5 sports personalities who made sacrifices in their careers for religious practices

2) Sandy Koufax (Baseball)

Sandy Koufax played in the MLB

Former American Major Baseball player Sandy Koufax was mired in controversy when he refused to play the opening game of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, the “holiest day” in Judaism.

LA Dodgers played without their Jewish pitcher and lost the opening match to Minnesota Twins. Koufax played the other three games which helped them win the series 4-3.

Sandy Koufax represented the LA Dodgers for 12 years and his career peaked during a run of six consecutive years from 1961 to 1966.

After that, arthritis in his left elbow ended his career at a tender age of 30. In 1972, at the age of 36, he became the youngest player ever to be selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame.