The only mystery is why we find it surprising that someone opted out, … It makes him different.

[She thought it would be hard. There’s an aura around Koufax. He’s thought to be the J.D. Salinger of baseball, the pitcher’s version of Joe DiMaggio.] I knew what the established wisdom was, … He’s...

When I explained the premise of the book — that it wasn’t going to be a quickie kiss-and-tell but a serious work where I use his life in baseball to tell a larger story …...

I wanted it to be big, … Not about a person or a career but about the time. … I wanted to use a game of his (to highlight) and there’s nothing quite like a...

I finished what I was writing, pressed ‘send’ and thought, ‘Koufax didn’t pitch on Yom Kippur,’ … And I haven’t worked on Yom Kippur since.