Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy (2002) by Jane Leavy starts off with a little too much "setting the scene" business, and also with a curious disclosure from the author that she has -- in order to get her subject's blessing -- agreed to not write about his personal life and to refrain from interviewing his surviving relatives. I think it was this deal that led the NY Post to publish a "Sandy Koufax is gay" rumor, which in turn led Koufax to temporarily sever his ties with the Dodgers, who at the time were owned by the same Rupert Murdoch group as the Post (and WIS!).
Anyway, the book improves tremendously once Koufax becomes a major leaguer. I had no idea how frustrated Koufax was with Dodgers, and especially Walt Alston (who comes off as a real dummy here), for "holding him back" at the start of his career, nor how much pain he was in the last few years of his career (his arm practically fell off in 1966, when he led the team to the World Series in his final season). There are chapters interspersed throughout covering, inning-by-inning, Koufax's perfect game in 1965, with plenty of attention given to the poor sap, Bob Hendley, who lost pitching a one-hitter for the Cubs. The best thing about the book are the many stories told by contemporaries of Koufax. Billy Williams describes sitting in the locker room after an old-timers game in the mid 1980s with Lou Brock, Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey. Joe Garagiola walks in and asks this quartet how many career home runs they hit collectively off Koufax (who had pitched in the game).
"That's when Koufax appeared," Williams said. "Sandy, right away, says, 'I'll tell you.' So he pointed to me. 'You hit two, and you hit none, you hit none, and you hit one.' He knew. He could count 'em."