On 6 October 1965, future Hall of Famer and CY Young award winner Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers declined to pitch the first game of the World Series over the Minnesota Twins, scheduled to take place on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur.
Koufax explained his decision not to pitch in his autobiography, writing, ”There was never any decision to make ... because there was never any possibility that I would pitch. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish religion. The club knows I don’t work that day.”
His decision was fully supported by his team's owner, Walter O’Malley, who said, “I won’t let Sandy pitch on Yom Kippur under any circumstances. I can’t let the boy do that to himself.” O’Malley joked that despite his comfort with Koufax’s decision, he would be “[asking] the Pope what he can do about rain on that day.”
Replacing Koufax was 23-game winner Don Drysdale, who would pitch inefficiently and would not make it through the third inning in a game the Dodgers lost 8-2. Afterward, Drysdale is reported to have jokingly asked Dodgers manager Walter Alston if he wished “I was Jewish today, too.”
While Koufax would be the losing pitcher in the next game, he would more than compensate for missing the first game of the series. Koufax did not allow a run to be scored in game five and in the decisive game seven and was named World Series Most Valuable Player for his superb performance.
Koufax was the second prominent Jewish baseball player to take off on Yom Kippur. In 1934, Detroit Tigers star Hank Greenberg opted to take the day off, despite it being the sixth game of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. His team would lose the game and the decisive game seven the next day.
On May 27, 2010, Koufax was included in a group of prominent Jewish Americans at the first White House reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. In his remarks, President Barack Obama recalled Koufax's decision not to pitch on Yom Kippur, joking that the two had "something in common. He can't pitch on Yom Kippur. I can't pitch."
The decisions made by Koufax and Greenberg inspired several other baseball players. In 1954, Indians third baseman Al Rosen said he would not play in Game 5 of the World Series, which fell on Yom Kippur. However, the series never reached that point as the Giants swept the Indians in four games. Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green made a similar decision in 2001 and took off on Yom Kippur during a competitive pennant race.
