Today is Sandy Koufax's 89th birthday! (Shout out to @benmburrows for the reminder.)

This beautiful cover shot features Koufax raring back on the mound in 1965, a season in which he racked up 382 strikeouts — by far the most in a single season of the modern era at the time. Eight years later, Nolan Ryan would eclipse this record by just one. (For reference, Tarik Skubal led the majors this year with 228.)

A few days after this issue hit newsstands, Koufax captured his second World Series MVP after allowing just one earned run in 24.0 innings pitched. Because Yom Kippur coincided with Game 1, Koufax started Games 2, 5, and 7, tossing two complete game shutouts on just two days rest to close out the series. They don't make 'em like that anymore.