Mesa Musings:

As a youth, I idolized Sandy Koufax.

I twice saw him pitch in person at Dodger Stadium. I was privileged to see him again Saturday night at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. He appeared with Dodger Manager Joe Torre. The program raised $700,000 for Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation.

Koufax, the great Dodger southpaw, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, could throw a fastball through a brick wall. He had an elegant, smooth delivery, and his fastball rocketed to the plate at a velocity approaching 100 mph.

With an “over-the-top” delivery, Koufax produced a devastating four-seam rising fastball, and also a wicked overhand curve. He occasionally threw change-ups and forkballs.

The legendary Branch Rickey — the man who broke baseball’s color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson — once said that Koufax had the greatest arm he’d seen.

Koufax played for the Dodgers before the era of bloated salaries. He signed in 1955 for a $14,000 bonus, and pulled down $6,000 his first season.

He replaced another lefty on the roster, a journeyman by the name of Tommy Lasorda.

Koufax earned just more than $100,000 in 1966, his final year, and retired at the age of 30 with an arthritic elbow. Sadly, his career ended just as he’d reached the pinnacle of success.

The “man with the golden arm” threw four no-hitters during his career, including a perfect game. He also captured three Cy Young Awards, and had 18 strikeouts in a single game.

In his appearance at the Nokia, No. 32 never looked better. I’m as much in awe of Koufax today as I was five decades ago.

Early in his career Koufax could be frustrating — for this fan anyway. I first became aware of him in 1958, when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to L.A. He was 22; I was 13. He went 11-11 that year, leading the National League in wild pitches.

I recall many times during those early seasons broadcaster Vin Scully saying on air: “Koufax throws high, ball one. In the dirt, ball two. All the way to the backstop, ball three. High, ball four.”

“Sandy…those walks will kill you!” I’d yell into my Magnavox.

Why was he so wild early on? Lasorda jokingly says today that Koufax “couldn’t hit a barn door from 60 feet.” His record was just 36-41 in his first six seasons.

“I had a chance to be better earlier,” Sandy told the audience Saturday.

He wasn’t getting enough starts, and wasn’t part of a regular four-day rotation. In frustration, he almost quit baseball after the 1960 season. Thank goodness he reconsidered.

He worked with catcher Norm Sherry on control, and took a little off his fastball. It worked.

Koufax had a breakout 18-13 record in 1961, and eclipsed Christy Mathewson’s National League record for single-season strikeouts.

From 1962 to ’66 Koufax went 111-34. In his last two seasons, he was virtually untouchable, winning 26 and 27 games. He led the league in earned run average five times, strikeouts three times and shutouts three times.

A great high school basketball player who could jump, the 6-foot-2 Koufax was gifted with powerful legs, long arms and huge hands.

“Those long fingers put the spin on his curveball,” Torre said.

He was quiet — the media called him “aloof” and “reclusive” — but a fire burned within. He was a competitor. He threw an incredible 141 complete games during his career, and his goal for each game was to be the “last man standing.”

Though quiet and introspective, he was by no means meek. He once intentionally drilled Hall of Fame outfielder Lou Brock in the ribs with a fastball because Brock had either laughed or smiled at him from first base after singling.

Koufax and teammate Don Drysdale made up one of the most fearsome pitching duos in baseball history. The 6-foot-5 Drysdale had a nasty sidearm fastball, and an even nastier disposition. Polar opposites, Koufax and Drysdale intimidated in different ways.

“We drove each other,” Sandy said. “We made each other better.”

They helped make adolescence a pretty neat time for this kid from Costa Mesa.

JIM CARNETT lives in Costa Mesa. His column runs Wednesdays.