bounced a grounder back to Koufax, who carefully tossed the ball to first baseman Ron Fairly.

The no-hitter was part of an astonishing 1963 season for Koufax. He went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA and 306 strikeouts, winning both the Cy Young Award and the NL MVP. He had not yet allowed a run at Dodger Stadium when he took the mound that night, carrying a scoreless streak through 24 and two-thirds innings at home. The Dodgers won the World Series that October, sweeping the Yankees in four games. Koufax won Games 1 and 4.

He became the only active pitcher besides Warren Spahn with two career no-hitters after this game. Within three years, he would set the record with four. The second one, against that loaded Giants lineup, may have been the performance that announced the peak years had arrived.