Sandy Koufax is often regarded as baseball's greatest ever pitcher. This was Sandy's greatest season, so it is no surprise that he was the unanimous winner of the Cy Young Award (he also barely missed winning the MVP Award). Koufax led the Dodgers to the division title, edging past the Giants, who had their own star pitcher, Juan Marichal. But for Koufax and the Dodgers, things soon went downhill; first, they were swept by the Orioles in the World Series. Then after the season, Koufax stunned the baseball world by announcing his retirement.

         Koufax's retirement was forced by poor circulation in his arm. The problem was getting worse over time, and Sandy decided that he had had enough with cortisone shots. He had accomplished as much as any pitcher can, ending his career with five consecutive ERA titles. In retirement, Koufax has been a shy, reclusive figure, dubbed the "Greta Garbo" of baseball. He does appear every now and then, however, sometimes showing up at spring camps and working with young pitchers.
        Speaking of great pitchers, Juan Marichal had one hell of a year as well. This may have been Marichal's best season; it is hard to tell one from the other. Born in the Dominican Republic, Marichal was one of baseball's first great Latin stars. Marichal was famous for his high leg kick, and for throwing the ball from different arm angles. As you can see, he also had phenomenal control. Though he has sometimes been overshadowed by other pitchers, it really cannot be overstated how outstanding he was.
        The third great pitcher of the 1960's was Bob Gibson. Koufax's career was at an end, and Marichal was in the middle of his. Gibson was 30, and had been in the league for seven years, but was just getting started as a great pitcher. This was the second of five 20+ win seasons Gibson had over the next six seasons. But the best was still yet to come; Gibson would eventually win two Cy Young Awards, including his legendary 1968 season, when he recorded a 1.12 ERA, and struck out 17 batters in the first game of the World Series.
        Jim Bunning was 34, and had one of his last big seasons. Arguably, this may also have been Bunning's best season, and I will give him a slight edge over Gibson. Also of note were Jim Maloney, an outstanding power pitcher who had his last big season; young spitballer Gaylord Perry, who had his first 20-win season; and Al Jackson, who recovered from four horrible seasons with the Mets to have a good year with St. Louis, only to get stuck with a losing record anyway. Jackson's career quickly deteriorated after this year; he retired with only 67 wins, but also 99 losses in his career.
        Phil Regan had a great year in relief for the Dodgers. Regan was nicknamed "The Vulture", a term now applied to all relievers who pick up bunches of wins. Regan had struggled as a starter in previous years, but now found a home in the bullpen. He had a couple more good seasons in relief, then moved on to fine career as a pitching coach.