It was an overcast day in the middle of the season when Dodgers announcer Vin Scully was invited to watch a tryout for an unknown prospect at Ebbets Field. Scully wasn't impressed, not in the clubhouse before where he assumed that the young man's suntan was the result of too much time spent on the beach, nor on the field where his play was eratic at best.
But Dodgers general manager Buzzy Bavasi saw something in the pitcher. He was impressed with his arm strength and felt that with some tutoring and control, he could be special. So on December 14, 1953, the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Sandy Koufax.