At the end of the 1958 season, Sandy Koufax had pitched four seasons in the Major League, and had compiled a 20-21 record. He was known for his blazing speed and his mediocre control. 1959 was a transition year for Koufax. He started to find the strike zone, and still had velocity to spare. Koufax came one shy of tying Dizzy Dean’s National League single game strikeout record when he struck out 16 Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles on June 22. On August 31, in the midst of a tight pennant race with San Francisco and Milwaukee, Koufax broke Dean’s record and tied Bob Feller’s Major League record, when he recorded 18 strikeouts against the Giants. The game was played at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 82,794 fans.