All Ties With Dodgers Are Cut, Koufax Says

The Dodgers will celebrate their 100th anniversary season without the most celebrated pitcher in franchise history, as Sandy Koufax confirmed Tuesday that he has severed his ties with the organization.

Koufax, a Hall of Fame member who served as a minor league pitching instructor since 1979, said he has resigned because he is weary of the job. Although Dodger officials called it a one-year sabbatical, Koufax said he has placed no time frame on the resignation.

“It’s not a sabbatical as far as I’m concerned,� Koufax said from his Vero Beach, Fla., home. “As of right now, I’m not working for them.�

Two sources said Koufax is upset with the Dodgers’ player development system, which has produced only three of the nine projected opening day starters for 1990. Only 17 of the 38 players on the major league roster are products of the organization.

“He thinks things have changed too much,� one source said.

Added another: “I would not be surprised to see him show up with another team.�

Both Koufax and the Dodgers denied that there was any friction.

“I have no animosity toward the Dodgers,� Koufax said. “There is no problem there. They have a lot of capable people, and I am going to miss them. It’s got nothing to do with them. It’s all me.

“I just got tired of what I was doing. Nothing against the job--I just didn’t want it anymore.�

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, said: “There are no philosophy problems that I’m aware of. His relationships with people here have been very good.�

Dodger owner Peter O’Malley said that Koufax first mentioned “taking some time off� last spring. They discussed it throughout the year before formalizing the break in December.

Said O’Malley: “Sandy just told me he wants to take time off to travel and do some things that he has always wanted to do, and I told him I respect that, I admire that, I wish I could do that. I wished him the best, and we’re looking forward to the day when he wants to come back.�

Claire said he interpreted Koufax’s resignation as being temporary, adding: “We are thinking it is just going to be a year. We told him to take whatever time he needs.�

Koufax’s loss inflicts further damage on the image of an organization that has had four losing seasons in the last six years. Before this slide, the Dodgers had only four losing seasons in the previous 20 years.

“Any time you lose a man like Sandy Koufax, it is a blow,� said Don Newcombe, the Dodgers’ director of community relations and former Brooklyn pitcher. “The Dodgers alone is just a name. It is the people like Koufax and Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson . . . and maybe even Don Newcombe . . . who make them the Dodgers . The history of this team is in its people. The only way it will continue is through its people.�

Koufax, 54, has remained somewhat mysterious since retiring in 1966 at 31. During his 12-year career, he won the National League Cy Young Award three times and was the NL’s most valuable player once. He was also voted MVP in two of his four World Series.

He still holds the single-season major league record for strikeouts, 382 in 1965. He also holds the Dodger record in five of 10 major pitching categories.

He has shunned the spotlight since retirement, living in remote areas of Northern California and Idaho. He has never been a willing participant in publicity events and is known for such actions as throwing one pitch at an old-timers’ game before leaving. There were reports from some Dodger officials that he was resigning to move to New Zealand, which he also denied.

“I recently vacationed down there but, to my knowledge, I’m not moving there,� Koufax said.

Newcombe said he was unware of Koufax’s resignation. He had spoken to Koufax a couple of weeks ago, when Newcombe arranged for some autographed baseballs to be raffled at a charity function Saturday, which has been proclaimed Don Newcombe Day in Los Angeles.

“This catches me completely by surprise,� Newcombe said. “But you should know that one of the balls he sent me was an old Brooklyn autographed ball from one of his shelves. You knew that had to be important to him, yet he was willing to give it to charity. That’s Sandy.�

Officials and players said Koufax’s loss won’t be especially noticeable on the field.

“We are very deep in pitching instructors, in former major leaguers, and yes, while we will miss Sandy, we will be fine,� O’Malley said.

According to Dodger minor league pitchers, who say most of their work is with instructors Dave Wallace and Claude Osteen, it was Koufax’s image that they will miss most.

“It’s a real mental boost when Koufax would help you,� said pitcher Mike Munoz, who has spent four years in the minor league system. “Guys like to say, ‘Hey, Sandy Koufax taught me something.’ �

Bill Bene, the Dodgers’ top June draft choice in 1988, said that advice from Koufax was always special.

“There was always an aura about him; all the young guys are drawn to him,� Bene said. “I remember he told me that I had to hang in there, that one day it would all click for me. And I listened, because I knew that was the way it worked in his career.�

Not that Koufax didn’t also help the youngsters with the basics.

“The more you are around, the more you realize how much you should listen to him,� Bene said. “He gave me tips on my leg drive, and how I should try holding onto a gate or a pole to keep my body back during my windup. It really proved to be effective. I only wish I had listened sooner.�