JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Sandy Koufax was among the most masterful pitchers in baseball history, and statistics proving it are plentiful.

In 1965 the “Left Arm of God” struck out 382 batters and walked just 71, second only to Nolan Ryan’s 383/162 in 1973. The Brooklyn native’s career shutouts-to-innings ratio is the 6th highest on record. In his final season, with doctors warning that he risked losing use of his ravaged left arm, Koufax went 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and 317 Ks.

But here’s something you may not know: Sandy Koufax was a strikeout king at the plate, too. And arguably one of the worst batters in baseball history.

The evidence, again, is in the numbers. Using Baseball-Reference.com‘s fantastic “Play Index” utility, Jewish Baseball News compiled a list of all pro baseball players with at least 750 career at-bats from 1871 to 2011, including pitchers. Here is what we found:

• In 776 career at-bats, Koufax — a lefty hurler who hit right-handed — struck out 386 times, or 49.7% of the time. No other player has matched that strikeout rate. Fellow pitcher Milt Pappas (1957-73) came closest, at 47.5%.
• Koufax ranked 2nd-worst all-time both in batting average (.097) and on-base percentage (.145). The ‘leader’ in that category of the damned is P Bob Buhl, who hit .089 with a .129 OBP. Like Koufax, Buhl let his pitching do the talking, going 166-132 with a 3.55 ERA over a career that spanned from 1953-67.

Why Koufax was so useless with a bat is a question we would love to ask him. (We haven’t.)

But if there’s an encouraging note here, it’s this: you don’t have to be good at everything to be great.

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P Jason Marquis

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Jason Marquis signed a one-year, $3-million deal with the Minnesota Twins last week. The Twins will be his 7th team over a 12-year major-league career but first in the American League.

A left-hander with a career 4.55 ERA and 104-98 record, Marquis split last season between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 33-year-old went a combined 8-6 with a 4.43 ERA but spent the end of the season on the disabled list after a line drive broke his right fibula.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan called Marquis a “ground-ball machine” and predicted that Target Field breadth would serve him well.

Marquis is expected to pitch fifth in the Twins’ starting rotation. The team finished 2011 in last place in the A.L. Central division.

In May 2011, Marquis became the fifth Jewish pitcher in MLB history to win 100 games and the first to do so since Steve Stone in 1980. He ranks 5th in career wins among Jewish pitchers and needs only 2 more to tie the late Dave Roberts for 4th place.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Sam Fuld, the Tampa Bay Rays outfielder who was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes at age 10, is the lead attraction at a two-day diabetes sports camp to be held in Tampa, Fla., in February 2012.

Kids ages 8 to 18 can choose to play up to three sports at the camp, where they will be coached by professional or amateur athletes who, like them, had to learn to manage Type-1 diabetes. All activities will occur on the campus of the University of South Florida.

The cost is $70 per camper. For more information, click here.

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Aaron Poreda

Charlie Cutler

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — True to their name, the Pittsburgh Pirates plundered two Jewish minor-leaguers on the cheap in the recent Rule 5 draft.

One target was St. Louis Cardinals prospect Charlie Cutler. In 2011, the 25-year-old catcher hit a team-high .333 with the Springfield Cardinals (AA) and .404 with runners in scoring position, inspiring Jewish Baseball News to name him its Minor-League Comeback Player of the Year.

The Pirates also picked up reliever Aaron Poreda from the San Diego Padres. Also 25, Poreda has some major-league experience, having played for both the Chicago White Sox and the Padres in 2009, but has never lived up to his potential. In 2011 he went 4-3 with a 5.43 ERA for the Tucson Padres (AAA).

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — ESPN reported today that 2011 N.L. MVP Ryan Braun tested positive for excessive testosterone in October and may face a 50-game suspension.

If ESPN’s unnamed sources are correct, it won’t matter whether the Milwaukee Brewers star knowingly violated baseball’s ban on performance-enhancing drugs. League rules make no distinction between intentional and unintentional violations in such cases.

Braun’s Jewish fans may feel differently, however. Judaism stresses the importance of intent, so if the right-fielder can prove his use of illegal drugs was accidental, it will go a long way toward redemption. In a statement, Braun claimed “complete innocence” and denied any “intentional violation” of the rules.

Statistically speaking, Braun’s 2011 season was not suspiciously better than prior ones. Although his .332 batting average and 33 stolen bases marked personal bests, the 5th-year pro did not match his own career highs in runs, doubles, triples, HRs, RBIs, or slugging percentage.

Braun is the first Jewish player to be named MVP in 48 years. According to ESPN, the Baseball Writers of America will not strip him of the award even if he gets suspended.

Los Angeles Dodgers hurler Sandy Koufax was the last Jew to be named Most Valuable Player. He won the MVP and  Cy Young award in 1963.

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