Special K

The incomparable Sandy Koufax – less than a month removed from pitching in the last game of his Hall of Fame career – wins his second straight Cy Young Award 59 years ago today.

Koufax not only wins the award for a then-record third time, but he dominates the voting by being unanimously selected for the second straight season.

The 1966 season also marks the last time Major League Baseball issues just a single Cy Young Award for both leagues.

Not that anyone from either league could match Koufax’s final two seasons as Los Angeles Dodgers’ left-hander goes 26-8 with two saves and a 2.04 earned-run average in 1965 and then 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA in 1966.

Alas, Koufax eventually is done in not by the hitters, but by an arthritic left elbow that forces his retirement after the 1966 season at the age of 30.

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