A keynote describing the life of Sandy Koufax in the book A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy

1. A Lefty’s Legacy
Keenan Reardon, Period 1, Honors English,
3/1/12

2. Thesis
• Sandy Koufax was one of the best left
handed pitchers to ever touch a
baseball. His statistics are
outstanding, the book shows how
hard work pays off in everything you
do.

3. Setting
• The setting of the book starts in
the Bronx of New York, where
Sandy Koufax grew up as a kid.
• It then changes to Los Angeles
when the Brooklyn Dodgers
decided to move to California.

4. Plot
• The Plot of the story is how an up
and upcoming athlete struggles in
the beginning of his career but ends
up becoming one of the most
successful baseball players of all
time.

5. Topic Sentence #1 w/2
quotes
• Koufax is a quiet kid. He was never seen
bragging about his talents but always
having fun and proving how talented he
was in every sport by just playing it.
• "Koufax was known as a quiet kid and
always had a basketball. A closed mouth
kid as some would call him"(Leavy, 2002,
p. 33)
• "He was a happy, healthy, dirty-faced
kid."(Leavy, 2002, p.33)

6. Topic Sentence #2 w/2
quotes
• Koufax’s season started out
pretty rough, many doubted
him and thought he was just a
guy who was talented in high
school.
• "It's ok everybody throws 'em
there."(Leavy, 2002, p. 70)
• "That winter was when I really
started working out. I started
running more. I decided I was
really going to find out how
good I can be"(Leavy, 2002, p.
101.)

7. Conclusion
• The story is about a man that has a
hard time pursuing his dreams as a
rookie but never gave up and became
a great athlete, it teaches that success
doesn’t come naturally by just having
a very strong arm. You have to work
for it and put dedication into the
sport, you must put something good
into it to get something good out or
you will end up like the countless
men that were once “Bonus babies”
and were stuck in the minor leagues
for their entire season.

8. Works Cited
• "Metslove.tumblr.com, On This Very Special Throwback Thursday We Wish A..." Metslove.tumblr.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://
metslove.tumblr.com/post/2527721928/on-this-very-special-throwback-thursday-we-wish-a>.
• "Sandy Koufax." Card and Memorabilia Guide. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.cardboardconnection.com/player/sandy-koufax>.
• "Welcome, You're New, Aren't You?" Vimeo, Video Sharing For You. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://vimeo.com/?amp>.
• "The Bronx." - Bronx NY. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/new-york/nyc/bronx>.
• "LOS ANGELES." LOS ANGELES. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://losangeles.tumblr.com/>.
• "Sandy Koufax Autographs to Appear in â!!11 Topps Products | The Topps Blog." Sandy Koufax Autographs to Appear in â!!11 Topps
Products | The Topps Blog. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.toppsblog.com/?p=735>.
• "Neil Leifer Photography - Baseball : Sandy Koufax." Neil Leifer Photography. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://216.117.181.169/picture.php?pict=1501>.