Vin Scully's call of Sandy Koufax's first no hitter
Vin Scully's call of Sandy Koufax's first no hitter| June 30, 1962| Dodger Stadium
“Alright, the ninth inning 5 to nothing Dodgers. And Koufax has finally come face to face with it. Koufax goes to the resin bag and gives it a squeeze. And here we go. Sandy pulls at the peak of his cap. Bends at his waist to read his signs, and goes to work. Into his windup, the pitch to Woodling, curveball for a strike. 5 runs, 11 hits, no errors for the Dodgers. No runs, no hits, no errors for the Mets, in the ninth. Ashburn stands up there at the plate waiting. You’ll hear a roar on every strike and a groan on every ball. Koufax, straddling the rubber. Christopher, a short lead at first, with Harkness directly back of him. Now Richie up at the plate, crowd very quiet. Now, Koufax on the rubber, the one two pitch to Ashburn, fastball, a groundball to Wills, he goes to Burright, they get one, to Harkness, not in time…Kanehl waiting at the plate, Koufax rubbing up the ball. Sandy straddles the rubber, leans on his right knee, stares into Roseboro. Now he is set, Kanehl waiting, strike two pitch, curveball, a big bouncer to Gilliam, Jim has it. Goes to Burright, they get one, and that’s all. Two out in the ninth inning and Felix Mantilla, the batter. And listen to this crowd. So the entire ball game, Koufax, perhaps his biggest night maybe even more important to him than his eighteen strikeouts against the Giants, well it’s all on the line as Felix Mantilla is the batter. On deck, Frank Thomas. Rod Kanehl on first, two out in the ninth, 5-0 Dodgers. They’re all aware of what’s at stake at the moment, 2 and 1 to Mantilla. The big gun for the New York Mets is on deck, Frank Thomas. I would imagine plate umpire, Mel Steiner, feels the tension and the responsibility. They are all well aware of what’s at stake at the moment. Koufax set, and the pitch, fastball, a big bouncer down to Wills, he has it, goes to Burright. No Hitter…(sound of the roaring crowd). All of the Dodgers are out to mob Koufax halfway between third and home. Fairly with his arms around Sandy, pushing him toward the dugout, other Dodgers leaping over the knot of players to just touch him…Peter Reiser, is shaking his hand. Dwayne Anderson is out there to put that valuable left arm in a windbreaker, and a shower of blue pillows down on the field. Sandy Koufax pitches a no hitter for the Dodgers. The first Dodger no hitter since Sal Maglie turned it in, in 1956, and the first Dodger left-hander to pitch a no hitter since way back in nineteen hundred and eight. And he is now walking toward home plate and the crowd giving him a standing ovation.”