sandy koufax is in my hall of famer collection

how great is it that i, as a dodger fan, can claim sandy koufax (along with jackie robinson, roy campanella, pee wee reese, don drysdale, and even bill russell) while fans of no other teams are able to do so.  i wasn't around when most of those guys were playing, but after learning about the history of my favorite franchise, i became an even bigger fan. what koufax did in the postseason in 1963 and 1965 was unreal, and i desperately hoped in 1977 and 1978 that don sutton or tommy john or rick rhoden would match his performance.  koufax is in my hall of famer collection with this card as his entry:

that's a 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures card, numbered 1707/2000.  here's the back:

my dad saw koufax pitch a few times in person after he moved to southern california in 1962.  he followed his career pretty closely over the next four-plus seasons, and even kept score of some of sandy's games while listening to the radio.  he lived just a tad closer to los angeles than san francisco, but he would also road trip up the coast to see the giants at candlestick once in a while.  as much as he enjoyed seeing willie mays, he chose koufax and the dodgers as his team.  once i came along, we were a dodger household, even though we could also get the giants on tv (sometimes) and radio.

while sandy retired before i was born, i did see koufax in person once. it was in 2004 when the dodgers went to boston for the first time since the 1916 world series.  koufax was there on friday night, and he was on the field talking with vin scully and frank mccourt, who owned the team at the time. there had been a public falling out between the dodgers in their immediate post-o'malley years that saw fox own the club, but koufax came back to the club after they sold to mccourt. somewhere i have a photo of myself with those three guys in the background. anyway, it was pretty cool to see him up close and take a look at someone who directly influenced my dodger fandom, even though he did so years before i was born.

as for my collection, the first koufax card i ever owned was his 1981 tcma minor league card. he was the pitching coach for the albuquerque dukes, and my dad gifted me the complete team set. while the koufax card was the best of the bunch, it was great to have cards of dodger prospects such as mike marshall, candy maldonado, and rudy law.  since then, i have completed the full run of koufax topps cards from his playing days - an accomplishment i never thought i would achieve as a young collector.

i have three different koufax autographed cards in my collection, and this is the only one of which i have duplicates. so, those other three can stay in the dodger collection binders while this one joins the other players in my hall of famer collection.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame