It was an innocent conversation really between two teammates killing some time on a spring training bus trip. Reserve catcher Norm Sherry of the Los Angeles Dodgers was chatting with pitcher Sandy Koufax, a left-hander who had displayed great promise but little else in six so-so seasons.

"Try easing up on your fastball instead of blasting it by the hitters," advised Sherry. "Have some fun on the mound. Mix in some curves and changeups." Neither man knew it at the time, but the conversation launched one of the most awesome pitching careers in the history of major league baseball.

For the years 1961 through 1966, the Brooklyn-born Koufax dominated the game. He won five consecutive earned run average titles, four strikeout titles, three Cy Young awards and one Most Valuable Player award. He pitched four no-hitters, one of them a perfect game, and so dominated his era that he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972, his first year of eligibility and, at the age of 36, was the youngest man ever named to the Cooperstown shrine.

Koufax doubled as Cy Young and MVP winner in 1963 when he recorded a 25-5 record with a 1.88 ERA and 306 strikeouts. But early in 1964, he began to be troubled by traumatic arthritis caused when adhesions in his pitching arm tore loose. He took cortisone injections and oral medication to battle the condition and continued to be baseball's dominant pitcher, firing his third no-hitter in as many years. But the pain forced him to the sidelines for the season's final month.

He was 26-8 in 1964 and pitched his perfect game against Chicago on Sept. 9, 1965, becoming the first pitcher to record four career no-hitters. He tried to preserve his arm by not throwing between starts and the next year won a career-high 27 games, posting a 1.73 ERA and striking out 317 batters. But the pain in his arm persisted and, at the peak of his career following the 1966 season, Koufax announced his retirement, ending a pitching era which he had dominated.

SANDY KOUFAX Born Dec. 30, 1935, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

AWARDS AND RECORDS
MVP, NL 1963
Cy Young Award, NL 1963, 1965, 1966
ERA Leader, NL 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Strikeout Leader, NL 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966
Pitched record four no-hitters
Hall of Fame, 1972

Photo: Four no-hitters