It was Sandy Koufax, one of baseball’s biggest legends who has authored his fair share of iconic performances in the Fall Classic. The 89-year-old Hall of Famer, who stayed for the duration of the six-hour, 39-minute contest, was there to congratulate Klein on a World Series outing that has quickly taken on a legend of its own.
Koufax’s gesture gave him a sense of the magnitude of what he had done.
“Getting to meet Sandy after the game was, I mean, kind of surreal,” Klein said on Tuesday. “He’s obviously a legend, a Dodger legend, baseball legend, and just getting to meet him and shake his hand just kind of put it all into perspective.”
Koufax was far from the only voice in an outpouring of praise for Klein around the baseball world. When the dust settled and he was able to sneak a peek at his phone on Monday, he said he had around 500 text messages waiting — and by the time he got through all of those, another 500 had popped up.
It struck Klein how baseball legends — including CC Sabathia, who called him an “October hero” in a social media post — have been among the prominent voices lauding his gutsy performance.
“Seeing that was kind of crazy,” Klein said, “because you grow up watching these guys, and now they’re watching you and acknowledging it.”
Just as special has been the support he has received from those he grew up around in his hometown of Bloomington, Ind. Klein said just about every coach he’s ever had, from college to T-ball, has reached out. He got word that his middle school even put up a photo of him from Game 3 in the hallway.
Klein’s family missed out on seeing his statement performance in person, but they will be at Dodger Stadium for Game 4. Klein is looking forward to spending some time with them as he continues to process everything that happened in the past 24 hours — without the pressure of needing to get ready for a game later, as he should be unavailable.
Well, unless the Dodgers need him. One day after tossing four innings, Klein put on a brave face and said he could be good to take on some more in Game 4.
“As many as they need,” Klein said. “Hopefully zero.”
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