--- description: On June 30, 1962, Sandy Koufax pitched the first of his four no-hitters for the Los Angeles Dodgers. title: When 'Baseball's Most Attractive Bachelor' Pitched His First No-Hitter image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a122f1b5e5cfef4/698855af0b72e3407b6e49aa/150622-sandy-koufax-life-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When 'Baseball's Most Attractive Bachelor' Pitched His First No-Hitter  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 30, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  Mark Kauffman—LIFE Magazine  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 30, 2015 12:00 PM CUT On June 30, 1962, Sandy Koufax pitched his first no-hitter for the Dodgers. Up against the New York Mets, Koufax struck out 13 batters and walked five to lead his team to victory. It was his first of four career no-hitters—a feat achieved, to this day, fewer than 300 times in the history of Major League Baseball. The following summer, LIFE put Koufax on its cover, calling him “The Mostest Pitcher: Most Wins, Most Shutouts, Most Strike-outs.” Southpaw Sandy, as they called the left-handed pitcher, said that his success in that position stemmed from his failure as a batter. Even as a kid, he knew enough about his own weaknesses to tell his coach, who tried him out at pitcher. It was perhaps no coincidence that the photo that graced the magazine’s cover could have doubled as a menswear ad, had they swapped Koufax’s baseball cap for a fedora. The magazine made no secret of his dapper looks, writing that on top of being “the best pitcher in the past decade,” Koufax was also a hot ticket among female fans. The description reads like a personal ad, save for the mention of his then-girlfriend Linda Kennon: --- > “” --- In addition to his penchant for oil paintings and good books, Koufax made his principles quietly clear. Two years after the LIFE cover story, he would make headlines not for his pitching but for refusing to pitch, when he sat out the first game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, one of the most important holidays of the Jewish year. Koufax, for his part, could have done without the attention that went along with his celebrity. “I don’t like to be on display,” he told LIFE, though he obliged when kids mobbed him for his autograph after games. Despite that sentiment, Koufax, now 79, will be forever on display: at 36, he became the youngest player ever inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Mark Kauffman—LIFE Magazine _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Sandy Koufax (number 32) clowning around with his teammates. Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax in action during a game against the Milwaukee Braves. 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax in action during a game against the Milwaukee Braves. 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax in action during a game against the Milwaukee Braves. 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax in action during a game against the Milwaukee Braves. 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax taking the field during a game against the Milwaukee Braves, 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax at bat during a game against the Milwaukee Braves, 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax at bat during a game against the Milwaukee Braves, 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax in action during a game against the Milwaukee Braves, 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax in the dugout during a game against the Milwaukee Braves, 1963. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3931054/sandy-koufax/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3931054/sandy-koufax/"},"headline":"When 'Baseball's Most Attractive Bachelor' Pitched His First No-Hitter","datePublished":"2015-06-30T12:00:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:53.688Z","description":"Sandy Koufax would pitch four no-hitters and one perfect game in his career with the Dodgers","url":"https://time.com/3931054/sandy-koufax/","keywords":["Sports topic","Baseball","photography","1963","LIFE Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a122f1b5e5cfef4/698855af0b72e3407b6e49aa/150622-sandy-koufax-life-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a122f1b5e5cfef4/698855af0b72e3407b6e49aa/150622-sandy-koufax-life-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"August 2, 1963 cover of LIFE magazine.","caption":"August 2, 1963 cover of LIFE magazine.","creditText":"Mark Kauffman—LIFE Magazine","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3931054/sandy-koufax/","name":"When 'Baseball's Most Attractive Bachelor' Pitched His First No-Hitter"}}]}] ```